Formosa Plastics Corporation, U.S.A. continues its progress on the construction and startup of expansion units at Point Comfort, Texas site. The 1.5 million-MT per year cracker has come online and was seen ramping up through January. The 400,000-MT per year LDPE unit is in the commissioning stages, with initial start-up expected in April 2020. The … Read more Formosa Plastics Starts Up New Texas Cracker
BASF SE announced a single-digit million-euro investment to increase capacity of water-based polyurethane dispersions at its Castellbisbal site in Spain. The expansion will allow BASF to increase its production capacity by 30%. “We want to continue to provide our customers with high-quality polyurethane dispersions and help them grow by ensuring supply reliability. Considering the rising … Read more BASF to Expand Polyurethane Dispersions Capacity in Spain
Covestro A.G. is delaying work to expand its MDI plant in Baytown, a move that will halt work on the MDI-500 project for 18-24 months. In a Jan. 21 news release about the decision the company cited “challenging global market dynamics” for the halt. However, it stressed that there were no plans to leave the MDI … Read more Covestro Delays Texas MDI Project Citing Weak Market
Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) has decided to terminate operation of its production lines to synthesize unsaturated polyester resin (UP) and vinyl ester resin (VE) at Isesaki Plant by the end of June 2021. The company will concentrate domestic production of UP and VE at Tatsuno Plant in order to improve profitability of its UP and … Read more Showa Denko Restructures Domestic Production of UP and VE Resin
Avangard Innovative LP, a specialist in waste optimization technology reached an agreement to supply Dow with post-consumer resin (PCR) plastic film pellets. The deal will be a significant addition to Dow’s plastic circularity portfolio that is aligned with the company’s goal to advance the circular economy for plastics and minimize waste in the environment. The … Read more Avangard to Supply PCR Plastic Film Pellets to Dow
Solvay’s new high molecular weight (HMW) hindered amine light stabilizer (HALS) capacity is now online, complementing existing HALS production at the Willow Island, West Virginia, USA, site. The facility was designed with the latest improvements in technology to ensure operator safety, reduce impact on the environment, and improve the quality and consistency of Solvay’s HALS … Read more Solvay Boosts Light Stabilizers Capacity at West Virginia Site
Formosa Petrochemical has received air pollution permits for a $9.4 billion petrochemical and plastics complex the company has proposed building in St. James Parish, Louisiana. The company has received the final Title V operating permits needed from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The complex would be built in two phases and produce ethylene, propylene, … Read more Formosa’s $9.4B Petchem Project in Louisiana Clears Key Hurdle
Shell announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CNOOC Oil & Petrochemicals Co Ltd (CNOOC) to explore its first commercial-scale polycarbonate (PC) production unit, which would be located at the CNOOC and Shell Petrochemical Company (CSPC) joint-venture chemicals complex in Huizhou, China. As an interim step, Shell has started constructing a PC development … Read more Shell Chemicals to Explore Polycarbonate Production in Singapore
Borealis AG and NOVA Chemicals Corporation announced last Thursday that they have reached an agreement for Borealis to buy NOVA Chemicals’ 50% ownership interest in Novealis Holdings LLC. Formed in 2018, Novealis is the joint venture between affiliates of Borealis and NOVA Chemicals, which subsequently formed a 50/50 joint venture with an affiliate of Total … Read more Borealis AG to Acquire NOVA Chemicals Share in Novealis Joint Venture
INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, has announced plans to build a world-scale acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) plant in Ningbo, China. The new production site will be adjacent to the recently acquired polystyrene plant in Ningbo. After the acquisition of two polystyrene production sites in China from Total in February 2019, INEOS Styrolution embarks on plans … Read more INEOS Styrolution to Build World-Scale ABS Plant in China
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 Elkem to Acquire Chinese Silicone Elastomers Manufacturer
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 Companies form Consortium to Tackle PET Plastic Waste
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 Trinseo, Fernholz to Jointly Develop High-Quality Recycled Polystyrene
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 Baltic Chemical Plant Selects Univation’s UNIPOL PE Technology
Huntsman Corporation announced its agreement to acquire Icynene-Lapolla, a leading North American manufacturer and distributor of spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation systems for residential and commercial applications, from an affiliate of FFL Partners, LLC. Icynene-Lapolla has annual revenues of approximately $230 million with two manufacturing facilities located in Houston, Texas and Mississauga, Ontario. Under terms … Read more Huntsman to Acquire Icynene-Lapolla for $350 Million
Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global chemical manufacturer, has acquired Green Fiber International Inc. (GFI), a recycling company in Fontana, California, USA. The facility produces Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (rPET) Flakes. The acquisition has a combined capacity of 40,000 tonnes/annum. Green Fiber International Inc. offers high-quality recycled PET bottle flakes for food contact to … Read more Indorama Acquires PET Recycler Green Fiber International
BASF officially launched its smart Verbund project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, China, and commenced building its first plants. The project is estimated to cost US$10 billion as announced in July 2018. The first plants will produce engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to serve the increasing needs of various growth industries in the southern China … Read more BASF Begins $10 Billion Verbund Project in China
MonoSol, a divison of Tokyo-based Kuraray Group announced plans to further expand its operations with the construction of a new manufacturing facility in Poland to meet rapidly increasing demand for its water-soluble and biodegradable films. Additionally, the company confirmed plans to increase manufacturing capacity at its recently completed plant near Indianapolis in Lebanon, Indiana. The … Read more MonoSol to Build New Plant in Europe and Expand Operations in US
Covestro successfully closed the sale of its European Systems Houses business to H.I.G. Capital effective as of November 1, 2019. The sales proceeds amount to a high-double-digit euro million sum. The business comprises facilities in the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Germany and further businesses in Italy. With approximately 250 employees, the business generates a annual sales … Read more Covestro Sells European Systems Houses Business to HIG Capital
Gabriel Performance Products, a U.S.-based leading specialty chemicals company serving the coatings, adhesives, and composite end markets, announces the acquisition of a select portfolio of alkyd resins from Deltech Resin Company. Gabriel has purchased a subset of Deltech’s alkyd resin product line. Gabriel will produce these products in its Harrison City, PA facility, home of … Read more Gabriel Performance Acquires Alkyd Resins Product Line from Deltech