Evonik officially commissioned its second complex for the production of MetAMINO® (DL-methionine) and strategically important precursors in Singapore on June 18, 2019. “Our methionine complex on Jurong Island, which we commissioned in late 2014 has been a real success story. Now, we want to continue the success story with this second plant,” said Christian Kullmann, … Read more
LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, and Neste, the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel from waste and residues, announced the first parallel production of bio-based polypropylene and bio-based low-density polyethylene at a commercial scale. LyondellBasell production team in Wesseling, Germany shows off first batch of bio-polymer made … Read more
BASF and SIBUR are collaborating to develop innovative polymer solutions at SIBUR’s PolyLab Research and Development Center in Moscow. The signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Cooperation took place on May 30th at SIBUR’s newly inaugurated state-of-the-art PolyLab at the Skolkovo Innovation Center to seal the strong commitment from SIBUR and BASF. Both companies will … Read more
Unifrax, the leading global provider of high-performance specialty materials backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P., announced it has acquired Stellar Materials, LLC, a manufacturer of highly proprietary, mission-critical and innovative specialty chemistries and materials. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “This acquisition represents another positive step in the continued implementation of our long-term … Read more
Danhua Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. is planning to purchase 100% equity of Jiangsu Silbang Petrochemical Co., Ltd. by way of issuance of shares. The transaction is valued around 11 billion yuan ($1.59 billion). The transaction is part of the company’s asset restructuring plan. On June 13, 2019, the company held the twenty-seventh meeting of the … Read more
SK Chemicals Inc., a chemical unit of SK Group, said that it has decided to acquire KCF Technologies Co., the world’s top producer of copper foil for lithium-ion batteries, in a bid to diversify its business portfolio. SK Chemicals said it will buy a 100 percent stake in KCF Technologies, currently owned by Kohlberg Kravis … Read more
Repsol, one of the largest energy companies, present in the entire value chain covering a wide range of petrochemicals’ production that includes styrene monomer, becomes a member of SCS. Repsol joins the four founding members of SCS (Styrenics Circular Solutions), INEOS Styrolution, Total, Trinseo and Versalis (Eni). SCS is now well established with producers of … Read more
China saw a 16 percent monthly drop of rare earth exports in May amid trade war escalation and an increased focus on domestic resources conservation and high-quality development of commodities, as reported by China Daily. Rare-earth exports by China fell to 3,640 metric tons in May from 4,329 tons in April, according to the General … Read more
Elkem Silicones, the world’s second largest silicone siloxane capacity producer, announces it has expanded its local product offering to include upstream basic silicones to meet the growing demands of the North American marketplace. These basic silicone materials, including cyclosiloxanes D4 and D5, polydimethylsiloxane oils (PDMS), silanol fluids, emulsions and sealants, now will be readily available … Read more
Northleaf Capital Partners (Northleaf) announced that funds managed by Northleaf have acquired a 49% equity interest in Odfjell Holdings (US) Inc. (OHUS), a portfolio of bulk liquid storage terminals in the United States. The remaining 51% interest continues to be held by Odfjell SE, one of the leading players in the global market for seaborne … Read more
Covestro, a leading global supplier of high-performance polymer materials, has delivered its first commercial order of polyurethane raw materials for wind blades to China. China is the world’s largest wind power market with 221 GW of installed capacity at the end of 2018, according to the World Wind Energy Association.(1) The blades, produced by Zhuzhou … Read more
Altana’s ACTEGA Rhenania, a globally leading coatings and adhesives specialist, inaugurated its new laboratory building in Grevenbroich on June 5th. The company invested around 10 million euros in the new building. The building has an area of 5,700 square meters, doubling ACTEGA Rhenania’s space for research and development. “With this investment we are considerably boosting … Read more
Lion Elastomers, LLC announced on Monday the execution of a purchase agreement for an Orange, Texas production site owned and operated by Firestone Polymers, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation. The plant manufactures polybutadiene and styrene-butadiene copolymers, produced under the Stereon™, Diene™, and Duradene™ trade names. These products are complementary to Lion’s current … Read more
Polyscope Polymers B.V. has completed the business integration of the global styrene maleic anhydride (SMA®) copolymers business from Cray Valley S.A., Cray Valley HSC Asia Ltd, Cray Valley (Guangzhou) Chemical Co. Ltd. and Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. Cray Valley was the global market leader for low molecular weight (LMW) SMA® products and the … Read more
INEOS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Aramco and Total, France, to build three new plants as part of the Jubail 2 complex in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A new state-of-the-art 425,000 tonne acrylonitrile plant, will use INEOS’ world leading technology and catalyst. It will be the first plant of its kind … Read more
BASF and SINOPEC commenced production at the second propionic acid plant at the Verbund site, BASF-YPC Co., Ltd., a 50-50 joint venture in Nanjing, China. Commercial products are now available for sale to customers in China and the rest of Asia Pacific. The new plant has an annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons of … Read more
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. is expanding its subsidiary in Thailand, Grand Siam Composites’ polypropylene (PP) compounding capacity to meet increasing global demand from the automotive industry. The expansion due on stream in June 2020 will boost the overall global compounding capacity of the group to nearly 1 million tons per year, ranking it second behind LyondellBasell. … Read more
BASF Venture Capital is investing in the Longwater Advanced Materials Fund. This private equity fund is managed by Longwater Investment, a pioneer growth capital investor in advanced materials and chemistry-related technologies in China. BASF Venture Capital is one of several Limited Partners; other investors include Xiamen C & D, CICC Genesis and Tsinghua Redbud. The … Read more
Lotte Group’s Chemical Business Unit (BU) has announced plans to invest about KRW 3.7 trillion ($3.1 billion) in South Korea by 2022. Business Korea reported that Lotte Group is aiming to increase its global sales to KRW 50 trillion by 2030 as part of the expansion plans. Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin also has further … Read more
Nippon Shokubai and Sanyo Chemical Industries announced on Wednesday that the two companies had reached a Basic Agreement to move ahead with the consideration toward the integration of their businesses based on an equal footing. They will establish a holding company in October 2020 to integrate operations, which will be followed by a full-blown merger … Read more