Market Flash

In H1, 2017, the Chinese rigid polyether polyol market showed an M-shaped trend first and then fluctuated upwards.

Kirloskar Brothers Ltd expounds on various technologies it has adapted to recycle and reuse water/wastewater – essentially, making this scarce resource go the extra mile.

• Wastewater

Egypt has signed a €1.5 million ($1.74 million) cooperation agreement with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation to develop...

• Egypt
• Cotton

Food in the Boston Public Schools may soon come from greener pastures. The school district has inked a deal with national school meal provider, Revolution Foods.

• Food Additives

Japanese baker Masaru Kuge used to operate his bakery at the Tin Ma Court Commercial Centre in Wong Tai Sin. Kuge makes his bread not only free of food additives but also with a personal touch.

• Health
• Additives
• Food

Polyplastics USA is expanding resources for product development at its Farmington Hills, Mich., headquarters.

• Polyplastics

Dutch shipowner Vroon is finding talks with banks tough going as it tries to navigate a way out of a long slump in the shipping industry. But it is not an easy time for the lenders either.

• European
• Toxic
• Shipping

Sri Lanka's cabinet cleared a revised agreement for its Chinese-built southern port of Hambantota on Tuesday, the government said, after terms of the first pact sparked widespread public anger in the island nation.

• Sri
• Lanka
• China

PPMA has urged the Drap to review its directive that gives six months to drug manufacturers for adopting ‘serialisation and barcode’ for their products, calling the deadline very short.

• Pharma
• PPMA
• Drap

She said that for enhancing exports, Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan (DRAP) and the local industry need to improve Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliance

• Pakistan
• Pharma

With news Monday that Saudi Arabia promised deep cuts to crude exports next month, oil extended gains to $47 a barrel.

• Oil

The Chinese caprolactam (CPL) market continued increasing recently. The dealing price has reached RMB 15,000/mt. The CPL market has performed strongly since mid-July.

The UK's new environment minister has repeated the government's pledge to introduce legislation to ban the manufacture of rinse-off cosmetics containing microbeads from 1 January 2018, and their sale from 30 June the same year.

• Cosmetics
• Microbeads

Cosmetic chemicals are the primary ingredients that are used for formulation of personal care products.

• cosmetic

The Ministry of Textiles has clarified that GST registration is not required for job workers/ job units whose annual turnover does not exceed Rs 20 lakh. The ministry has also warned of action against master weavers who insist small job...

• Textile
• GST

The Lubrizol Corporation's Performance Coatings business announces an extensive upgrade to its Textile Coatings Center of Excellence in Gastonia, NC. This facility, which focuses on

• Textile
• Coating

Japan's Finance Ministry plans to expand the preferential tariff program as early as fiscal 2019 to prevent a spike in import levies on goods from China and other key trade partners.

• Japan
• Import

Recently, China National Cotton Reserves Corporation (CNCRC) issued a notice regarding the plan to inspect the sixth batch of 2016/17 state reserved cotton and the quantity is supposed to be 414kt.

• Cotton

About 2,000 farmers in the Upper West Akim District of the Eastern Region have lost their cocoa farms to rubber plantation companies, as rubber investors offer more cash for stool lands.

• Rubber
• Cocoa

According to Counsellor's Report of USDA, West Africa's seed cotton output is projected at 760kt in 2016/17 season, up 18% year on year, mainly attribtued to the higher planted areas

• Cotton
• Africa