C&EN: "Indian fertilizer, specialty chemical industries hit by US-Iran war"

Via C&EN, this bad news (article by Aayushi Pratap): 

India, one of the world’s largest importers of oil and natural gas, is among the countries hardest hit by breaks in the natural gas and petrochemical supply chains caused by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to attacks by the US and Israel.

In the Indian chemical industry, fertilizer makers were the first affected. Now, even specialty chemical makers are beginning to feel the pain. The woes of both sectors are largely due to the scarce availability of a single molecule: ammonia, a pungent gas that is a lifeline for many chemical plants. India is one of the world’s leading importers of ammonia, with most of its supplies coming from Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

Mumbai-based Alkyl Amines Chemicals announced March 16 that it has suspended manufacturing of methyl and ethyl amines and their derivatives at three of its sites due to ammonia shortages.

I know that there is a global impact to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but it is good/helpful to understand who is impacted the most. This article (linked in the C&EN piece) is also helpful for understanding context. 

C&EN: "Samples from asteroid Ryugu contain all five nucleobases"

Pretty cool astrochemistry news (article by Fionna Samuels): 

In December 2020, a capsule containing precious cargo fell from the sky and crashed into the Australian outback. The container carried a small amount of dust from the distant asteroid Ryugu. Its return marked the end of the primary Hayabusa2 mission. In the years since, scientists have meticulously studied every aspect of the grains. Now they’ve discovered that the grains contain all five nucleobases—nitrogen-containing organic molecules fundamental to DNA and RNA (Nat. Astron. 2026, DOI: 10.1038/s41550-026-02791-z).

This is not the first time scientists have detected a nucleobase in the Ryugu sample. “I was involved in the initial analysis of Ryugu samples and contributed to the study that reported the detection of uracil,” astrochemist Toshiki Koga of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology writes in an email. But at the time, the amount of material that his team was given was too small to do a more detailed analysis.

Pretty cool that they were able to do a successful analysis on just 11 mg of sample (although from a total synthesis perspective, that seems like so much!) 

C&EN: "University of California backs plan for $23 billion research bond"

From C&EN's Krystal Vasquez, this news: 

The University of California (UC) system announced March 5 that it’s sponsoring a bipartisan state senate bill that proposes a $23 billion bond to fund research across California, which would be the largest state-level investment in scientific research in US history.

S.B. 895, introduced by California senator Scott Wiener (D) in January, would also establish the California Foundation for Science and Health Research, which would use the money to provide grants and loans to public and private universities, research companies, and health-care organizations across the state.

The bill comes after a year of major turmoil over federal funding in support of the US scientific community. Although fiscal year (FY) 2025 budgets for federal science-funding agencies weren’t too different from FY 2024 levels, federally funded research at more than 600 colleges and universities still saw significant disruptions after the Donald J. Trump administration terminated or froze thousands of research grants last year.

I am sad that it has come to this, but from a broad perspective, it seems like a good move to support scientists in the current system. We can't do this forever. 

C&EN: "The chemical industry promises another year of cutbacks"

This bad news from C&EN (article by Alexander Tullo, emphasis mine):

...BASF, the world’s largest chemical maker, wrapped up its earnings season posting a 2.9% decline in 2025 sales and a 38.8% drop in earnings from the previous year. Sales volumes increased for all its businesses except basic chemicals, but prices and currency exchange rates worked against the German firm.

Eastman Chemical cut costs by about $100 million in 2025 and is planning to shed another $125 million–$150 million in expenses this year. Despite that, Eastman’s earnings sunk by 32.7% in 2025 to $627 million, on a 6.5% decline in sales over 2024 values.

Eastman CEO Mark Costa vented his frustrations about the economy to analysts in a conference call. “Everyone’s talking about how great GDP is and its growth last year. [But] if you back out data centers, [artificial intelligence], health care, GDP is sort of flat,” he said, referring to the US gross domestic product. “Eighty percent of our consumers out there are really struggling with the economic challenges they have and the affordability, the fear of what tariffs are going to do, fear about ‘Can I get a new job if I lose mine?’ ”

This more or less confirms what we've known, i.e. things aren't so great for the chemical industry right now. It's not a major source of jobs for entry-level chemists, I suspect, but this doesn't bode well for employment in that sector. 

