European building materials down, chemicals up after report EU plans to soften ETS framework

Brenntag SE

04/02/2026 11:18

Adds comment from European Commission in bullet 4, shares and trader comment on chemicals companies in bullets 4-6 and 8

** Shares in Germany's Heidelberg Materials HEIG.DE and Switzerland's Holcim HOLN.S drop between 6.3% and 5.3%, trading at the bottom of their respective blue-chip indices .GDAXI, .SSMI

** UBS points to a Handelsblatt report that said the European Commission was planning to significantly weaken the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) framework by increasing the number of available emission certificates and delaying the end of auctions

** The Commission did not confirm the report when contacted by Reuters, reiterating it was reviewing ETS and would present its proposal in July

** A local trader says the news is a driver for chemicals firms BASF BASFn.DE and Brenntag BNRGn.DE and negative for Heidelberg

** “This is good for energy‑intensive companies when costs fall as a result, and bad for HEI (Heidelberg Materials) because they can’t push out their CO₂‑free cement,” the trader says

** Shares of Brenntag and BASF rise around 6% and 3%, respectively, while industrial gassed firm Air Liquide AIRP.PA gains 3%

** If the losses hold, Heidelberg Materials and Holcim are on track for their worst day since last April

** Shares in Brenntag are on track for their best day since September

(Reporting by Emanuele Berro and Cian Muenster)

((emanuele.berro@thomsonreuters.com))