Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 27 September.

Meteorologists expect hurricane to form, hit US Gulf Coast in Florida
Meteorologists expect a hurricane will form later in the week before making landfall in northwestern Florida at the eastern end of the Gulf of Mexico, they said on Monday.

INSIGHT: Weak volumes, geopolitical uncertainty hold back chemical M&A
The lack of a meaningful recovery in volumes amid a weak macroeconomic backdrop along with geopolitical uncertainty are key factors hindering mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, panelists said at a recent meeting of the Societe de Chimie Industrielle in New York.

UPDATE: BASF sets new corporate strategy, mulls ag solutions IPO, to exit Brazil coatings
BASF is planning an overhaul of its structure, marking a clearer delineation between businesses it considers core and “standalone” units serving specific industries, and is readying the separation of its agricultural solutions operations.

A quarter of US Gulf oil output remains shut on Hurricane Helene
A quarter of US oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut in as Helene becomes close to becoming a major hurricane.

More than 4 million in southeast US lose power after Hurricane Helene
More than 4 million outages were reported in the southeastern US on Friday after Hurricane Helene made landfall as a powerful Category 4 storm in northwestern Florida.

SHIPPING: US ports file unfair labor practice charge with regulator, but ILA strike is imminent
With the midnight Monday strike deadline rapidly approaching, negotiations between US Gulf and East Coast ports and the labor union representing dockworkers remains at an impasse, making a stoppage that could cost the US economy $5 billion a day more likely.