C&EN: "An old cholesterol drug could help clear PFAS"

In Chemical and Engineering News, this news (article by Saima Sidik)

Paul Smith, a retired nurse anesthetist, has been contending with chronic lymphocytic leukemia since 2012, and his doctor suspects a tumor is forming in his pituitary gland. But despite the uncertainty about his health, a well-known cholesterol management drug is giving him a bit of hope.

Smith lives in a part of Barnstable, Massachusetts, called Centerville, where a local firefighter-training school and nearby airport contaminated the water supply for decades. The facilities allowed environmental leaks of fire-suppressing foam laden with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.”

Smith had been drinking the tainted water for years before he learned that it was sending his levels of certain PFAS soaring. 

...Smith sought out cholestyramine after finding publications in the scientific literature about its potential benefit for people with high PFAS exposure. Smith’s gastroenterologist was familiar with cholestyramine and considered it safe, so he agreed to give Smith a prescription.

After about 8 months of taking cholestyramine, Smith has seen his PFAS levels drop dramatically. Two fluorinated chemicals became almost undetectable in his blood, and PFHxS dropped to about 30% of what it once was. “It was definitely a psychological boost,” he says.

It's probably not a surprise that there is some kind of drug that will absorb PFAS, but I'm glad there is one that seems to be readily available. 

C&EN: "How chemistry helps make a highlight-reel catch"

It's either sweeps month at C&EN or it's Superbowl time (article by Max Barnhardt): 

...But part of what made the Helmet Catch—and so many other spectacular catches in the National Football League (NFL)—possible is a little bit of chemistry baked into the gloves worn by receivers.

Most football gloves are made from a fabric that has been coated on the palm and fingers with a silicone that gives players extra grip as they make a catch.

Manufacturers probably use polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as the main polymer on the surface of their gloves. Chains of PDMS are cross-linked to form a 3D network. Mike Brook, a synthetic polymer chemist at McMaster University, says chemists can give silicone all kinds of different properties by controlling the length of chains between cross-links.

Pretty cool article. I'm surprised this hasn't been covered before by C&EN, but I'm glad that it has. Read the whole thing!

C&EN: "Dow to cut 4,500 positions in new restructuring"

Via C&EN's Alex Tullo, this bad news: 

Continuing to battle against a hostile market environment, Dow says it plans to cut 4,500 jobs—13% of its workforce—as part of a $2 billion streamlining program that will incorporate artificial intelligence. The company is still moving forward with its low-carbon ethylene cracker project in Canada after a delay.

The largest US chemical maker announced the measures along with its earnings for 2025. Dow’s sales for the year fell 7.0%, to $40 billion, and it posted a loss of $657 million excluding significant items, against a $1.2 billion profit in 2024. Business conditions were inhospitable to the company, which experienced flat sales and lower prices across its businesses.

“In the face of external pressures, we managed what was within our control,” Dow CEO Jim Fitterling said on a Jan. 29 conference call with analysts.

The streamlining program, which Dow is calling Transform to Outperform, is meant to lift the firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) by at least $2 billion annually by the end of 2028. Dow says it will reach two-thirds of that mark through productivity improvements; the balance will come from finding new ways to increase sales. The company anticipates $600 million to $800 million in severance costs as well as $500 million to $700 million in other one-time expenses.

This part is interesting:

When pressed by an analyst on the role AI would play in the cost reductions, Fitterling said, “We’re seeing progress in many functions right now. Many different functions are using AI in ways that are speeding things up or reducing the cost.” For example, he said the company’s legal department is using AI to research patents and prepare for cases. And Fitterling said he expects the company will eventually use “AI and robotics together.”

Count me skeptical, but hey! Maybe I'm wrong.  

C&EN: "GSK and Lilly to spend billions on US manufacturing"

Via C&EN, this news (article by by Aayushi Pratap) 

Big pharma companies continue to announce big, splashy investments in the US as President Donald J. Trump threatens tariffs on pharmaceutical imports.

GSK, the British pharmaceutical company, is the latest to join the club. The company has pledged to invest $30 billion in establishing manufacturing, research, and supply chain facilities in the US over the next 5 years. The announcement came on Sept. 17, during Trump’s recent 3C&E-day visit to the UK.

The new infusion will include an initial $1.2 billion investment, which will largely go toward setting up a new artificial intelligence–driven biologics facility at GSK’s existing site in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The construction will begin in 2026 and will create hundreds of new jobs. When it starts, the facility will help ramp up production of its range of medicines for respiratory diseases and cancers.

