Nestle Waters, PepsiCo, Suntory Join PET Recycling Consortium

Food and beverage companies Nestlé Waters, Pepsi and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe have joined an industrial consortium to fund the development of Carbios’ enzyme technology for plastic recycling. There is an increasing pressure on companies recently to cut down waste and develop better ways to recycle the plastic they use or produce in order … Read more

Nippon Paint Acquires Betek Boya of Turkey

Nippon Paint Holdings Co. acquired Turkish paint manufacturer Betek Boya on Friday. An agreement was signed for the transfer of shares in Betek Boya and its subsidiaries. Betek Boya, well known in Turkey for its Filli Boya brand of paint, was expected to see sales of TL 1.6 billion ($268.4 million) last year. The value … Read more

Air Liquide Expands Supply Agreement with LyondellBasell

Air Liquide announced today that it has expanded its utilities supply agreement with LyondellBasell for its new propylene oxide (PO) and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) project in the Houston area. This agreement comes in addition to the long-term contract already signed with LyondellBasell to supply oxygen for this project, which will be the world’s largest … Read more

Univation Announces Startup of Kazanorgsintez Metallocene PE production

Univation Technologies LLC has announced that PJSC Kazanorgsintez (KOS) has successfully produced metallocene polyethylene resin on their existing UNIPOL PE Reactor Line located in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, in the Russian Federation. KOS currently operates three UNIPOL PE Reactor Lines that have been in operation since 1983, with KOS also completing a significant capacity expansion … Read more

BP, Socar to Start Construction of PTA, PX Project in Turkey

Socar and BP announced the construction of a new petrochemical complex for the production of aromatics and PTA (purified terephthalic acid) in Aliagha, Izmir, Turkey. The construction of the project is scheduled to start in 2020 and is planned to be launched by late 2023. “Aromatics factory will produce 830,000 tonnes of paraxylene, nearly 400,000 … Read more

Dow to Expand Alkoxylation Capacity in Spain

Dow announced on Thursday its plans to expand the alkoxylation capacity at its existing facility in Tarragona, Spain to cater to the demand from Europe, Middle East, Africa and India region. The new capacity is “low capital intensive, high in returns and an incremental investment”, according to the company statement. This capacity which will be … Read more

BASF to Invest in Upgradation of Silicate Plant in Germany

BASF announced on Thursday its plans to invest a “mid-range double-digit euro million” sum in the modernization of its silica plant at the Düsseldorf-Holthausen site. The investment is aimed at modernizing and improving existing facilities and will help the company meet rising silicate demand, BASF said. “We want to continue serving our customers with high-value … Read more

Haldia Petrochem to Invest $9 billion to Set Up 12 MTPA Refinery in South India

Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL), one of the largest refiner in India, is planning to invest Rs 62,714 crore ($9 billion) in setting up a 12 Million Tonne Per Annum (MTPA) refinery-cum-petrochemical complex near Kakinada, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The planned crude-to-chemical complex will produce refinery derivatives and petrochemicals for domestic and export markets. It will … Read more

INEOS Signs Sale of Melamines & Paraform Business to Prefere Resins

INEOS Enterprises has announced on Wednesday the sale of INEOS Melamines & Paraform to Prefere Resins Holding GmbH. The agreement covers sites in USA, Germany and Indonesia. INEOS Paraform is Europe’s second largest producer of Paraformaldehyde. It employs around 120 people at its Mainz facility located close to the River Rhine and the port of … Read more

Kaneka Starts New Biopolymers Division

Kaneka Starts New Biopolymers Division Kaneka Americas Holding, Inc. announced on Tuesday the establishment of the new Houston-based Biopolymers Division. PHBH (a copolymer of 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyhexanoate) from Kaneka is a plant-based product offering flexibility as well as heat resistance. It is produced through a novel process of bio-fermentation using renewable plant oils as feed stock. PHBH … Read more

Verus Completes Sale of VanDeMark Chemical Inc

Verus Investment Partners, a leading private equity investment firm, announced today that it has sold its portfolio company VanDeMark Chemical Inc., Lockport, NY. There was no disclosure of financial terms. VanDeMark, an independent manufacturer of phosgene and phosgene derivatives, offers a range of more than 30 chemical compounds used in the production of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, … Read more

Grace Announces High Olefins Yield FCC Collaboration with TechnipFMC

W. R. Grace & Co. announced today that it has signed an agreement with TechnipFMC PLC to jointly develop improved catalyst and process technology related to TechnipFMC Deep Catalytic Cracking (TDCC). TDCC is a high-severity fluid catalytic cracking process licensed by TechnipFMC and designed to produce very high yields of propylene and other petrochemical feedstocks. … Read more

Saudi Aramco to Acquire Shell out of Sasref Refinery for $631 Million

Saudi Aramco announced on Sunday it will buy Royal Dutch Shell’s 50% interest in the SASREF refinery in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia, for $631 million. The sale is expected to complete later this year, subject to regulatory approval. According to the statement, Aramco will take full ownership of the 305,000 barrels per day refinery … Read more

WACKER and Oriental Yuhong Launched a Joint Lab Project

A joint lab project between Wacker Chemie AG and Beijing Oriental Yuhong Waterproof Technology Co., Ltd. was officially launched in Beijing on Thursday, aiming to further strengthen the upstream-downstream cooperation in the waterproof coatings industry. With the joint labs set up in respective workplaces, the two companies will work together on the fundamental research and … Read more

Dow to Permanently Shut its Acrylic Emulsions Plant in Charlotte

Dow Chemical is closing its acrylic emulsions facility in east Charlotte this July. The company said that it made the decision after thorough assessments on sustainability of the operations. The company will decommission the plant on July 31st and will supply the product to its customers from other locations. The Charlotte site produces acrylic emulsions … Read more

Nippon Paint to Acquire DuluxGroup for $2.7 Billion

Nippon Paint Holdings Co. will acquire major Australian paint company, DuluxGroup Ltd. for 300.5 billion yen ($ 2.7 billion) to strengthen its foothold in the overseas market, the two companies announced on Wednesday. The leading manufacturer of paint and coating aims to close the deal by mid – August to purchase DuluxGroup, which has the … Read more

Celanese Plans to Expand Methanol Production at Clear Lake Facility

Celanese Corporation announced today its plans to significantly expand methanol production capacity at the company’s Clear Lake acetyl intermediates manufacturing facility located in Pasadena, Texas. Celanese has recently been granted approvals from the Fairway Methanol LLC board of directors for a second phase expansion, which will increase production to 1.7 million metric tons per year … Read more

Nouryon Completes Organic Peroxides Expansion in India

Nouryon has completed a €4 million ($4.5 m) expansion at Mahad, India which will increase organic peroxides production capacity at the site by 80 percent. The increased capacity will support growing customer demand in India and the Middle East for organic peroxides, essential in the manufacture of polymer-based products such as athletic shoe soles, wind … Read more

Deepak Fertilizers Starts-up New Nitric Acid Production Complex in India

Deepak Fertilizers announced the start of commercial output of nitric acid at its production complex at Dahej, Gujarat. The new facility, with project cost of approximately $79 million, has production capacity of around 92,000 tonne per annum for concentrated nitric acid and around 14,9000 tonne/annum for diluted nitric acid, the company said. This new facility … Read more