Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 5 July.

Hurricane Beryl strengthens and shifts path, expected to hit Texas’ Corpus Christi
Hurricane Beryl is expected to post a “slow re-intensification” as it heads towards the north and could potentially hit Texas’ industrial hub of Corpus Christi by Monday.

Mexico’s Altamira petrochemicals players breathe sigh of relief as Beryl weakens
Fears that Hurricane Beryl could cause widespread disruption to petrochemicals production in the Altamira hub, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, have now subsided as the hurricane weakens on its path through the Caribbean.

Hurricane Beryl expected to weaken after hitting Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula
Hurricane Beryl, which until 3 July was a powerful Category 5 hurricane, weakened to Category 3 by Thursday morning as it headed towards the Mexican peninsula of Yucatan.

INSIGHT: Chem shipping to get break from Panama Canal, tariff front-loading
The Panama Canal Authority (PCA) is allowing more traffic to pass through the waterway, while the rush to ship goods before the start of tariffs should end soon – all of which should give chemical shippers some relief from elevated freight costs.

US June auto sales fall from May on high prices, interest rates, cyber-attack, but could grow in H2
US June sales of new light vehicles fell from May, but total sales in the second quarter showed a modest improvement over Q1, according to data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

Rethinking business models for resilience in a fragile world to drive M&A – DC Advisory
Chemical companies are in many ways rethinking their business models to become more resilient in a fragile and volatile operating environment, potentially leading to more mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, an investment banker said.

US manufacturing remains in contraction but chemicals healthy
US manufacturing activity remained in contraction territory in June but output in the chemicals sector was healthy on the back of healthy new orders, the Institute of Supply Management’s (ISM’s) purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey showed on Monday.