Base Petrochemicals, Aromatics and Feedstocks: May / June 2019

Polyethylene May 2019: Producers manage to improve margins / Supply thins out in many areas / Demand nevertheless still slow / Rollover in the cards in June

Polypropylene May 2019: Producers make slight margin gains / Little impetus to buy / Automotive slump still dogs compounds / Signs point to weak rollover in June

PVC May 2019: Producers only succeed in upping margins slightly / Maintenance season not causing significant bottlenecks so far / Producer asking prices not necessarily going to be pushed through in June either

Styrenics May 2019: Prices rise slightly again / Processors order only essential volumes / Suppliers lessened hikes during the month / Significant price correction expected in June

PET May 2019: Global polyester lull depressing European market too / Producers experiencing increasing difficulty / Production cutbacks on the horizon / Price reductions could gain momentum in June

Engineering Thermoplastics May 2019: Price pressure continues / Producers have trouble keeping notations stable / Automotive slump remains key concern / More reductions probable

New 100,000 t/y propylene plant at Tiszaújvaros / McDermott wins contract

Another Indian group expands polypropylene production / New integrated facility to start up by 2024

ADN expansion progresses / Force majeure on HMD is lifted

European distribution of Dow's LLDPE for blown and cast film

European plastics distribution company launched / Offering includes ExxonMobil's polymers

Swiss distributor markets Huntsman's MDI in India

French distributor opens subsidiary in Greece

Sabic's polymers from post-consumer waste used in plastic household goods / Reusable on-the-go coffee cups

Merger talks with Belgian packaging producer

Recyclable black plastic bottles / Award-winning carbon black-free masterbatch

Spanish company invests in plastics recycling / New logistics site in Paterna

Finnish group to take over packaging manufacturer Plastiroll / Biodegradable films and bags

Films specialist invests “millions of pounds” on new equipment to ramp up capacity in UK

Spanish group upgrades production centre in Ibi

UK expansion for Portuguese packaging manufacturer

Plastics industry is concerned about circular economy issues / Many companies already recycling / CPRJ survey

Scottish government publishes details of deposit return scheme

Formal adoption of single-use plastics directive by European Council

SRP members produce over 435,000 t of recycled plastics in 2018 / Improvements needed to meet target of recycling 100% of French plastics

Plastics processing sales set a record in 2018 / Profitability of companies weak in a European comparison / Great hopes for recyclate / Voluntary initiatives versus national roadmap

Global market to grow by more than 5% per year / Strong demand from Asia automotive sector / Reports from Applied Market Information and Global Market Insights