Petrotahlil -Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 11 September.

US DAK force majeure prompts unusual European PET exports, helps alleviate excess stocks
A force majeure declaration by US producer DAK Americas has propelled the European polyethylene terephthalate (PET) market on a new course as an exporter.

INSIGHT: New legislation makes no deal Brexit more likely, industry must prepare
As the UK publishes new legislation which seeks to renege on important parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, the country's chemical sector and its trading partners need to ramp up preparations for the rising prospect of a no deal exit from the EU on 31 December, 2020.

Global construction sector to grow 35% to 2030 on urbanisation, softer pandemic impact
The petrochemicals-intensive construction sector is expected to continue expanding as relentless urbanisation in China and other developing economies fuels above-than-average growth.

Bulk of technologies to decarbonise chemicals still in pre-commercial stages - IEA
The majority of technologies necessary to decarbonise the chemicals sector remain in the pilot or pre-commercial stages and could take a decade before wide-scale deployment becomes feasible, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday.

INEOS Styrolution, Trinseo and Agylix plan new PS chemical recycling plant
European styrenics majors Trinseo and INEOS Styrolution and chemical recycler Agylix plan to start up a depolymerisation plant for chemical recycling of polystyrene (PS), an executive at Trinseo said on Wednesday.

Europe plastic taxes may favour PET, pandemic drives packaging demand
Plastics packaging taxes rolling out across Europe are likely to favour polyethylene terephthalate (PET) over other polymers, such as polypropylene for some food and drink applications due to greater ease in sourcing secondary material, a consultant said on Wednesday.

Poland’s Ciech enters losses in Q2, expects ‘elongated U-shaped’ recovery
Ciech, the second largest European soda ash producer, posted a net loss of zloty (Zl) 5m ($1.3m) in the second quarter on the back of coronavirus pandemic-induced lockdowns across the region, the Polish producer said this week.

Germany H1 chems, pharma sales fall 6% but sector posts 'signs of recovery'
Germany's chemicals and pharmaceutical sales fell over 6% in the first six months of 2020, trade body VCI said on Tuesday, with the projected fall for the year likely to at a similar level.

Germany's chems output rises in July, sentiment stabilises
The German chemicals industry's output rose in July, month on month, and companies expect production in August to have been stable.