News Archive
Archive of industry news from the global chemicals industryNews By Date
February 2012
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Sumitomo builds S-SBR manufacturing plant in Singapore
Sumitomo Chemical Asia PTE, a group company of Sumitomo Chemical, is constructing a $140m new solution styrene- butadiene rubber (S-SBR) manufacturing plant in Merbau area of Jurong Island,...
Dover settles unauthorised chlorinated paraffins production case
Dover Chemical has agreed to pay $1.4m in fines for unauthorised production of chlorinated paraffins at its plants in Dover, Ohio, and Hammond,...
Rockwood to build lithium carbonate plant in Chile
Rockwood Holdings is planning to invest $140m to construct a 20,000 metric ton lithium carbonate production facility at LeNegra, near the port of Antofagasta, northern...
Indorama Ventures to purchase Old World
Indorama Ventures (IVL) has entered into a deal to purchase US-based Ethylene Oxide (EO) and Ethylene Glycol (EG) producer, Old World Industries and Old World Transportation, for $...
Chemcel opens CMS extrusion plant
Sri Lanka-based Chemcel, a subsidiary of Chemanex, has opened a $7.18m carboxy methyl starch (CMS) extrusion plant in the Mirigama export processing zone, north of Colombo, Sri...
SI Group to construct phenolic resin plant in China
SI Group is investing $30m to construct a new phenolic resin manufacturing site at the Nanjing Chemical Industry Park (NCIP) in...
Italian agency to fund RIL petrochemical plants expansion
Sace, an Italian export-credit agency, has approved a $400m equivalent loan to Reliance Industries (RIL) to expand and upgrade the production capacity of its petrochemical plants, a...
AkzoNobel to build new pulp Chemical Island facility in Brazil
AkzoNobel will invest €80m ($105m) to build a new pulp Chemical Island facility in Imperatriz, Maranhao,...
Nisshoku Chemical to expand SAP plant in China
Nisshoku Chemical Industry (NSC), a China subsidiary of Nippon Shokubai, will invest approximately $56m, including ancillary facilities, to expand its superabsorbent polymers (SAP) plant...
Samsung Total to use LyondellBasell technology for LDPE, EVA production plant
Samsung Total Petrochemicals, a joint venture of Samsung General Chemicals and Total Petrochemical, will use Netherlands-based LyondellBasell's Lupotech T process technology to build a 200...
Flotek expands Marlow chemical production facility
Flotek Industries, a developer and distributor of specialty chemicals, has completed an initial expansion of its chemical production facility in Marlow, Oklahoma,...
Marubeni plans to form PET and PTA plant JV in Russia
Japan-based investment agency Marubeni is planning to form a joint venture (JV) with the government of Tatarstan to build a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and purified terephthalic acid...
January 2012
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HPC to broaden PP complex in Yeosu
Honam Petrochemical (HPC) is adding a 300,000 tonnes per year (tpa) polypropylene (PP) line to its PP complex in...
Qatar to invest $25bn in petrochemical production over next decade
Qatar will invest $25bn to expand and develop its domestic petrochemical industry over the next decade, according to an...
Total and Samsung to expand JV petrochemical complex in South Korea
Total and Samsung Petrochemicals are investing $1.8bn to expand and upgrade their joint venture (JV) petrochemical complex, Samsung Total Petrochemicals, in Daesan, South...
Eastman Chemical to buy Solutia
Eastman Chemical Company has signed a definitive agreement to purchase a provider of performance materials and specialty chemicals,...
Rhodia and Avantium partner to develop biobased polyamides
Rhodia, a member of the Solvay Group, and Avantium have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly develop new bio-based polyamides that target a variety of...
USDA to fund ZeaChem cellulosic biorefinery
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), through its 9003 Biorefinery Assistance Programme, has granted a conditional commitment worth $232.5m to ZeaChem Boardman Biorefinery...
Yanchang Petroleum to equip new HDPE resin plant with Lyondell process technology
Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Yanan Energy and Chemical has been granted permission to use LyondellBasell's Hostalen ACP process technology under a new licence...
Indorama to construct PTA and PET plants in India
Indorama Ventures is planning to invest $700m to build purified terephthalic acid (PTA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyester staple fibre (PSF) plants in...
DSM and POET join forces for cellulosic ethanol production
Royal DSM has entered into an agreement with POET to form a cellulosic ethanol joint venture (JV)...
Genomatica adopts Beta technology for BDO production
Genomatica is adopting Beta Renewables' Proesa technology for the production of butanediol (BDO), as part of the definitive agreement between the two...
Novamont and Genomatica sign BDO plant JV agreement
Novamont and Genomatica have formed a joint venture (JV) to operate the first butanediol (BDO) industrial plant in Europe to use renewable...
DNCC to construct caprolactam plant
DSM Nanjing Chemical Company (DNCC), a joint venture (JV) between Royal DSM and SINOPEC Group, has awarded contract to Toyo Engineering for the construction of a caprolactam...
Bayer constructs new plant for coating raw materials
Bayer MaterialScience, a Bayer Group company, has started construction of a multipurpose facility to produce polyurethane coating for raw materials at Leverkusen,...
Nuplex signs MoU with KVIL Group
Nuplex Resins BV, a European business of Nuplex Industries, has entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to form a joint venture (JV) company with KVIL Group...
BASF FINA awards ethylene furnace contract to Selas
BASF FINA Petrochemicals, a joint venture of BASF Corporation and Total Petrochemicals, has awarded a contract to Selas Fluid Processing Corporation for a cracking ethylene...
Rosneft to build petrochemical complex in Russia
Rosneft will invest between €3.5bn and €5bn ($4.4bn and $6.3bn) in the construction of a giant petrochemical complex close to the Russian city of...
Methanex to resume methanol production in New Zealand
Methanex Corporation is investing $60m to restart its second methanol plant at its Motunui site in New Zealand, which has been closed since...
Samsung Total to use UOP technology for petrochemical and fuels production
Samsung Total Petrochemicals, a joint venture between Samsung General Chemicals and Total Petrochemical, will use UOP's technologies for the production of petrochemicals, diesel and jet fuel at...
Aramco signs oil refinery JV agreement with Sinopec
Saudi Arabian Oil company (Saudi Aramco) has entered into a $8.5bn joint venture (JV) agreement with China Petrochemical (Sinopec Group) to build an oil refinery at the Saudi Red Sea port of...
