Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan said on Tuesday it shut the naphtha cracker at its Chiba plant, east of Tokyo, on Sunday for maintenance, a little earlier than its original plan.
The cracker will be restarted in mid-May after major scheduled maintenance, a spokeswoman said.
The company had said last November that the cracker would be shut in April-May.
BASF sells a majority stake in its coatings business to the investor Carlyle.
The German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) welcomes the fact that Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and US President Donald Trump have averted the danger of a trade war for the time being.
Merck to acquire the chromatography business of JSR Life Sciences, a leading provider of CDMO services, preclinical and translational clinical research, and bioprocessing solutions.
Carbon black manufacturer Orion Engineered Carbons plans to rationalize production lines in North and South America and EMEA.
