BASF

Falling oil hits earnings in 2015 / Lower costs passed on / Plastics hold up well / Outlook for 2016 rather shaky / TDI plant at Schwarzheide to stay on stream a few more months

Bio-butadiene joint venture with Genomatica commences pilot-scale production / Feedstock for bio-polybutadiene

EU close to classifying BPA as category 1 reprotoxin / REACH Committee approves draft

Shanghai-based mega plastics event takes place in late April / Fair organiser Adsale expects 140,000 visitors / PIE once again co-organising "Medical Plastics" conference / Exclusive readers' trip

Immediate hike for TDI sold in Africa and Middle East

Planning “significant investments” in UK subsidiary / Albis (UK) celebrates 50th anniversary

Company is renamed to reflect new ownership structure / Triple Shift strategy to be continued

New effect pigments add colour to ”Firemist” range / Applications include packaging

Fierce competition and high volatility drive consolidation in Germany / French state fund for renovations / New UK market leader is born / Cladding segment increasingly trends towards grey EPS / Prolonged use of HBCD has no notable market relevance

Follow-up: Italian distributor reports regular business operations despite recent fire

Output grows continuously by 7% a year / Consumption doubled over past decade / Global capacities approach 2m t/y / Situation unclear in China / EU imports pressure recyclate grades

Fire destroys warehouse of Italian plastics distributor

Three-way cooperation in developing additive manufacturing solutions / PA 6 powder for 3D printing

First qualitative report on sustainability highlights styrenics' characteristics / Lifecycle approach and optimised use of resources

Moerdijk cracker restarted / Lengthy SM/PO repair works finally completed / Singapore-based cracker down / Preparing for expansions in China and the US

ISOPA general assembly elects new leadership

Takeovers, mergers and consolidations: Changes in the plastics production, packaging and automotive industries / No going back to the way things were

New capacity for pigments at Ludwigshafen / Expanded output already in the Chinese market

Raising engineering thermoplastics compounds capacity in Germany

Brazilian EPS plant to start production in mid-2016

Successful laboratory scale production of butadiene from renewable feedstocks / Milestone in collaboration

Merging Swiss plastics additives activities

Polyurethane Feedstocks November 2015: Slight decreases across the board / Overall demand reasonably good / December will bring another downturn for TDI and rollover for all other materials

New TDI plant officially inaugurated at Ludwigshafen / German dignitaries praise chemicals and plastics group's technology, commitment to industry

Food-contact grades added to “Elastollan” TPU portfolio