Plastic packaging was the only packaging material to record growth across 19 EU member states between 2011 and 2025, according to a study published by the Joint Research Centre (JRC).   The research covered countries representing more than 97% of the EU population and examined packaging placed on the market across glass, plastic, metals, paper […]

Ineos Chairman, Jim Ratcliffe is urging the European Union to protect its chemical industry, warning that nearly 200 chemical plants have closed in Europe over the past five years and blaming Chinese overcapacity, high energy costs and carbon taxes.   In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ratcliffe called chemicals a […]

European polymer prices continued to fall over the week to 3rd July. There were reductions of between 20 and 50 EUR per tonne reported in the prices of HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PET, Polypropylene, PVC and Polystyrene.   Asian polymers were mixed with reductions of between 5 and 50 USD per tonne reported in the prices […]

Exxon Mobil Corp. will become ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. following its move to Texas from New Jersey, marking the company’s first name change since the Mobil merger over 25 years ago.   Each share of Exxon will be exchanged for a share in the new holding company. The new stock will begin trading under the existing […]

Chemicals giant Ineos has accused its US rivals of dumping cheap plastic into the UK market, putting tens of thousands of British jobs at risk.   Ineos, owned by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, said that since US chemicals suppliers began lowering their prices in 2023, Britain’s imports had doubled.   US market share of Britain’s […]

A World Cup jobs boom in the US has failed to materialise, with employment in restaurants, bars and hotels falling in June.   Analysts had expected the tournament, being hosted jointly by the US, Canada and Mexico, to lead to an increase in leisure and hospitality jobs.   But the sector saw a decline of […]

European polymer prices continued to fall over the week to 26th June. There were reductions of between 25 and 115 EUR per tonne reported in the prices of HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PET, Polypropylene and Polystyrene.   Asian polymers fell with reductions of between 20 and 90 USD per tonne reported in the prices of HDPE, […]

Asian stock markets fell sharply on Friday, led by a sell-off in technology firms as investors worried that recent jumps in share prices had gone too far.   Trading on South Korea’s, Kospi was temporarily halted as an 8% fall in the benchmark index triggered a mechanism intended to curb panic selling. The index closed […]

US President, Donald Trump has said he has ordered an investigation into major energy companies, accusing them of “gouging” customers by not cutting petrol prices after wholesale oil costs fell on global markets.   Trump wrote on social media that he had expected to see petrol prices fall “a lot faster than what I’m seeing”. […]