BASF to construct TDI production plant in Germany
BASF is investing €1bn to set up a 300,000tpa toluene diisocyanate (TDI) production plant in Ludwigshafen,...
Solvay and Air Liquide form JV for fluorine gas business
Solvay and Air Liquide have entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement to establish a fluorine gas...
Pittsburgh RMG and Aither to build petrochemical plant
Aither Chemicals and Pittsburgh Renewable Manufacturing Gateway (RMG) of Pennsylvania, US, have signed a letter of engagement (LOE) to fund and construct a petrochemical plant on Marcellus...
Lanxess to construct new production plant in Russia
Rhein Chemie, a subsidiary of Lanxess, is to construct a new production plant in Lipezk, Russia, to manufacture rubber additives and release agents to meet the demand from the Russian and...
GMR to build new refinery and petrochemicals complex in India
GMR Holdings, the holding company of GMR Group, has announced a five-year project to set up a refinery-cum-petrochemicals complex in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh,...
BASF acquires equity ownership in Sion Power
BASF has invested $50m to obtain equity ownership in Sion Power, a manufacturer of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries based in Arizona,...
Coromandel SQM fertiliser plant to begin commercial production
Coromandel SQM (India) is set to launch commercial production at what it claims is India's first water-soluble fertiliser...
Pennsylvania potential site for proposed Shell chemical plant in US
US Senator for Pennsylvania Bob Casey has written to a Shell executive to select a Pennsylvania site for the construction of a new chemical plant in the...
UOP to provide petrochemicals production technology in South Korea
Kumho P&B Chemicals of South Korea has selected Honeywell UOP's Q-Max and UOP Phenol process technologies to produce key petrochemicals for the manufacture of...
Sinofert Fertilizer Company to acquire Xundian Lomon
Sinofert Fertilizer Company, a subsidiary of Sinofert Holdings, has entered into an agreement to purchase Xundian Lomon Phosphorus Chemical, based in Yunnan province, China for 1.38bn...
BASF and Sinopec complete $1.4bn petrochemical expansion project
BASF and Sinopec have completed the $1.4bn second phase of the Nanjing investment, bringing chemicals to the Chinese market that could support the development of sustainable local...
GSFC to build biofertiliser complex
Gujarat State Fertilizers Company (GSFC) is investing Rs500m ($9.5m) to build a biofertilizer complex in Vadodara, Gujarat,...
PCS Phosphate plans sulpur factory
PCS Phosphate, a unit of Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, is in talks to build a sulphur plant at Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Virginia, US, according to a company...
Rentech Nitrogen ammonia capacity expansion moves ahead
Rentech Nitrogen Partners has obtained a loan of around $40m from Rentech to carry out its ammonia capacity and storage...
Jordan Company acquires Vantage Specialty Chemicals
HIG Capital, a private equity investment firm, has completed the sale of Vantage Specialty Chemicals to the Jordan...
Dow Chemical adopts UOP Oleflex technology
Dow Chemical Company has adopted Honeywell UOP's C(3) Oleflex technology to produce propylene at its petrochemicals production site in Texas,...
Sibur plans new petrochemical complex in Siberia
Sibur is planning to construct a new petrochemical complex in Tobolsk in Tyumen, western Siberia, Russia, according to CEO Dmitry...
Arkema takes over Seppic speciality alcoxylate business
Arkema has completed the purchase of Seppic's speciality alcoxylate business, as announced on 8 November...
Whiting Equipment to support Vale potash crystallisation plant
Vale has awarded a contract to Whiting Equipment Canada to supply salt evaporators and potash crystallisers for its Potasio Rio Colorado (PRC) potash crystallisation plant in Mendoza...
BASF invests in Renmatix technology
BASF, through its subsidiary BASF Biorenewable Beteiligungs, is investing $30m in the US-based technology firm...
Enterprise to build ethane pipeline in US
Enterprise Products Partners has obtained sufficient transportation commitments to build its 1,230-mile Appalachia to Texas pipeline (ATEX Express) from the Marcellus / Utica Shale areas...
Orica resumes production at Australian ammonia plant
Orica has today restarted its Newcastle ammonia plant in Australia following the completion of repair work at its plant and pre-start...
CPC allies with local firms to promote high-value petrochemicals
Taiwa-based CPC Corporation has entered into collaboration agreement with local firms and research centres to promote high-value...
December 2011
Top
PetroFina to acquire interest in Fina Antwerp Olefins
PetroFina, a 100% affiliate of Total Petrochemicals, has signed an agreement with ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical to transfer 35% shareholder interest in Fina Antwerp Olefins to...
Season's Greetings from the editorial team
We will be taking a short break over the holiday season. Our daily news service will return in full on 3...
Asahi Kasei to build second S-SBR plant in Singapore
Asahi Kasei Chemicals has decided to advance plans to build a second solution-polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR) plant near Tembusu district, Jurong Island,...
PolyOne acquires ColorMatrix
PolyOne, a provider of specialised polymer materials, services and solutions, has completed the purchase of...
Abengoa plans temporary shutdown of two ethanol plants
Abengoa Bioenergy is set to temporarily shutdown ethanol production at its plants in Portales, New Mexico, and Colwich Kansas, both in the US, due to bad market...
Dow and Aksa to launch carbon fibre joint venture
Dow Europe, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company, has entered into a joint venture agreement with Aksa Akrilik Kimya Sanayii to develop, manufacture and market carbon fibre and its...
Gujarat State Fertiliser Corporation to build fertiliser and petrochemicals complex
Gujarat State Fertiliser Corporation is investing Rs70bn ($1.29bn) to build an integrated fertiliser and petrochemicals complex in Dahej, Gujarat, India, according to a...
BPCL to sign joint venture agreement with LP Chemical
Bharat Petroleum Corporation is set to enter into a joint venture agreement with UK-based LP Chemical to build a petrochemical plant at its Kochi refinery in Kerala,...
Evonik to build new methionine production complex in Singapore
Evonik Industries is investing €500m to build a new methionine production complex on Jurong Island, Singapore, to broaden its core business of essential amino acids used for animal...
Apollo Global to acquire Belgian chemical producer
Apollo Global Management and its subsidiaries have entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Taminco Group from subsidiaries of CVC Capital Partners for approximately...
