SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Global demand for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is “starting to improve” but the market’s overcapacities may take years to be absorbed, an executive at Brazilian producer Unipar said this week. Alexandre Castro, business director for PVC, said Unipar’s commitment to Brazil remains firm despite historically high input costs, adding the company’s chlorine division is […]

LONDON (ICIS)–The Polish government has defended its national gas storage regulation to ICIS on Friday following its referral to the European court system by the European Commission (EC) The EC announced on Thursday 16 November it was referring Poland to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) “for imposing restrictive requirements on companies […]

HOUSTON–With nearly 55% of unionised General Motors (GM) workers voting to ratify the new labour contract this week, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union now shifts its attention to Ford and Stellantis, with current vote totals indicating the deal should pass comfortably. According to vote trackers on the UAW website, Ford hourly employees have voted 67% to 33% in […]

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US union members at Ford and Stellantis approved new labor contracts, according to vote tallies published on Friday. “It is good news that the union ratified the contract,” said Ramesh Iyer, director, engineering plastics at Chemical Data (CDI).  “The impact was minimized as the high-volume vehicle production were shut down only for a couple […]

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Braskem Idesa is preparing for the start-up of its new joint venture (JV) ethane terminal along with a major turnaround at its Ethylene XXI cracker and polyethylene (PE) complex in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico in 2025, ahead of a planned expansion of ethylene capacity, its CEO said. The 1.05m tonne/year ethane cracker is running at […]

MUMBAI (ICIS)–India is exploring export opportunities for its green hydrogen and ammonia production and is currently developing logistics infrastructure to prepare for future shipments. The Indian government is in talks with France, Italy and Germany for export opportunities in Europe, a senior official in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said on Friday, adding […]

The global spot weekly ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) remained on a downward trend in the week to 13 October, despite higher crude prices following an escalation of the Middle East conflict and fears about its impact on supply. The spot IPEX index for northeast Asia was down 1.7% in the week, dragged lower by tepid […]

LONDON (ICIS)–The UK government has published its response to the consultation launched in February 2023 on its proposals for a Low Carbon Hydrogen Certification Scheme (LCHCS). A total of 72 responses were received, with the UK government publishing several key policy decisions within the government response. BACKGROUND The UK aims to have up to 1GW […]