...Separately, Eli Lilly and Company has announced plans to build a $5 billion manufacturing plant in Richmond, Virginia. The new site, which will be ready by 2030, will be dedicated to the production of Lilly’s portfolio of antibody-drug conjugates and monoclonal antibodies, Lilly says. The company expects that the site will create 650 new jobs.

I think that this push towards US manufacturing is clearly politically driven. I am curious to know if and how research head count will change in the United States over the next five to ten years. 

C&EN: "Higher ed chemistry departments prep for more upheaval"

Via Chemical and Engineering News, this grim academic news (by Vanessa Zainzinger)

Higher education is in turmoil.

The problem is not just in the US, where colleges and universities have been scrambling to patch holes in their budgets left by funding cuts at the federal and state levels. In the UK, tuition fees that haven’t kept pace with inflation and a sharp decline in international student numbers are forcing chemistry department closures at financially insecure schools. And in India, low government spending on research and development at universities is exacerbated by notorious delays to stipend payouts and a concurrent lack of private funding.

As faculty in these countries try to adjust to a chaotic situation, nobody thinks the new school year is going to be easy—or that the worst is behind them. “In some respects, the impact hasn’t been felt quite yet,” Peter B. Armentrout, professor and former chair of the chemistry department at the University of Utah, says of how federal and state funding cuts have affected his team. “That won’t be until people start trying to renew grants. The real problem right now is everything is still up in the air.”

I can't imagine it's fun to be an academic right now. Full article here. Best wishes for the upcoming school year, professors. 

C&EN on an ethylene price fixing scandal in Europe

Via C&EN, this fascinating story of companies colluding to lower the prices of their raw material (article by Alex Scott): 

In a typical price-fixing scheme, companies collude to raise the price of a product they sell. In Europe, four chemical companies apparently spent several years doing the opposite: colluding to lower the price of a product they buy.

The companies—Celanese, Clariant, Orbia, and Westlake—were found guilty in 2020 by the European Commission (EC) of fixing the purchasing price of ethylene in parts of Europe between 2011 and 2017. Now they are being sued by six ethylene producers for a total of more than $6 billion.

And things could get worse: even companies not selling ethylene directly to the four firms can claim a loss of earnings. Consequently, the already-huge sums being claimed could rise to a level that bankrupts some of the defendants, industry experts say.

The claims against the buyers, which deny that their behavior hurt the ethylene sellers, have mounted since the start of this year. In the latest development, on July 16 LyondellBasell Industries became the sixth producer to initiate legal action with a claim that the cartel’s behavior cost it $1.86 billion. The other claimants are BASF, Dow, OMV, Shell, and TotalEnergies.

I found this to be very amusing: 

Clariant has made clear that it has no intention of accepting the financial claims. The Swiss company maintained during its defense in the 2020 EC case that its participation in the buyers’ group involved only exchange of general views on European price developments and not specific terms or prices.

Read the whole thing. Good luck to Clariant, lol. 

C&EN: "Weak quarter forces more cuts in chemicals"

New at C&EN, this news (article by Alexander Tullo): 

Whether chemical companies had a successful second quarter depended on their place in the industry. If they were involved in petrochemicals, they were still trying to pull themselves out of an extended business trough, some by cutting back on spending. But companies in other sectors, like agriculture and electronics, performed much better.

LyondellBasell Industries exemplified the problems faced by petrochemical makers. It posted an 11.8% decline in sales and a 72.1% drop in earnings for the quarter versus the year-ago period. 

Nevertheless, CEO Peter Vanacker’s outlook is upbeat. He told analysts during an Aug. 1 conference call that demand for LyondellBasell’s key product, polyethylene, has been strong in North America. Naphtha feedstock prices have eased in Europe, improving profitability there, he said. And possible stimulus and capacity-cutting programs in China could trim oversupply in Asia.

I can't imagine it's a great environment to be a chemical manufacturer these days, and this news doesn't change my perception. 

C&EN: "Japanese chemical makers dodge US tariff bullet"

Via C&EN, this trade news (by Katsumori Matsuoka): 

The Japanese chemical industry is breathing a sigh of relief over new US tariffs set to take effect on Aug. 7. Analysts say the deal, which imposes a tariff of 15% on most Japanese goods, will leave the chemical and pharmaceutical industries largely unharmed, though regional sluggishness may surface in the case of plastics for the auto industry.