Wesfarmers board approves CSBP expansion project
CSBP has received approval from the Wesfarmers board to commence the expansion of its $550m ammonium nitrate project at the company's Kwinana industrial complex, located 40km away from...
Momentive and UPC Technology join forces for phenolic resins production
Momentive Specialty Chemicals has signed a joint venture agreement with UPC Technology to produce phenolic...
Chevron Phillips plans to build ethane and ethylene facilities
Chevron Phillips Chemical Company is planning to establish new ethane cracker and ethylene derivatives facilities in the US Gulf Coast (USGC)...
Yara enters into JV agreement with OCP
Oslo-based Yara International has entered into a 50:50 joint venture agreement with Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP), a provider of Moroccan...
Egypt Hydrocarbon awards ammonium nitrate plant contract to DSWP
Egypt Hydrocarbon Corporation has awarded a AED142m ($38.6m) contract to Drake & Scull Water and Power (DSWP) to construct its mining grade ammonium nitrate plant in the province of Ain Sukhna...
QPIC to build $1bn petrochemical complex
Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC) is planning to build a $1bn petrochemical complex in the industrial city of Al-Jubail in Saudi Arabia to produce purified terephthalic acid (PTA)...
Shell upgrades Pernis polyol site
Shell Chemicals has upgraded its site at Pernis, the Netherlands, to increase coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE) polyol...
Glycos selects Toyo as contractor for new biochemical plant
Toyo Engineering & Construction has entered into an agreement with Glycos Biotechnologies to provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for Glycos's new biochemical...
Sasol plans to build ethane cracker complex
Chemicals group Sasol is planning to establish an ethane cracker and derivatives complex at its site in Lake Charles, Louisiana,...
Dow plans to expand cellulosic production capacity in Asia-Pacific
Dow Chemical Company is planning to expand its cellulosic production capacity with a focus on the Asia-Pacific...
BASF to upgrade Vidalia adsorbents plant
BASF is investing $20m to make improvements to its existing alumina absorbent products plant in Vidalia,...
Evonik to broaden polyamide 12 plant capacity in Germany and Asia
Speciality chemicals provider Evonik Industries is set to expand the capacity of its polyamide 12 plants in Germany and...
INEOS plans to increase ethylidene norbornene capacity
INEOS Oxide, a provider of solvents and speciality chemicals, is considering an expansion of its ethylidene norbornene...
IMCD purchases Organotec fine chemicals business
IMCD Italia, a subsidiary of IMCD Group, has completed the acquisition of Organotec's Italy-based fine chemicals...
SCC to purchase LGLS ethaboxam fungicide business
Sumitomo Chemical Company (SCC) has entered into an agreement to purchase South Korea-based LG Life Sciences' (LGLS) ethaboxam fungicide...
Orica to resume operations of nitric acid and ammonium nitrate plants
The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority in Australia has lifted the prevention notices that were issued due to an incident on 9 November 2011 on Orica's pressurised ammonia...
Israel Chemicals acquires stake in Chemutura
Israel Chemicals has acquired the 50% stake of Tetrabrom Technologies owned by US-based Chemutura to become the company's exclusive...
Honeywell buys Evonik manufacturing technology
Honeywell has entered into an agreement to acquire Evonik Industries' portfolio of manufacturing...
Linde to set up new hydrogen plant in JCIP
The Linde Group will establish and run a new hydrogen plant at Jilin Chemical Industrial Park (JCIP) in north-east China to supply high-purity hydrogen to several...
Qatar and Shell sign petrochemicals complex development agreement
Qatar Petroleum has signed an agreement with Shell to develop a petrochemicals complex in Ras Laffan Industrial City,...
Honeywell partners with JR Simplot for new ASN fertiliser production facility
Honeywell has partnered with JR Simplot to establish a new facility that will produce Honeywell's new, dry granular ammonium sulphate nitrate (ASN) fertiliser - Sulf-N...
AkzoNobel buys coatings assets of Korean SSCP
AkzoNobel has acquired the coatings business of Korean SSCP as part of the larger agreement signed with the...
Lummus licences technology for Russian plants
CJSC Vostochnaya Neftechimicheskaya has awarded a licence and basic engineering contract to Lummus Technology, a CB&I...
Evonik acquires hydrogen peroxide facility in Canada
Germany-based Evonik Industries has acquired Kemira Chemicals' Canadian hydrogen peroxide...
Sika Canada acquires Duochem company
Sika Canada has acquired Duochem, a privately owned Canadian company that produces polymer flooring and waterproofing...
Chevron Phillips Chemical International acquires Belgian polyalphaolefin plant
Chevron Phillips Chemical's wholly owned subsidiary Chevron Phillips Chemical International has completed the acquisition of Neste Oil's polyalphaolefin plant in Beringen,...
Sumitomo to construct diesel particulate filters plant in Poland
Sumitomo Chemical is set to build a new PLN1.6m ($470,000) plant to produce aluminum titanate diesel particulate filters at its subsidiary Sumika Ceramics Poland Spolka Z...
Sasol to launch feasibility study for ethane cracker
Sasol is to proceed with a feasibility study for an ethane-based cracker and downstream derivative units at its Lake Charles site in Louisiana,...
Indorama completes deal to buy Wellman International
Bangkok's Indorama Ventures has concluded a deal to acquire Wellman International's recycling business in Europe from...
Zhejiang chooses UOP propylene technology for Chinese plant
Zhejiang Shaoxing Sanjin Petrochemical has chosen Honeywell company UOP to provide technology for propylene production at its propane dehydrogenation facility in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang...
K+S Group gets approval to begin Saskatchewan potash project
Germany-based K+S Group has received approval to commence a C$3.25bn (US$3.15bn) solution-mining potash project in southern Saskatchewan,...
Taiwan petrochemical firm to build phenol plant in China
Taiwan-based China Petrochemical Development (CPDC) is set to invest TWD$30bn (US$987m) to build a phenol plant in Jiangsu Province,...
Teijin plans pilot plant for carbon-fibre reinforced thermoplastic components
Teijin is planning to set up ¥2bn ($25m) pilot plant at its Matsuyama Factory in Ehime Prefecture, Japan, to produce carbon-fibre reinforced thermoplastic components from carbon...
