Considerable delivery delays due to coronavirus pandemic / "Rotation has been disrupted" / Ships piling up at Chinese ports / Cargo rates collapsing / Situation not expected to normalise until after summer

"European Plastics Pact" launches / Targets include better life cycle management of packaging and disposables / EuPC sees difficulties and refuses to join

OMV agrees contract terms with Mubadala to acquire controlling stake worth EUR 4.1 bn

Saudi group lifts Clariant stake to 31.5% / Leading role in specialities targeted / Swiss group's CEO search continues

Definitive agreement for new China hub at Panjin / Start-up in 2020

Acquisition of rival injection moulding company in Sweden

Acquisition of Hungary's Plasztik-Tranzit / Gain in access to markets in Central and Eastern Europe

Takeover of Italian films manufacturer Soprad

Acquisition of Swiss engineering plastics recycler

EU carcinogenic classification of powder form to apply from September 2021 / TDMA critical of ambiguities in the regulatory text

India to extend anti-dumping measures to Europe, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and UAE

EU competition authorities impose punitive tariffs on products from Egypt / Jushi again directly affected

Sale of single-use plastic cups and plates banned / Some stores labelling products "reusable" to circumvent restriction / New anti-waste law in force

China lists nearly 700 US products for tariff exemptions / Polyolefin purchasing could rise

Not a good year for the industry / Technical parts show a marked decline / Only construction sector reported a rise / Willingness to invest expected to fall / Stable turnover in 2020 would be optimistic

Russia February 2020: Majority of grades trending downward / PE film grades and PP injection moulding materials react to pickup in demand / Order activity weak / Mixed outlook for March

China standard thermoplastics February 2020: Coronavirus outbreak has an impact on feedstocks and polymers / Lunar new year holidays extended into February / Overall high supply and subdued demand / Not much should change in March

North America February 2020: PE prices move sideways at a low level / PP downtrend loses speed and PVC moves up / Engineering plastics unchanged / Coronavirus dampens demand worldwide / No sudden price hikes expected

China engineering thermoplastics February 2020: Coronavirus outbreak impacts plastics and other sectors / Subdued market and lower prices for most polymer grades / Downtrend in notations to continue in March

Standard thermoplastics trend March 2020: Notations fall on a broad front / Only PVC bucks the trend / High uncertainty due to coronavirus / Drop in oil price intensifies pressure

Standard recyclate March 2020: Recycled polyolefins yield noticeably / PET supply situation precarious / Demand picks up only slowly / Discounts predominate in March

Engineering recyclate March 2020: Reductions only for recycled polyamide 6.6 GF and polycarbonate / Supply plentiful / Wide-ranging price cuts expected in April / Fall in virgin material prices and coronavirus-related slump in demand

Polyethylene grades plummet, polypropylene materials erode / Continuation in April

Composites/GRP February 2020: Styrene rise pushes prices higher / Demand visibly slowing / Uneven development for glass fibre products

Tariff-free trade the most important outcome of UK-EU trade talks / BPF survey

Coronavirus creates sharp rise in global demand of masks / PetroChina and 3M currently expanding production

New car registrations in Europe take a fall in January