The tariff is a reduction from the 25% levy that US president Donald J. Trump had threatened to impose on Japan if the country didn’t strike a trade deal, though it is higher than the low-single-digit rate that previously applied to many products from Japan.

Mikiya Yamada, an analyst with Mizuho Securities’ equity research division, says the direct impact of the tariffs on chemical exports to the US will be “insignificant.” The number of chemical products, mainly specialty chemicals, that are exempt from the tariffs has reached approximately 500 items, he says. 

“Japanese products, including pharmaceuticals, have a high share that are exempt from taxation,” he says, and tariffs that do apply should be fairly easy to pass on to customers.

Moreover, Japanese companies that supply plastics and other chemicals to local automakers were preparing to cut prices to help their customers compensate for a 25% tariff, Yamada says. With a 15% tariff, those cuts won’t be as steep.

Definitely interesting to see how manufacturers were indeed prepared to eat some tariffs. Will be interesting to see how this all impacts supply chains. 

C&EN: "AstraZeneca to put $50 billion into US facilities"

Via C&EN's Aayushi Pratap, this onshoring news: 

AstraZeneca is reversing a history of outsourcing its production of pharmaceutical chemicals with a plan to expand manufacturing capacity in the US. It is also the latest big drug company to announce expansion of its footprint in the US.

AstraZeneca’s CEO, Pascal Soriot, announced plans earlier this week to invest $50 billion in the US by 2030 to build new manufacturing units and expand existing ones. They include a project to develop a pharmaceutical chemical facility in Virginia. The plant will be the company’s largest single manufacturing investment ever, according to an AstraZeneca press release.

The new facility will produce small molecules, peptides, and oligonucleotides for drug candidates the firm is developing for weight management and metabolic disorders. “The facility will leverage AI, automation, and data analytics to optimize production,” the press release says. 

The investments also include an expansion of AstraZeneca’s R&D facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland; a new R&D center in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and cell therapy manufacturing facilities in Rockville, Maryland, and Tarzana, California.

For the record, this is great potential news for American chemists. 

I really like how the article quotes perennial C&EN favorite James Bruno, who is skeptical how many of these many facilities will be built. For the record, I think he is right and the likelihood that all of these many facilities will be built is well below 50%. We shall see...

C&EN: "Veolia opens PFAS removal plant in Delaware"

Via C&EN, this news (article by Craig Bettenhausen): 

Wilmington, Delaware—At a water treatment plant outside Wilmington, Delaware, last week, officials cut the ribbon on a facility that will remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the water consumed by more than 100,000 Delaware residents. The facility, one of the largest of its kind in the US, is part of an emerging business in getting the unwanted fluorochemicals out of drinking water.

The complex represents a $35 million investment by Veolia, which operates the public water utility for the area. State and company officials at the event said the utility will ask for a 44% rate increase to make the investment pay off and cover the plant’s operation and maintenance. For an average household, they said, that will mean about $19 more each month. In similar infrastructure upgrades across the country, the actual rate increase is usually smaller than the utility’s initial proposal.

The installation consists of 42 filter tanks, each about the size of a shipping container, in a building about the size of a hockey rink. Larry Finnicum, Veolia’s mid-Atlantic regional president, said each tank is filled with granulated activated carbon (GAC), a filtering media provided by Calgon Carbon. Finnicum said Calgon’s GAC was the top performer in pilot tests on the plant’s source water, but the design of the tanks allows operators to switch filter media if better materials emerge or water conditions change.

Mohamed Ateia Ibrahim, an environmental engineer who studies PFAS treatment and substitution, tells C&EN that the upgrade is significant from the standpoints of public health and compliance. “The project uses GAC, which is a primary solution for water utilities taking proactive actions against PFAS,” he says. “It is a proven and reliable technology, but it also comes with persistent challenges that the water treatment industry continues to face.”

It will be interesting to see how successful this facility is (i.e. does it turn into an enormous boondoggle?) and if it stays relatively inexpensive for areas that have serious PFAS contamination, I predict that this will be the first of many... 

How many fluorines make a PFAS?

the compounds in question
Credit: C&EN

Via Chemical and Engineering News, this funny news (article by Britt Erickson): 

The US Environmental Protection Agency is doubling down on efforts to
decrease a backlog of new pesticide active ingredients waiting for EPA approval to enter the marketplace. Since April, the agency has proposed registering four of them—cyclobutrifluram, diflufenican, isocycloseram, and trifludimoxazin.