Taminco to increase US methylamines capacity
Taminco, a producer of alkylamines and their derivatives, is planning to increase its methylamines capacity in the US by the end of...
Xingda lowers expandable polystyrene production rate to 50%
China's Xingda Group, a producer of expandable polystyrene, reduced its total production rate from 75% of capacity to 50% in late November due to poor...
LanzaTech and Yankuang Group to jointly produce chemicals
China's LanzaTech and Yankuang Group have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly produce fuels and...
Solutia acquires Southwall Technologies
Performance materials and speciality chemicals company Solutia has acquired Southwall Technologies for...
China's petrochemical sector posts 27.3% rise in sales revenue
China's petrochemical industry has reported sales revenue of 979.2bn yuan ($153.6bn) in the 12 months to October, equivalent to an increase of...
November 2011
Top
Solvay to acquire Orbeo
Solvay has said it will acquire Société Générale's 50% stake in the companies' joint venture,...
PPG increases caustic soda price in US and Canada
PPG Industries has said that it will increase prices for all grades of off-schedule liquid caustic soda (anhydrous basis) in the US by US$45 per short ton and in Canada by C$50 (US$48.3) per...
Primavera acquires minority stake in Chinese fertiliser producer
Chinese private equity firm the Primavera Capital Group has acquired a 14.97% stake in China XLX...
Dow and Saudi Aramco officially form Sadara
US-based Dow Chemical and Saudi Aramco have announced the official formation of Sadara Chemical Company as a joint...
WorleyParsons wins deal for Ecuador refinery project
Australian engineering and services company WorleyParsons has been awarded a $200m contract for the project management consultancy of the $12bn Refinería del Pacífico refining and...
Borealis offers to acquire PEC-Rhin
Borealis, a provider of chemical and plastics solutions, has announced that it has made an offer to GPN to buy France-based PEC-Rhin in its...
Cosmo to begin mixed xylene unit operations next month
Japanese refiner Cosmo Oil is set to commence commercial operations of a new 300,000t/year mixed xylene distillation unit in late...
Sinopec delays start of crude unit
China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) has said that the start-up of a new 160,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) crude oil unit at its Jinling refinery in Nanjing has been delayed to June...
BP and IndianOil to explore potential for acetic acid plant
BP and IndianOil have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the potential to establish an acetic acid plant as a 50:50 joint venture in Gujarat,...
Chinese polyethylene imports rise year-on-year
Data released by the Chinese customs service has revealed that the country's polyethylene imports rose year-on-year, including a 47.6% increase in...
Amvac gets clearance to sell pentachloronitrobenzene products in the US
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved certain registrations for the American Vanguard's pentachloronitrobenzene product line for all major commercial...
Braskem and Petroperu to build $3bn petrochemical plant
Brazilian petrochemicals producer Braskem and Peruvian state oil company Petroperu have signed a letter of intent to build a $3bn petrochemical plant on the latter's coast to meet growing...
Taminco starts new dimethylaminopropylamine unit in US
Methylamines and derivatives producer Taminco has started up a new dimethylaminopropylamine unit at its production facility in St Gabriel, Lousiana,...
Canned food leads to rise in BPA levels: study
A new study has found that daily day consumption of canned food items may lead to the rise of compound bisphenol A (BPA) levels in...
Klesch to buy Arkema's vinyl division
Arkema is set to divest its vinyl division to investment company Klesch Group, creating a major player in the European PVC...
ChevronPhillips Chemical resumes ethylene production at Texas complex
ChevronPhillips Chemical said that it is restarting ethylene production at its olefins complex in Sweeny, Texas, US, following a power and steam...
Petronas posts rise in second quarter profit
Petronas Chemicals Group has reported its second quarter results for the period ending September...
Perstorp and PTT Global Chemical plan isocyanates joint venture
Perstorp and PTT Global Chemical are planning to form a joint venture to manufacture and commercialise aromatic and aliphatic isocyanates for the polyurethane...
Kuraray gets approval for capacity expansion at Texas plant
Kuraray America has received approval for a $49m project to increase production capacity for ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin at its facility in Pasadena, Texas,...
SCG and Barito seek funds for Chandra Asri expansion
Siam Cement Group (SCG) and PT Barito Pacific are looking to raise $500m to expand ethylene capacity at its Chandra Asri Petrochemical joint venture in...
MBAC secures loan for Itafós Arraias SSP project
MBAC Fertilizer has executed a $40m loan agreement with International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank...
Arkema to acquire Hipro Polymers and Casda Biomaterials
French speciality chemicals group Arkema said that it plans to buy polyamide producer Hipro Polymers and sebacic acid leader Casda Biomaterials for...
Lanxess expands neodymium polybutadiene rubber capacity
Lanxess has expanded the production capacities of neodymium polybutadiene rubber at its sites in Dormagen in Germany, Cabo in Brazil and Orange in Texas,...
China begins anti-dumping proceedings on chemical solvent and boxboard imports
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has initiated two anti-dumping investigations on imports of certain chemical solvents and boxboard from the US and the...
OCI Fertilizer Group to buy Pandora Methanol minorities
Orascom Construction Industries' Fertilizer Group has entered into an agreement to acquire minorities in its Texas-based subsidiary, Pandora...
Sipchem secures loan for new plant in Saudi Arabia
Sipchem affiliate International Polymers has signed a SAR600m ($160m) loan facility agreement with Saudi Industrial Development...
Qifeng commences carbon fibre production facility
Jilin Qifeng Chemical Fiber, a PAN-based fibre manufacturer, has started operations at a 550m yuan ($86.5m) carbon fibre precursor production...
AkzoNobel to set up dicumyl peroxide plant in China
Dutch-based speciality chemical producer AkzoNobel is planning to invest €45m in a new dicumyl peroxide plant at its Ningbo multi-site in...
Eastman expands hydrocarbon resins facility in Netherlands
US-based Eastman Chemical has expanded its Regalite hydrogenated hydrocarbon resins facility in Middelburg, the...
Toray successfully produces renewable bio-based PET
Japan's Toray Industries has successfully produced renewable bio-based PET fibre using Gevo's bio-based...
EPA files enforcement action against Asarco
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken enforcement action against the Asarco copper smelter in Hayden, Arizona, following complaints about toxic...
