Chemicals

SEOUL—A weeklong trucker strike in South Korea over fuel costs and wages is tying up supply chains in one of Asia’s export powerhouses.Thousands of truckers are refusing to drive, while deliveries by truckers who are working have been thwarted by protesters—shutting steel plants, disrupting car production and delaying shipments of raw materials needed for semiconductors. The cost to key industries over roughly the past week comes to about 1.6 trillion won, equivalent to about $1.2 billion, the Ministry of Trade, Industry…

PARIS—For decades, European industry relied on Russia to supply low-cost oil and natural gas that kept the continent’s factories humming.Now Europe’s industrial energy costs are soaring in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine, hobbling manufacturers’ ability to compete in the global marketplace. Factories are scrambling to find alternatives to Russian energy under threat that Moscow could abruptly turn off the gas spigot, bringing production to a halt.…

Even if you vowed never to cruise again after Covid-19, there might just be a price to tempt you. Mass-market cruise lines need you to bite. Amid sky-high hotel prices, the best deals in lodging this summer are at sea level—literally. Cruise-review site Cruise Critic noted pricing for summer cruises is currently as low as it has been since the sector’s 2021 restart. The current average cost of a five-night Caribbean cruise begins at $100 a day, according to Cruise Critic, including…

Bayer AG BAYRY -1.56% notched a third consecutive court victory in the U.S. over its Roundup weedkiller after a jury in Missouri rejected a claim that it causes cancer days before an eagerly anticipated Supreme Court announcement on a key case. The Supreme Court is expected to announce next week whether it would hear Bayer’s bid to dismiss a Roundup case. Should the court take up the case and ultimately find in favor of the German…

BRAZLÂNDIA, Brazil—Brazil is rushing to roll out high-tech alternatives to fertilizer to boost farm production because of global price surges exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Drones fitted with cameras hover over centuries-old farms, allowing farmers to use fertilizer only where it is really needed, while nearby laboratories use the same lasers employed by NASA on Mars to perform soil analysis in seconds. Special white gels hold nutrients in place near plant roots with minute precision, preventing waste, and…

A legal tussle over animal testing in Europe is threatening to jeopardize what has become a key marketing tool for cosmetics companies: selling their shampoos and skin creams as “cruelty free.”The European Union banned animal testing for cosmetics in 2013, a move that was cheered by activists and sparked a string of copycat legislation elsewhere. But the European Court of Justice is now considering a case in which the EU’s chemicals regulator asked a manufacturer to conduct animal tests on two cosmetics ingredients to…

Every lungful of air we suck down is mostly made up of nitrogen, with a generous helping of oxygen, and a dash of carbon dioxide. But dusting this atmospheric soup is a whole encyclopedia of different compounds and elements, some of which we can only speculate about.  One of those mysteries just came into focus, however. Chemists have shown that a reactive class of compounds called organic hydrotrioxides exists in the atmosphere, and while these chemicals last only briefly, they could have effects we don't know about.  …

Natural-gas exporter Venture Global LNG Inc. said it would build a new, multibillion-dollar liquefied natural-gas export facility in Louisiana, as demand for U.S. gas exports surges in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The company said Wednesday it had secured $13.2 billion in financing and gave final approval for the Plaquemines project near New Orleans—the first new U.S. plant to get a green light in three years. Natural-gas exporter Venture Global LNG Inc. said it would build a new, multibillion-dollar…

Saudi Aramco 2222 2.12% approached Valvoline Inc. VVV 12.42% about a potential takeover of its lubricants business, according to people familiar with the matter, as the state oil giant looks to diversify. No deal is imminent, and there are no guarantees there will be one, the people said. Valvoline has a market value of around $6 billion after its shares closed up more than 12%…

Scientists and researchers around the world are constantly trying to find treatment of cancer. Now, they may have just stumbled upon a solution that can help treat the disease. Researchers at the University of Utah Health have discovered a soft coral that releases the cancer-treating chemical, eleutherobin. This could be a giant leap in the field of cancer drug studies. Researchers have been hunting the source of this natural chemical for almost 25 years. The DNA of these flexible corals can be studied to understand how…