Middle East chaos sends HDPE prices up 75%, shutting 40% of Odisha's plastic units – Global News Digest, 21 Apr 2026

Geopolitical impact / Supply chain crisis

Korea-India summit seals landmark deal to lock in naphtha and petrochemical supply

Middle East chaos sends HDPE prices up 75%, shutting 40% of Odisha's plastic units

Hormuz shutdown and ceasefire fears push Japanese rubber futures sharply higher

Industry & infrastructure news

Honeywell UOP tech to unlock 750,000 tonnes more propylene at Dangote refinery

Manali Petrochemicals ends force majeure as government unlocks CPCL propylene supply

HOCL fires up Kochi plants as BPCL restores government-mandated LPG supply

CovationBio's first commercial bio-materials plant hits mechanical completion ahead of schedule

Vitol's WPU to build one of Europe's largest plastic pyrolysis plants at Rotterdam

Investments & corporate moves

Atomgrid opens Bengaluru R&D hub to grab India's post-China specialty chemicals opportunity

IG4 Capital takes control of Braskem, reshaping Brazil's entire petrochemical landscape

DCM Shriram and Teknor Apex merge local muscle with global expertise in PolyTek

Gujarat polymer maker AVI pivots into AI-driven healthcare tech via new subsidiary

Sika plants its 103rd flag in Kyrgyzstan to capture Central Asia's construction boom

Evonik extends CEO Kullmann to 2030 and brings in Henkel veteran Rauch as CFO

Sustainability & innovation

PPG's new radiation curing line cuts carbon by 65% and cures coatings in seconds

Birla Carbon brings cable-grade and UV-shield carbon blacks to Chinaplas 2026

Policy & regulation

UK tyre exports fuel overseas pollution while 150,000 tonnes of domestic capacity sits idle

Rubber & tyres

Malaysia raises rubber replanting grants by 54% to revive 50,000 hectares of smallholder farms

Pirelli's P Zero Trofeo RS crowned the world's fastest road-legal track tyre

Market & financial results

Lubei Chemical's cost discipline drives Q1 net profit 57% higher against all market odds

Industry & education

Nippon Paint India's 18-product FX10 range takes on India's DIY car care market

Chandra Asri preps 665 students for petrochemical college entry through hands-on bootcamp

Industrial incidents

Tamil Nadu fireworks blast kills 23 in the district's second explosion within days