Shell Oil to build ethane cracker plant
Shell Oil is planning to build a multibillion-dollar ethane cracker plant somewhere in the US states of West Virginia, Ohio or...
Sinopec and Kuwait Petroleum commence petrochemical project in China
Sinopec and Kuwait Petroleum have initiated the construction of a ¥59bn ($9.3bn) joint refining and petrochemical complex in the southern Chinese province of...
Polish firms to build caprolactam plant in Asia
Poland's Zaklady Azotowe Pulaway and Zaklady Azotowe w Tarnowie-Moscicach have signed an agreement to build a caprolactam plant in south-east...
PPG declares force majeure in Thailand
PPG Industries, a maker of coatings and speciality products, has declared force majeure on certain optical products due to flooding in...
Special Materials Company to raise para-chlorobenzotrifluoride price
Special Materials Company is set to increase the price of para-chlorobenzotrifluoride by 10% across all grades and...
Henan Xinlianxin Fertiliser signs gas supply agreement
China XLX Fertiliser subsidiary Henan Xinlianxin Fertiliser has signed a gas supply framework agreement with Air Products and Chemicals (China) Investment to supply oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen...
Japanese group secures contract for Angola facility
Sojitz, Sumitomo, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toyo Engineering have won a 100bn yen ($1.3bn) contract to build a fertiliser plant in Angola,...
Evonik doubles production capacity of moulding compounds at Chinese plant
Evonik has doubled the production capacity of moulding compounds after a two-phase expansion at its plant in Shanghai, China, to about...
Technip wins Michelin elastomer composite plant contract
Technip has been awarded a lump-sum turnkey engineering, procurement and construction contract by Michelin Siam to build a new elastomer composite plant in Southern Region Industrial Estate...
Michelman acquires Clariant Licomer business
Michelman, a developer of water-based barrier and functional coatings, has purchased Clariant's Europe-based Licomer...
Tosoh shuts monomer manufacturing facilities after fire
Japanese intergraded chemicals maker Tosoh has shut three vinyl chloride monomer manufacturing plants at its Nanyo complex in western Japan following a...
Kuraray completes construction of new elastomer plant in Japan
Japan's Kuraray held a ceremony at its Niigata Plant in Tainai City to mark the completion of a Kurarity production...
GSFC to set up nylon-6 engineering plastic facility
Indian-based Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals is set to invest Rs1.25bn ($24m) to set up a nylon-6 engineering plastic facility at its Fertilizernagar unit in...
PhosAgro to merge subsidaries
PhosAgro, a phosphate-based fertiliser producer, is planning to merge two of its subsidiaries, OJSC Ammophos and OJSC Cherepovetsky...
Arkema to restructure chlorochemicals, H2O2 operations in France
Arkema will invest €40m to restructure chlorochemicals and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) operations at its Jarrie site in France, to help meet demand for hydrogen in hydrogen peroxide...
New chemical and biological institute opens in UK
The University of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England, has opened a new £4.3m life sciences institute, which allows collaborative work in chemical and biological...
Rockwood opens butyllithium plant in India
Rockwood Holdings' Chemetall Lithium India business unit has opened a new butyllithium production facility in Gujarat,...
Cristal Global, Outotec to build ilmenite-processing plant
Cristal Global, an integrated chemical and pigments company, has partnered with Outotec to build a new fully scalable ilmenite-processing plant in Yanbu, Saudi...
Lanxess buys biocides business in US
German-based specialty chemicals company, Lanxess, has acquired biocide maker Verichem to expand its biocide manufacturing platform in the...
Lubrizol to acquire Chemtool
Lubrizol has entered into an agreement to acquire US-based Chemtool, a manufacturer and supplier of formulated greases to the lubricant...
AMRI strikes manufacturing deal with Revolymer
Albany Molecular Research (AMRI) has signed a three-year manufacturing and supply agreement with UK-based technology development company Revolymer, which designs, develops and formulates...
Rhodia expands US silica production unit
Rhodia, a specialty chemical company, has expanded its dispersible silica production unit at Chicago Heights, Illinois,...
Arkema to acquire Seppic alcoxylate business
Arkema is planning to acquire Seppic's speciality alcoxylate business, which generated sales of €47m in...
Dow and Mitsui form joint venture for bio-ethanol production
US-based Dow and Japan's Mitsui have formed a 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) in Brazil, to develop sugar cane-derived ethanol for use as a renewable feedstock...
Jacobs wins Sadara Chemical contract
Jacobs Engineering Group has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction management contract by Sadara Chemical for the company's Chemicals 1...
Mitsubishi Rayon to develop renewable feedstock for methyl methacrylate
Mitsubishi Rayon and its subsidiary group Lucite International are jointly developing alternative renewable feedstock sources for the production of methyl...
Monument Chemicals to buy Hercules lubricant business
Ashland subsidiary Hercules has entered into a definitive agreement to divest its aviation and refrigerant lubricants business to Monument...
Indian chemical firm plans to expand manufacturing units
Balaji Amines, a manufacturer of speciality chemicals, is set to invest Rs700m ($14m) to expand its manufacturing facilities in Solapur, Maharashtra,...
BioAmber and Mitsui join forces for succinic acid and 1,4 butanediol projects
BioAmber has partnered with Mitsui to build and operate a biosuccinic acid and 1,4 butanediol manufacturing facility in Sarnia, Ontario,...
Air Liquide opens new air separation unit in US
Air Liquide Industrial has opened a new air separation unit at its facility in Rancho Cucamonga, California,...
Ajinomoto to expand feed-use amino acids capacity
Ajinomoto Animal Nutrition Group is planning to expand the production capacity of feed-use amino...
Sinopec Group acquires majority stake in Pecten Cameroon
Royal Dutch Shell has sold its 80% stake in Pecten Cameroon to Addax Petroleum, a unit of Sinopec, for...
Ellba and Shell lift force majeure on styrene monomer supplies
Singapore-based Ellba Eastern and Shell Singapore have lifted their force majeure on styrene monomer...
Kiri Industries acquires Taiwanese chemical distribution firm
India's Kiri Industries, a manufacturer of dyes and dye intermediates formerly known as Kiri Dyes & Chemicals, has acquired the Taiwan-based chemical distribution firm SMS Chemical for...
FMC hikes soda ash prices in South Africa
FMC Wyoming has said that it will increase the price of its Grade 260 'dense' soda ash by $20 per ton for South African...
