Stable supply chains between Asia and Europe despite ongoing challenges

Stable supply chains between Asia and Europe despite ongoing challenges

Despite continued geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and volatility in global energy markets, logistics between Asia and Europe remain largely stable and reliable.

Ocean freight operations continue to function smoothly, with vessel availability and capacity at healthy levels. Some shipping lines offer connections from China to Europe with very long transit times of 60 – 75 days. However, there are still some shipping lines offering fast direct connections in the range of approximately 40–50 days, which remains consistent with recent months.

Shipping routes continue to run around the Cape of Good Hope rather than through the Suez Canal which means that vessels avoid high-risk regions.

From a logistics perspective, the supply chain from Asia to Europe is continuing without major disruption, supported by strong coordination between shipping lines, ports, and distribution partners.

One key challenge remains on the pricing side: chemical products are experiencing upward pressure, as many raw materials are derived from crude oil and are therefore directly impacted by ongoing developments in global energy markets.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Petrex celebrates Women’s Day 2026

Petrex celebrates Women’s Day 2026

“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made,” (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in an interview 2009).

Petrex celebrates the greatness of women! One key to a harmonic and also successful company is a diverse but also equal environment.
Sunday, 8th of March 2026 was this year’s International Women’s Day. Petrex wants to use this opportunity to say “thank you” to all women, especially in our company, for being an important part and making a huge impact on the company’s success.

To empower women, Petrex takes actions all over the year.

One step to support future female leaders is to take part on girls’ day, 23rd of April 2026. Girls’ day is a career orientation day in Germany, where girls can try out men-dominated fields and are encouraged to not let stereotypes influence their career choices.

We invite our stakeholders to join us to improve the workplace of tomorrow by empowering women.

Please feel free to reach out to us if you are curious to learn more.

BEE UPDATED! – News from our smallest employees

BEE UPDATED! – News from our smallest employees

Spring is approaching and we would like to give you an update about Petrex’s smallest employees: our bees. Since summer 2024, our bees are not only making our business partners and emloyees happy with their high quality honey, they also help protecting the environmend by pollinating all kinds of plants. This makes them a perfect fit for Petrex to help us with our ongoing commitment to support biodiversity and contribute positively to our ecosystem.

The bees are coming to the end of their winter-hiatus, and we are committed to further protect biodiversity. 2026 is already the second year where Petrex adopted a beehive and we are more than happy about this project.

If you want to know more or also want to support bees in Germany as a company, please contact us or check out the bee adoption program and our partner Honiglandschaften directly: https://www.honiglandschaften.de Stay tuned for more updates on our bee colony and other sustainability projects.

Chinese Spring Festival 2026

Chinese Spring Festival 2026

China is preparing for a record braking Spring Festival in terms of travelling activities. Accoring to ChinaDaily, Beijing authorities expect 9.5 billion trips during the festival season in February. While most people travel in cars, railways expect around 540 million travellers and airlines about 95 million.

The reason for this travelling peak is that many people are travelling from the big cities to their families in other parts of the country. Zhu Wenzhong, head of China State Railway Group’s Passenger Transport Department, said “this year, 22 new lines totaling over 3,100 kilometers and more than 50 stations will participate in the travel rush for the first time. We are also running nearly 1,000 high-speed trains at night on major corridors to ease congestion.”

Petrex Germany and Petrex Shanghai already started in January to adjust the shipping schedule for our clients to avoid interruptions during spring festival. This year the Spring Festival starts on 15 February and lasts until 23 February. However, trucking companies already reduce service from 8 February, as truck drivers and workers start to travel to their families.

Virtual Petrex Suppliers Day

Virtual Petrex Suppliers Day

In December, we hosted our annual Virtual Suppliers Day with some of our key suppliers. During this event, we discussed opportunities and challenges of sustainability along the supply chain for chemical products and APIs. We also presented an overview of the status quo and dynamics in European sustainability regulations.

On this occasion, we also advertised the participation of our suppliers in independent sustainability ratings and the calculation of Product Carbon Footprints (PCF). This will enable us to reach our goal of getting a full picture of our Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and for defining emission reduction targets.

We are continuing this dialogue on sustainability with our valued suppliers and stakeholders and look forward to our Suppliers Day 2026.

Merry Christmas and a Good Start in 2026

Merry Christmas and a Good Start in 2026

Hello from team PETREX!

We would like to thank all our business partners for the good cooperation this year.

Despite the challenges for the chemical industry in Europe, we are feeling optimistic and motivated to kick off new ideas and projects together. Let’s start some new adventures!

Wishing you a healthy, successful, and energetic New Year 2026.

Petrex and local school Thomaeum stand together against discrimination

Petrex and local school Thomaeum stand together against discrimination

Last month, Petrex proudly supported Thomaeum School in hosting impactful anti-discrimination workshops for young adults. Professionals from Bildungspark Mönchengladbach led a session called “Offside,” engaging participants with essential concepts, discussions about values, and activities that encouraged them to take a stand.

This marked the first training course we have been able to support since formalizing our cooperation with Thomaeum. Petrex stands firmly for diversity and equality, and we oppose discrimination in the strongest terms. We are honored to contribute to promoting awareness and inclusivity in our local community.

Petrex supports local afforestation as a cooperation partner of PLANT-MY-TREE ®

Petrex supports local afforestation as a cooperation partner of PLANT-MY-TREE ®

Petrex is always looking for exciting projects to support. Today, we are proud to announce a new partnership with PLANT-MY-TREE®.

We have a tradition of supporting initiatives that promote environmental and climate protection. To make the impact more visible and meaningful for our employees, we chose a local partner this time. PLANT-MY-TREE® has been conducting reforestation projects for CO₂ compensation throughout Germany since 2007. In addition to initial plantings, PLANT-MY-TREE® has implemented forest conversion and protection projects since 2020, placing special emphasis on biodiversity.

Their sustainable tree plantations are located mainly on their own sites. Projects are designed to last at least 99 years, during which no deforestation or commercial use occurs — reinforcing PLANT-MY-TREE’s® long-term climate protection goals.

PLANT-MY-TREE® offers its partners an experience where our employees can personally participate as the new forest we support is created. This makes climate and environmental protection tangible and real for everyone involved.

Through this partnership, we have planted 250 trees, compensating approximately 55 tons of CO₂ emissions.

We invite our employees and partners to join us at upcoming planting events and witness climate action firsthand.

EcoVadis Platinum 2025 – we further improved our rating

EcoVadis Platinum 2025 – we further improved our rating

Petrex is excited to announce that we recently received the results for our 2025 EcoVadis sustainability assessment. We further improved our score by 4 points to a total of 84 points. This, once again, earned us the EcoVadis Platinum Medal which makes us a Top 1% company among EcoVadis participants.

We thank all our stakeholders for supporting our sustainability journey. Corporate social responsibility is so much more than a label – Petrex will continue to be a responsible business partner in a dynamic political and global economical environment.

Meet us at CPHI 2025 in Frankfurt!

Meet us at CPHI 2025 in Frankfurt!

CPHI Worldwide is the flagship trade show of the international pharmaceutical industry. Companies specialized in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, diagnostics and other industry related sectors use this yearly event to network and collaborate.

About

This year the exhibition takes place from Oct 28, 2025 – Oct 30, 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany. 2.400 exhibitors and 62.000 professional visitors from more than 166 countries are expected to participate.

Meet us

Team Petrex will be there! We’re looking forward to meeting you. Please contact us for setting an appointment.