All four pesticides contain a fully fluorinated methyl or methylene group, raising concerns that they will persist in soil and water for many years. Environmental groups argue that the chemicals are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the definition recommended by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2021. PFAS are notoriously difficult to remove from the environment, and some of them are toxic at extremely low levels. 

The proposed active ingredients have half-lives of over 3 years, which means that half of what is sprayed today will still be contaminating soil and water in 3 years, at the time of the next US presidential election, Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said during a meeting of the EPA’s Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC) on June 17. Donley is a member of the PPDC, representing the environmental group’s perspective.

“It’s like PFAS pollution on steroids these past few months,” he said, referring to the EPA’s plan to approve the four pesticides. The EPA’s pesticides office “appears to have absolutely no plan to account for the fact that actives are getting more persistent and fluorinated breakdown products are essentially going to be around forever.” 

The proposed pesticide active ingredients can degrade into trifluoroacetic acid, which persists in the environment for more than 100 years, Donley noted.

Of course, there actually IS an apparent definition of PFAS: 

The EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs considers PFAS to be chemicals containing at least two saturated, fully fluorinated carbons, either CF₂ or CF₃. The OECD defines PFAS as any chemical with at least one saturated CF₂ or CF₃. The European Union has adopted a definition that is closer to that recommended by the OECD.

I am rather shocked that a legal definition of PFAS is about the number of saturated CF₂ or CF₃ and that is set so low. I mean, perfluorooctanoic acid has, I dunno, fifteen of them? But what do I know, I'm not a PFAS expert, I'm just a dumb organic chemist. 

C&EN: "Chairs of 36 US chemistry departments call to restore funding"

In this week's C&EN, this news (article by Max Barnhart): 

A coalition of 36 chemistry department chairs from US universities has published an open letter in Science highlighting their concern over recent federal policy decisions impacting science (2025, DOI: 10.1126/science.adx8085).

The letter calls out decisions to decrease overhead rates, reduce funding for science, lay off program managers at scientific agencies, and restrict efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion as detrimental to chemistry research in the US. It states that “failing to support the scientific enterprise will erode decades of progress in research and innovation, ceding leadership in key technological areas to global competitors.”

The authors of the letter are listed alphabetically, and the letter states that the authors’ opinions do not reflect those of their home universities.

Amanda Morris, chair of the chemistry department at Virginia Tech, took the lead in drafting and organizing support for the letter. “We didn’t want the letter to be political,” she says. “We wanted to make an economic stance for why chemical research is critical to the United States and our world prowess as a scientific leader.”

The letter cites American Chemistry Council data that say the chemical industry contributes over $600 billion annually to the US economy and supports over 4 million jobs. But maintaining stable research funding for academic labs is critical for sustaining this economic output, according to the letter’s authors.

Peter B. Armentrout, chair of the chemistry department at the University of Utah and signee of the letter, says that recent policy decisions “may have cost savings in the short term, but it’s going to cause long-term damage to the ability of the United States to perform scientific research and to lead in scientific research.”

It's a good thing to push all the buttons to see what works. Best wishes to them, and to all of us. 

C&EN: EPA proposes to delay methylene chloride rule implementation by 18 months

Via C&EN's Krystal Vasquez: 

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 20 proposed to extend the deadline for laboratories to comply with its methylene chloride rule by 18 months. The rule, finalized in May 2024, bans nearly all uses of methylene chloride, a popular solvent that has been linked to adverse health effects and 85 workplace and consumer deaths.

The regulation carves out an exception for the solvent’s use as a laboratory chemical. But it requires all nonfederal labs still using the compound to implement strict workplace safety measures between May and October of this year. The first deadline, which passed on May 5, requires labs to measure workers’ initial exposure levels.

Under the May 20 proposal, labs would instead need to implement these requirements between November 2026 and May 2027.

Shortly after the initial rule was finalized, several lab safety professionals told C&EN that the short timeline could pose considerable challenges, particularly to smaller institutions with fewer resources. In its announcement of the possible extension, the EPA says it heard similar concerns from labs associated with universities and local governments.

“EPA’s proposal would avoid disrupting important environmental monitoring and associated activities, while these non-federal labs work to comply with the rule’s new requirements,” the agency says.