Lubrizol to acquire thermoplastic polyurethanes maker
Lubrizol has signed an agreement to acquire Merquinsa, a European producer of speciality thermoplastic polyurethanes, to strengthen its engineered polymers...
EcoSynthetix commissions new Biolatex production line
EcoSynthetix, a renewable chemicals company, has commissioned a new EcoSphere Biolatex production line within its existing facility in Oosterhout, the...
BASF to increase Neopor capacity
BASF is planning to expand the production capacity of its insulation material Neopor (expanded polystyrene) at its site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, by around...
Formosa to restart styrene monomer units
Taiwan's Formosa Chemicals & Fibre is planning to restart its No 1 and No 2 styrene monomer plants at Mailiao by the end of the...
Eastman acquires TetraVitae Bioscience
Eastman Chemical's subsidiary Eastman Renewable Materials has acquired the assets of US-based TetraVitae...
Huntsman sells stereolithography and Digitalis machine manufacturing businesses
Huntsman's Advanced Materials division has sold its stereolithography resin and Digitalis machine manufacturing businesses to 3D Systems for $41m in...
Haverhill buys Sunoco phenol facility
Haverhill Chemicals, an affiliate of Goradia Capital, has acquired Sunoco's manufacturing facility in Haverhill, Ohio,...
Jacobs wins German Oxea ester plant contract
Jacobs Engineering has been awarded a contract by Oxea to provide detailed engineering, procurement and support services for a new ester production facility in Oberhausen,...
Dow hikes polyethylene resin prices
Dow Europe has raised the prices of all grades of its LDPE, linear LDPE and HDPE resins by €100 per ton across the European, Middle Eastern and African...
Saudi firm to build soda ash and calcium chloride complex
Saudi-based Idea Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride has announced that it will build a SAR1.1bn ($293m) soda ash and calcium chloride production facility in...
Praxair buys American Gas Group
Praxair subsidiary Praxair Distribution has acquired American Gas Group, whose assets include Specialty Gases of America, American Specialty Gases and Semiconductor...
XLX Fertiliser to build urea-based compound fertiliser plant
China XLX Fertiliser is planning to invest 15m yuan ($2.3m) to build a 150,000t/year urea-based compound fertiliser plant near its second urea...
Maire Tecnimont wins Egyptian fertiliser plant contract
Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) has awarded an EGP700m ($120m) contract to Maire Tecnimont to execute civil, electromechanical and erection works for Egyptian Chemical Industries...
Kuraray to increase ethylene vinyl alcohol resin capacity
Kuraray America will invest 4bn yen ($51m) to expand production capacity of ethylene vinyl alcohol resin, sold under the brand name Eval, at its facility in Pasadena, Texas,...
Hackers target chemical firms
Hackers have targeted about 50 organisations, including chemical and defence companies, in a global wave of cyber-attacks that has been traced to China, security provider Symantec said in a...
Davy and Dow license oxo alcohols technology to Chinese plant
Davy Process Technology and Dow Chemical's oxygenated solvents business have licensed their LP Oxo Selector technology to Wison (Nanjing) Clean Energy's new oxo alcohols plant in...
Oman Oil plans sulphur bentonite fertiliser expansion
Takamul Investment, the downstream investment arm of Oman Oil, is planning to double the capacity of its sulphur bentonite fertiliser project in Sohar by...
SABIC awards energy optimisation project to Toyo
Toyo Engineering has been awarded an energy optimisation project for SABIC's existing ammonia plant and package boilers at Al-Jubail Fertilizer (Al-Bayroni) in Saudi...
Amyris and Method partner to produce renewable ingredients
Renewable chemicals and fuels company Amyris has signed an agreement with Method Products to develop renewable ingredients from...
Oxea to construct first chemical plant in China
German-based Oxea is planning to build a chemical plant for the production of oxo derivatives in Nanjing, China, in...
DuPont Teijin Films to increase polyester film capacity in China
DuPont Teijin Films, a 50:50 polyester films joint venture between Teijin and DuPont, is set to increase production at DuPont Hongji Films Foshan in Guangdong Province,...
Shanghai Petrochemical reports improved operating income
Shanghai Petrochemical has reported the unaudited operating results of the company and its subsidiaries for the nine-month period ending 30 September...
Incitec to conduct feasibility study on ammonium nitrate plant
Incitec Pivot will conduct a feasibility study to construct an ammonium nitrate plant at its fertiliser facility in Newcastle, New South Wales,...
October 2011
Top
Evonik to buy Kemira hydrogen peroxide plant
Water chemistry company Kemira has signed a contract to sell its Canadian hydrogen peroxide unit in Maitland to...
CB&I licenses technology for olefin units
CB&I's Lummus Technology business has been awarded a contract by China Coal Shaanxi Yulin Energy & Chemical to provide licence and engineering design for two light olefins recovery units in...
AkzoNobel plans to expand coatings business
Paints and coatings company AkzoNobel is set to invest around €60m to expand the production capacity of its automotive and aerospace coatings business in China to meet rising...
Nuplex to buy Viverso German operations
Nuplex Industries, a polymer resins manufacturer, has entered into a binding agreement to buy Viverso's operations and product groups in Germany from Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) for...
Linde opens new air separation plant in Korea
The Linde Group has opened a KRW206bn ($180m) air separation plant in Giheung, South...
Crest Chemicals acquires assets in South Africa
Crest Chemicals, a joint venture between Brenntag and AECI, has acquired the assets of South African caustic soda importer WK...
Cytec plans phosphine capacity expansion
Cytec Industries is planning to invest around $125m to double its phosphine capacity, to meet the growing demand for the company's phosphine and mining chemical...
EBX and Orascom to build fertiliser plant
Brazil's EBX Group is planning to build a $3bn nitrogen-based fertiliser complex in Açu Superport in Brazil, in collaboration with Egypt's Orascom Construction...
GE and Penrice consortium to build brine pilot plant in Australia
The GE and Penrice consortium has formed an agreement with Australian coal seam gas producer QGC to design, build and operate a brine pilot plant at Penrice's chemical works in Osborne,...
Lukoil commences construction of gas chemical facility in Russia
Lukoil has commenced construction works on a gas processing plant in Stavropol Territory,...
