Elkem ASA has entered into an agreement to acquire Polysil, a leading Chinese silicone elastomer & resins material manufacturer with strong positions in baby care and food grade silicones, as well as silicone products for the electronics and medical markets. The companies have agreed an enterprise value for Polysil of up to RMB 941 million … Read more
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance framework agreement to accelerate collaboration with Yokogawa Electric Corporation. The agreement includes selection of Yokogawa as a preferred supplier of control systems. Under this alliance agreement, Yokogawa will promote localization in Saudi Arabia, and its integrated control systems and safety instrumented … Read more
The Saudi Arabian Fertiliser Company (SAFCO) agreed to acquire a unit of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) to improve growth and look for new markets, the company said on Wednesday. SAFCO will acquire 100% of SABIC Agri Nutrients Investment Company, which is valued at 4.59 billion Saudi riyals ($1.2 billion) by way of an increase … Read more
Ascend Performance Materials has finalized plans for a $175 million project to expand adiponitrile (ADN) production capacity at its Decatur, AL manufacturing facility. The company will also construct energy cogeneration units at the site. The cogeneration units will reduce emissions at the facility by 60 percent. Ascend said that state and local governments are providing … Read more
ALPLA, Britvic, Danone, Unilever, REMONDIS and BP – leading companies operating across the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic packaging value chain announced they have formed a new consortium that aims to help to address the problem of plastic waste by accelerating the commercialisation of BP Infinia enhanced recycling technology. BP Infinia is designed to turn opaque … Read more
LyondellBasell has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a 50:50 joint venture with China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), one of the largest integrated energy and chemical companies in China. Under the non-binding MoU, the JV will construct a new propylene oxide (PO) and styrene monomer (SM) unit in Zhenhai, Ningbo, China to serve … Read more
Tata Chemicals on Thursday said it has acquired the remaining 25 per cent stake in Tata Chemicals (Soda Ash) Partners Holdings for $195 million. Following the transaction, Tata Chemicals ownership in Tata Chemicals (Soda Ash) Partners has increased to 100 per cent. “Tata Chemicals, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Valley Holdings Inc, has acquired the remaining … Read more
BASF SE announced that it has entered a deal to sell its construction chemicals business to Lone Star Funds, a global private equity firm for 3.17 billion euros ($3.5 billion). The deal, which has immediate effect upon BASF’s reporting, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020, according to the statement. The deal … Read more
Specialty chemical company Ecolab Inc. will merge its upstream energy business, Nalco Champion LLC with oilfield services provider Apergy Corp. The combined entity is expected to have pro forma sales of roughly $3.5 billion for the year and adjusted EBITDA of about $615 million, according to a Dec. 19 news release. The deal values Nalco … Read more
PolyOne Corp. announced that it had made a deal with Clariant AG to buy its masterbatches business for $1.45 billion. The deal is set for completion in the third quarter of 2020. The transaction values the Clariant business at $1.56 billion, representing roughly 11.1 times the annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). … Read more
Hitachi Ltd said on Wednesday it would sell its listed chemicals business to electronic materials maker Showa Denko as the Japanese industrial conglomerate overhauls its business portfolio. Hitachi will sell its 51% stake in Hitachi Chemical for 494 billion yen ($4.51 billion) to Showa Denko. Hitachi Chemical is a supplier of materials for semiconductors, displays … Read more
Sasol announced that the LCCP Ethane Cracker is increasing production rates following the successful replacement of the acetylene reactor catalyst. Sasol’s Ethane Cracker achieved beneficial operation in August 2019 but has run approximately 50 – 60% of nameplate capacity due to underperformance of the plant’s acetylene removal system. The company stated that the issue has … Read more
Ferro Corporation announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Tile Coatings Business to Pigments Spain, S.L., a company of the Esmalglass-Itaca-Fritta group, which is a portfolio company of Lone Star Funds. The deal was for $460 million in cash, with the potential for an additional $32 million in cash based on … Read more
IFF and DuPont announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for the merger of IFF and DuPont’s Nutrition & Biosciences (N&B) business in a Reverse Morris Trust transaction. The deal values the combined company at $45.4 billion on an enterprise value basis, reflecting a value of $26.2 billion for the N&B business based … Read more
Evonik’s joint venture with Chinese company Wynca – Evonik Wynca (Zhenjiang) Silicon Material Co., Ltd. has officially started the construction on a new fumed silica plant in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China. Together with the business partners, representatives from local government and media, Evonik and Wynca took part in a ground-breaking ceremony on December 10th in … Read more
Trinseo announced the initiation of a joint development project with Fernholz – a leading manufacturer of plastics packaging – to develop a high-quality Polystyrene (PS) product composed of 25% recycled material through a chemical recycling dissolution process. The collaboration is expected to have commercial viability by mid-year 2020. Trinseo announced at the industry renown K … Read more
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) signed a framework agreement with Reliance Industries to explore development of an Ethylene Dichloride facility in Ruwais. The agreement was signed by Mr. Abdulaziz Alhajri, Executive Director of ADNOC’s Downstream Directorate, and Mr. Nikhil R. Meswani, RIL Executive Director. Under the terms of the agreement, ADNOC and RIL … Read more
Baltic Chemical Plant LLC (BCP), a wholly-owned subsidiary of RusGasDobycha, has selected Univation Technologies’ UNIPOL PE Process for six reactor lines to be located at the Ust-Luga marine port located in Leningradsky Region, Russia. With maximum product flexibility in mind, each UNIPOL PE Reactor line is designed for a world-scale capacity of 500,000 TPY, yielding … Read more
LG Chem will be backed by South Korea’s state lenders with $5 billion in policy loans to finance its expansion in secondary battery factories across the world over the next five years as a part of the government push to promote battery business. LG Chem signed an agreement with Korea Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of … Read more
Honeywell announced that it will provide UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology to Shandong Binhua New Material Co to produce 600,000 MT per year of polymer-grade propylene for a proposed plant in China. Honeywell UOP will provide services, equipment, catalysts and adsorbents for the Shandong plant. The project marks the 25th award for C3 Oleflex technology in … Read more