Nippon Shokubai and Sanyo Chemical Industries announced that their merger agreement and formation of joint venture has been postponed over the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. This merger was planned to establish a joint holding company, Synfomix, Ltd. by way of a joint share transfer, which would subsequently become the integrated holding company serving as parent to … Read more
Oxea announced that it will implement a 100% sales control on n-Propanol and n-Propyl Acetate effective immediately for 2nd quarter, 2020 in reaction to strong demand coupled with logistics issues and service related to the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. The sales control will be based on the average monthly consumption over the last six months or … Read more
Tata Chemicals announced force majeure on shipments of soda ash to South Africa after government restrictions resulted in the closure of several berths at Maydon Wharf including Tata Chemicals South Africa’s berth at Maydon Wharf 14. The South African government has placed restrictions on the continued operation of various business activities, including port operations due … Read more
Sumitomo Chemical announced on 2nd April that it invested $30 million in Conagen, a U.S. biotechnology company. The company has conducted joint research with Conagen since 2018 on the biosynthesis of existing chemicals. The fresh investment will further promote its strategic business alliance with Conagen and develop innovative high functional products and processes by way … Read more
Nova Chemicals Corp. is making substantial reductions in its construction activities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are adjusting construction work on our new AST2 polyethylene facility and Corunna cracker expansion projects in Ontario to temporarily focus on only the most critical work, which will result in a reduction of approximately 90% of … Read more
Methanex Corporation (TSX:MX) (NASDAQ:MEOH) said it is taking action to defer approximately $500 million of previously announced capital spending on its Geismar 3 methanol project for up to 18 months. The decision was made considering the significant uncertainty in the global economy from the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a challenging commodity price and project execution … Read more
LyondellBasell announced on Monday that it will slow construction of its propylene oxide (PO) and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) facility in Channelview, Texas. The company is limiting non-essential activities considering the current concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic. The PO / TBA site is under construction and limiting the construction activities will be prudent, according … Read more
Advanced Global Investment Company (AGIC), a subsidiary of PP producer Advanced Petrochemical, has agreed to form a joint venture with South Korea’s SK Gas and build a propane dehydrogenation (PDH)/PP complex at Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The JV agreement follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in June, 2019. The new entity, called Advanced Polyolefins, will … Read more
Air Products (NYSE: APD) has reached an agreement with PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE: PBF) that include the acquisition of $530 million of five hydrogen steam methane reformers (SMR) hydrogen production plants and the long-term supply of hydrogen to PBF refiners from those already operating plants. Located in Torrance and Martinez, California and Delaware City, the … Read more
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) urged G20 leaders to lift tariffs and export restrictions to improve access to the products necessary to healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Chemistry Council (ACC) President and CEO, Chris Jahn, in response to the virtual G20 summit, said, “U.S. chemicals manufacturers are calling for G20 leaders to increase … Read more
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited (HKEX: 00338; SSE: 600688; NYSE: SHI) announced the annual results for the twelve months ended 31st December 2019. Net sales of the company in 2019 amounted to RMB88.1 billion ($12.45 billion), a decrease of 7.90% from the previous year’s RMB95.6 million ($13.5 billion). The decrease in sales was attributed to … Read more
Indorama Ventures Limited has announced that the company decided to extend the pre-construction period of the PTA-PET plant in Corpus Christi, Texas through the end of 2020. Christi Polymers LLC (CCP), a joint venture among certain subsidiaries of Indorama Ventures Holding, Alpek and Far Eastern Investment (Holding) Limited was created to acquire and complete construction … Read more
BASF wants to help solve the existing hand sanitizer shortage that emerged as a result of considerably increased demand due to the spread of novel coronavirus. In order to make this possible, several preconditions have been met over the past few days to enable the manufacture of medical disinfectants at the Ludwigshafen site itself. BASF … Read more
Sasol said on Tuesday that it aims to generate $6 billion by the end of financial year 2021 as it seeks to stabilise its balance sheet. The energy and chemicals major is battling high debt, the impact of the corona virus outbreak and falls in oil and chemical prices. Sasol said it could sell up … Read more
Domo Chemicals GmbH, a Germany-based materials manufacturer announced its plans to build a nylon compounding plant in Zhejiang, China in a move to increase its focus on the Asia Pacific region. The new plant will be capable of producing 50,000 ton of sustainable and innovative engineered nylon compounds each year, the company said in a … Read more
Lotte Chemical on March 4 suspended the operation of nine plants following an explosion at its Daesan Complex in Daesan-eup, Seosan County, South Chungcheong Province, Business Korea reported. The accident is expected to have an impact on the ethylene market. Lotte Chemical produces 4.5 million ton per year of ethylene annually at home and abroad. … Read more
Asahi Kasei has decided to discontinue its business for the styrenic resins SAN (Styrene-acrylonitrile resin), ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), and ACS. According to the company, the operations of SAN plant at Kawasaki Works will be closed in March 2021. The business to be discontinued began with the 1962 start-up of the SAN plant in Kawasaki, … Read more
Austria’s OMV is in talks with Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company to acquire a controlling stake worth $4.68 billion in Borealis. The deal— which would increase OMV’s current shareholding in Borealis from 36% to 75%— is said to be potentially record-breaking and would shift OMV’s focus to petrochemicals. “The potential transaction would expand the value … Read more
Sadara Chemical Company, a joint venture (JV) between Saudi Aramco and Dow, reported a huge loss in full-year of 2019 due to lower product prices and the costs of asset maintenance which reached SAR9.2 billion ($2.45 billion). Net loss was SAR14.486 billion ($3.86 billion), up from 2018’s SAR3.86 billion ($1.03 billion). Operating loss was at … Read more
LyondellBasell, the world’s largest licensor of polyolefin technologies, announced that Hyosung Vina Chemicals Co., Ltd. will use the LyondellBasell Spheripol technology for a new facility. The process technology will be used for a 300,000 ton per year polypropylene plant to be built in Cai Mep Industrial Zone, Vung Tau Province, Vietnam. “This additional award for … Read more