India levies anti-dumping duty on imported rubber chemical
India's finance ministry has imposed an anti-dumping duty of up to $0.23/kg on all imports of MBTS dibenzothiazole disulphide from China, for a period of five...
Tianjin Soda begins methanol plant operations
China's Tianjin Soda has commenced operations at its new 500,000 metric tonne per year methanol plant in the Binhai harbour industrial area in northeastern...
Israel Chemicals acquires remaining stake in Nutrisi
Fertiliser and speciality chemical maker Israel Chemicals has signed a deal to acquire a further 50% stake in Nutrisi Holdings, bringing its stake to...
DEA issues emergency ban for bath salt chemical
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has issued a temporary ban on three synthetic stimulants used to make products marketed as bath salts and plant...
Hamdi Plans $1.4bn chemical plant in Jordan
Al Hamdi Group, a Saudi Arabian mining company, is set to build a $1.4bn chemical plant in...
Badger to provide technology for Chinese cumene plant
Badger Licensing has been awarded a contract by Lihuayi Weiyuan Chemical to provide its proprietary technology for a 300,000t/year grassroots cumene plant in Dongying City, Shandong Province,...
Rhodia and Cobalt join forces to develop bio n-butanol plants
Rhodia has executed a memorandum of understanding with Cobalt Technologies to develop bio n-butanol refineries throughout Latin...
BioAmber and Lanxess to develop renewable non-phthalate plasticisers
Lanxess and BioAmber have entered into a joint development agreement for renewable and non-phthalate succinic acid based...
ETH and Amyris form Biofene joint venture in Brazil
Amyris and ETH Bioenergia have signed a memorandum of understanding to form of a joint venture to produce Biofene in...
PPG finalises deal to acquire Dyrup
PPG Industries has finalised a purchase agreement to acquire European coatings company Dyrup for around €115m...
Ineos licenses polypropylene technology for Sinopec project
Ineos Technologies has licensed its Innovene polypropylene process to Sinopec Maoming for the manufacture of polypropylene homopolymers, random copolymers and impact copolymers in Maoming...
Rhodia expands production capacities at Chinese plant
Rhodia, a member of the Solvay group, has constructed three new production units for Novecare's speciality surfactants and polymers, and Aroma Performance's Guaiacol and IsoBornyl...
Wacker and Dow open joint silica plant in China
Wacker Chemie and Dow Corning have opened a $1.8bn joint pyrogenic silica plant in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province,...
Enterprise begins new NGL fractionator operations
Enterprise Products Partners has begun operations of the new fifth natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionator at its Mont Belvieu, Texas, US,...
Arkema awards EPCM contract to Jacobs
Jacobs Engineering Group has been awarded a contract by French chemicals maker Arkema to provide engineering procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for two new projects at...
China imposes anti-dumping tax on caprolactam imports
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said it will impose an anti-dumping tax on imports of caprolactam from the EU and the US for a period of five years, effective from 22 October...
Indian chemical company to build new SSP plant
Indian chemicals and fertilisers maker, Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals, will invest $24.7m to set up a single super phosphate (SSP) plant at Dahej in the Bharuch district of Gujarat,...
Yule Catto acquires Malaysian aqueous polymers producer
UK-based Yule Catto has acquired Quality Polymer, a Malaysian aqueous polymer producer from Nippon Paint Malaysia for...
POSCO Engineering wins polymers compounding plant contract
Saudi International Petrochemical (Sipchem) and Hanwha Chemical's affiliate Gulf Advanced Cable Insulation has awarded an Engineering Design, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for...
SOCC breaks ground on Jubail aluminum alkyls facility
Saudi Organometallic Chemicals (SOCC), a 50-50 joint venture (JV) company owned by Albemarle Netherlands and SABIC affiliate Speciality Chem, has broken ground on a new aluminum...
PolyOne forms Saudi colour concentrates JV
Specialised polymer materials, services and solutions provider, PolyOne, has signed an agreement to form a joint venture (JV) with Saudi Arabia's E.A. Juffali & Brothers, that will enable...
ChemChina acquires majority stake in Makhteshim Agan
China National Chemical's (ChemChina) subsidiary China National Agrochemical has acquired 60% of shares in Israel's Makhteshim Agan Group (MAI), while the other 40% remain owned by Koor...
KPC plans to sell minority stake in Sinopec JV
Kuwait Petroleum (KPC) is planning to sell around 20% of its stake in a $9bn joint project with Sinopec in China to an international oil...
China Chemical to merge with NSH subsidiary
China Chemical (CHCC) has entered into a definitive merger agreement under which it will be merged with a subsidiary of New Source Holding (NSH), an entity created by certain stockholders of...
Kemira restarts polyaluminium chloride production in Austria
Kemira, a water chemistry company, has restarted the production of polyaluminum chloride at the Krems production site in Austria due to the increasing demand for water treatment in Central...
Chemtex, GraalBio to build cellulosic ethanol plant in Brazil
Brazilian biofuels and biochemicals company GraalBio Investimentos and Chemtex Italia have entered into collaboration for the development and construction of the first industrial scale...
DuPont seeks buyers for Teijin venture
US-based chemical maker DuPont is seeking buyers for the sale of DuPont Teijin Films, a polyester-film joint venture and a business that makes powder-based...
M&G partners TPG to form Beta renewables JV
Gruppo Mossi and Ghisolfi (M&G), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Chemtex, has formed a joint venture (JV) company, Beta renewables, with TPG Capital and TPG Biotech to produce second...
Petron plans to sell Bataan refinery
Philippine refiner Petron is set to sell its 180,000 barrel a day complex at Limay in Bataan to the government to stabilise prices and secure the supply of petroleum products in the domestic...
CNPC, Qatar, Shell sign agreement on Taizhou refining complex
China National Petroleum (CNPC), Qatar Petroleum International and Royal Dutch Shell have signed a framework deal to build a joint refining and petrochemical complex in...
Lanxess Acquires Phthalate-free Plasticiser Maker
German chemical company Lanxess has agreed to acquire Unitex Chemical in Greensboro, North Carolina, US, to strengthen its global phthalate-free plasticiser...
Evonik to build isophorone plants in China
Evonik Industries is set to invest €100m to build world-scale plants to produce isophorone and isophorone diamine in Shanghai,...
