Alex Scott

1 week ago | cen.acs.org | Alex Scott

More chemical companies say they will-or may-close plants in Europe because of tough economic circumstances. The announcements follow a series of plant closures already announced in Europe this year. Huntsman says it will close its facility in Moers, Germany, for making maleic anhydride-a precursor for unsaturated polyester resins-by the end of June. The business generated a pretax loss of $10 million in 2024. The company will write down $75 million because of the closure.

3 weeks ago | cen.acs.org | Alex Scott

Bayer is restructuring Crop Science, its agrochemical and seed business, in a bid to "ensure the division's global competitiveness" in the face of competition from low-cost Chinese generic products, Bayer says in a press release. Measures the firm will take include closing a site in Frankfurt, Germany, by the end of 2028 that produces active ingredients and formulations for herbicides.

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Alex Scott

The European chemical sector isn't getting out of its slump quite yet. In fact, a number of indicators suggest that the outlook today is worse than it was at the start of the year. German chemical executives had hoped that their country's new government, which is set to receive parliamentary confirmation on May 6, would ease their plight. But there is "little to enthuse investors in energy-intensive German industrials," says Sebastian Bray, Berenberg Bank's chemical analyst, in a note to investors.

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Alex Scott

The energy and petrochemical giant Shell plans to pull back from the chemical industry and instead focus on its liquified natural gas business. Speaking at the firm's capital markets day meeting on March 25, Shell CEO Wael Sawan said that the chemical business is "not delivering adequate returns" and that "we do not believe we are the natural owners of this chemicals portfolio." Shell sold almost 12 million metric tons of chemicals in 2024 but posted a net loss of about $102 million for the year.

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Alex Scott

Led by Marc Ferracci, France's minister for industry and energy, eight European countries have released a series of measures they want the European Union (EU) to adopt to protect the region's ailing chemical industry. Called the EU Critical Chemicals Act and outlined in a joint statement by the countries, the proposed legislation is a response to the European chemical industry's lack of global competitiveness, a situation that has led to a series of plant closures across the region.