Having watched how the government works a little more closely over the last four years or so, this is not that surprising. Nevertheless (as one of the academics says), chemical academia is mostly ready, but I am guessing individual laboratories are not. This will be interesting to see what the Zeldin-directed EPA decides to do. 

C&EN: "Bayer to slash agrochemical jobs in Germany"

In this week's C&EN (article by Alex Scott): 

Bayer is restructuring Crop Science, its agrochemical and seed business, in a bid to “ensure the division’s global competitiveness” in the face of competition from low-cost Chinese generic products, Bayer says in a press release.

Measures the firm will take include closing a site in Frankfurt, Germany, by the end of 2028 that produces active ingredients and formulations for herbicides. An undisclosed number of the 500 plant workers at the site will move to locations in Dormagen and Knapsack, Germany, or Bayer’s other pesticide formulation sites, the company says. Bayer will relocate R&D staff at the Frankfurt site to Monheim am Rhein, Germany, where the firm already conducts R&D on insecticides and fungicides.

Additionally, Bayer says that by 2028 it will “streamline” its pesticide plant in Dormagen by discontinuing the production of generic active ingredients that are available elsewhere at significantly lower prices. The changes will result in the loss of about 200 of the 1,200 jobs at the site.

The planned restructure is a response to low-cost competition, especially from China, where the spot price of pesticide active ingredients has dropped by more than 20% in recent years, Bayer says.

Following a presentation by Bayer board members, BNP Paribas stock analyst Laurent Fevre asked whether pressure on profits in Bayer’s crop protection business could get worse. Crop Science president Rodrigo Santos’s response was that he does not expect the problem to go away anytime soon. “We do see competitive pricing pressure for the next quarters, as we have a significant build-up of capacity in China,” he said.

Sales in Bayer Crop Science’s division fell 3.3% in the first quarter of the year to $8.2 billion; pretax profits were down 10.2% to $2.6 billion.

I suppose I cannot be surprised by this, but it's got to be tough for Bayer. Best wishes to those affected, and to us all. 

C&EN wants to know - do you want to leave the US?

Via C&EN: 

Science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity or political party,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, in a May 5 speech in Paris. That’s why, she continued, “Europe will always make the case for the world's scientists to Choose Europe.”

The Choose Europe initiative, launched in Paris, includes funding of €500 million ($556 million) over the next 2 years intended to make Europe a “magnet” for researchers. On the same day, French president Emmanuel Macron pledged another €1 million ($1.1 million) to attract researchers to France specifically.

Other national governments worldwide are doing the same.

While few of the recruitment initiatives explicitly mention the US in their materials, multiple governments see opportunities to attract bright minds to their shores. Are you a chemist or chemical engineer who is considering leaving the US to take up one of these offers? Or are you already buying plane tickets?

Link to form here.

C&EN: "Dow plans deep cuts amid poor economy"

Via C&EN, this bad news (article by Alexander Tullo):

Responding to economic uncertainty and a longer and deeper chemical industry downturn than it had anticipated, Dow is planning further cuts to manufacturing. The company, the largest US chemical maker, is delaying an ethylene project in Alberta and may idle or permanently shut down three large facilities in Europe, including its ethylene cracker in Böhlen, Germany.

“The reality is our industry is in one of the most protracted downcycles in decades, facing a third consecutive year of below 3% GDP growth,” CEO Jim Fitterling said in an April 24 conference call with analysts. “This has been further exacerbated by geopolitical and macroeconomic concerns, which are weighing on demand globally.”

Dow is delaying its so-called Path2Zero project in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. The $6.5 billion project includes the construction of new ethylene and polyethylene plants. Instead of using fossil fuels to heat the furnaces, the company plans to use hydrogen produced by feeding cracker off-gases into an autothermal reformer. The carbon dioxide emissions would be captured and stored underground.

“We now see a higher probability of a lower-for-longer earnings environment, which changes our expectations for when the capacity from this project will be needed,” Fitterling said.

Earlier this year, Dow announced plans to reduce capital spending by $300 million to $500 million in 2025. At the time, it also unveiled a $1 billion cost-reduction program that would lead to 1,500 layoffs, or about 4% of its staff.

Well, that doesn't sound like great news for Dow or for hiring for this fall. Best wishes to those affected, and all of us.