Fibre applications compensate for overall slowdown / Surplus tendency with paraxylene / PTA more balanced / Excessive increase in MEG capacities

US reprocessing flat as exports fall / Industry and government driving reuse

“Recover” act to improve recycling infrastructure / Support along the entire national value chain

Liquidation of three subsidiaries / Asset review in progress

Joint venture for propylene oxide and styrene in East China / Expansion of output at Ningbo

Nova's stake in Novealis JV to be acquired

Italian biopolymers producer is bankrupt / Production in Bologna still running

Acquisition of Huntsman's propylene oxide and MTBE activities completed

Packaging group plans closures of two UK manufacturing sites / CEO Peter Oswald to step down

Closure of UK manufacturing facility planned

Takeover of Laminor in Brazil / Everest Flexibles purchase completed / Two new executive team members

UK flexible packaging specialist adds new LDPE co-extrusion line and warehouse

Sumitomo Demag injection moulding machines installed at Greek food packaging specialist

Global stagnation / “The road will be steep, stony and arduous” / New boss of German association receives support from the industry / Favourite cities for IAA to be named by end of January

French company to start production in Russia

Office for automotive industry opened in near Detroit

First plant in Serbia goes onstream / Interaction with the car of the future / Cooperation with sensor specialist IEE

Compounds developed for fuel cell applications

Russia December 2019: Polyolefin notations at lowest levels for the year / Demand very weak in part / PE injection moulding grades and standard PS materials hold their ground / Virtually no recovery in January

China Standard Thermoplastics December 2019: LDPE and PP notations fall / Most polymers witness low demand / Chinese New Year festival in latter January to keep demand weak

North America December 2019: Price decline continues / PP down again / Iran conflict and trade war with China to determine developments in the new year / Feedstock costs vary

China Engineering Thermoplastics December 2019: Most grades see rollovers or decreases / ABS is the exception / Generally weak demand / Several plants shut down or lower operation rates

Standard Thermoplastics Trend January 2020: Polyolefins trending just slightly up / Styrenics make up the ground lost in December / Demand picks up only slowly / Selective price increases over the rest of the month

Standard Recyclate January 2020: Downtrend in prices continues / Only rPP and rPS remain stable / Pressure from virgin materials / Demand to pick up in February / Widely stabilising prices expected

Engineering Recyclate January 2020: Poor demand leads to rollovers everywhere / Prices may have bottomed out in many cases / PA 6.6 recyclate unlikely to escape reductions

PP trending stronger, PE grades largely stable

Polyurethane Feedstocks January 2020: Isocyanates down another notch / Weak demand pressures producers' margins / Slack ordering melts MDI and TDI oversupply

Pagev congress on plastics recycling / Panel discussion on waste and infrastructure / “Plast Eurasia” trade fair in Istanbul has more than 52,000 visitors

Agricultural plastics output and demand set to slip in 2019 / Reversal of past five years / Foreign trade continues to climb