The European Commission on Tuesday opened an in-depth investigation into the proposed purchase by Germany’s BASF of Solvay’s nylon business, saying such a deal could reduce competition in the supply of the nylon production chain.
BASF agreed to buy Solvay’s global polyamide business in September for 1.6 billion euros (1.41 billion pounds), aiming to enhance its access to key growth markets in Asia and South America.
“We need to carefully assess whether the proposed acquisition would lead to higher prices or less choice for European businesses and, ultimately, consumers,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
The Commission, which oversees competition in the European Union, said it has until Oct. 31 to decide on whether it would let the deal go ahead.
By Robert-Jan Bartunek
Source: Reuters
The future CEO of thyssenkrupp Uhde, Nadja Håkansson, has held various management positions at Siemens and Siemens Energy and looks back on over 18 years of national and international experience in the areas of supply chain management, operations, sales and corporate management.
Neste and South Korean company Lotte Chemical have partnered on a project to elevate the sustainability profile of chemicals and plastics. The partnership’s ambition is to replace fossil resources with renewable raw materials that offer a lower carbon footprint.
At least the confidence in the chemical sector has been seeing an upward trend and the trade balance is recovering as destocking seems to be coming to an end. Citing projections from the European Central Bank, CEFIC states that the level of inflation is expected to fall from 5.4% in 2023 to 2.3% in 2024.