Yantai Wanhua to start new propylene, isobutane plants
China's Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes is planning to start up a new propylene plant at Yantai, in Shandong province, in...
Shell's non-phosgene DPC manufacturing process moves closer to commercialisation
Shell Chemicals has said it is “very close” to commercialising a less costly process of producing diphenyl carbonate (DPC) which avoids using the highly toxic chemical compound...
PTTGC acquires 50% stake in NatureWorks
PTT Chemical said its PTTGC International USA subsidiary has signed an agreement to acquire a 50% stake in US-based biopolymer company, NatureWorks for 4,572m Baht...
BASF plans superabsorbent polymer capacity expansion
BASF has said that it is planning to increase the capacity of superabsorbent polymers with investments in local production sites in fast-growing emerging...
Technip secures lubricant base stock contract
Technip has been awarded a project management, detailed engineering, procurement, and construction contract by ExxonMobil Chemical for a grassroots lubricant base stock...
AkzoNobel to expand surfactants capacity
Dutch-based AkzoNobel is planning to invest $20m to increase surfactants capacity at its surface chemistry plants in Itupeva, Brazil, and Morris, US, over the next two...
Keyuan completes styrene-butadiene-styrene facility
Keyuan Petrochemicals has completed the construction of its new 70,000t/year styrene-butadiene-styrene production facility located in Ningbo, Zhejiang...
Sibur and Sinopec plan nitrile rubber joint venture
Sinopec has entered into a memorandum of extended cooperation with Russian firm Sibur regarding the possible formation of two joint ventures to produce butadiene nitrile rubber in...
BASF-Sinopec joint venture completes first phase of expansion
BASF-YPC, the 50:50 petrochemical joint venture of BASF and Sinopec, said that operations have begun at the first production facilities at its $1.4bn expansion project in Nanjing,...
Cardiovascular CRO selects Datatrak software suite
Datatrak International has entered into collaboration with a cardiovascular academic contract research organization (CRO) for three clinical trial...
Merrimack begins patient enrollment for MM-121 trial in HER2-negative breast cancer patients
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals has initiated patient enrollment in randomized Phase 2 clinical trial of MM-121 with Paclitaxel in HER2-negative breast cancer...
Linde to build nitrous oxide plant in South Korea
Linde Korea is planning to build a new 5,200t/year nitrous oxide gas production plant at Asan Industrial Complex in South...
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries consortium wins Malaysian fertiliser contract
Malaysian petrochemicals producer Petronas Chemicals has awarded the basic and detailed engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning alliance contract for its $1.5m fertiliser...
Solutia to buy Southwall Technologies
Solutia, a performance materials and speciality chemicals company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Southwall Technologies for a purchase price of approximately...
Saudi Aramco and Dow sign joint venture for Jubail chemical complex
Saudi Aramco has signed a joint venture agreement with Dow Chemical for an integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial...
Anteco Pharma to expand manufacturing facility
US-based Anteco Pharma is all set to expand its manufacturing facility in the city of Lodi,...
FMC acquires RheinPerChemie persulphates business
FMC has completed its acquisition of the European persulphates business of RheinPerChemie from...
India imposes anti-dumping duty on imported caustic soda
India's Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties has imposed an anti-dumping duty of $366 per dry metric ton on imports of caustic soda from South...
DuPont opens Kevlar plant in South Carolina
DuPont has begun operations at its $500m Cooper River Kevlar facility near Charleston, South Carolina,...
Milliken acquires speciality silicones maker
Milliken has completed the acquisition of SiVance, a privately-held provider of speciality silane, silicone and siloxane...
Japan approves Vitrolife aspiration needles, micro pipettes
Vitrolife has received Japanese regulatory approval for its aspiration needles and micro pipettes to treat human...
Punj Lloyd wins Qatar Solar Technologies polysilicon plant contract
India-based engineering and construction company Punj Lloyd has secured an engineering, procurement and construction contract from Qatar Solar Technologies to set up a polysilicon plant in...
Evonik to build hydrogen peroxide plant in China
Germany-based Evonik Industries is planning to invest more than €100m to build a new hydrogen peroxide production plant in Jilin province, northeastern...
Dow plans feasibility study to build EPDM plant
Dow Chemical is planning to initiate a feasibility study for the construction of a world-scale plant for the production of metallocene ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), sold under...
Dow and Solvay joint venture starts hydrogen peroxide plant in Thailand
Solvay's hydrogen peroxide joint venture with Dow Chemical, MTP HP (Thailand), has commissioned a hydrogen peroxide plant in Map Ta...
ICL acquires phosphate products firm Halox
ICL Performance Products has acquired Halox, a division of US-based Hammond...
Dow, Oxychem plan to jointly produce chlorocarbon
US-based Dow Chemical and Occidental Chemical (OxyChem) is set to form a joint venture (JV) to manufacture and market a new chlorocarbon solution to meet the growing demand for...
AZ Electronic Materials buys Clariant polysilazane coatings business
Swiss-based Clariant has divested its polysilazane coatings business, including the production site in India, to AZ Electronic Materials (AZ) for a consideration of approximately...
Rhodia to produce rare earth formulations in China
Rhodia said it is commissioning a new production unit at Liyang in Jiangsu Province, China, to produce rare earth-based compounds for the local automotive catalysis...
CDRI, NITD to develop Tuberculosis treatment
The Chemical Diversity Research Institute (CDRI) has signed collaboration and license option agreement with Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD) in Singapore to develop...
Eastman to expand non-phthalate plasticiser capacity
US-based Eastman Chemical said it will increase the capacity of Eastman 168, a non-phthalate plasticiser at its Kingsport, Tennessee, US, site by around 6,000 tons a...
Saudi Polymers to commence Jubail polyolefins complex operations
Saudi Polymers is planning to start operations at its new integrated polyolefins complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, within a month, after pending ongoing safety...
Quaker buys metalworking lubricants firm
Quaker Chemical has acquired GW Smith & Sons, a die cast lubricants and metalworking fluid maker with annual sales of approximately...
PolyOne to acquire ColorMatrix
PolyOne, a global provider of specialised polymer materials, has entered into an agreement to acquire US-based ColorMatrix, a manufacturer of specialty liquid colorants, additives and...
Shell declares force majeure at Singapore plant
Oil major Royal Dutch Shell has declared force majeure on its naphtha supplies to some of its customers following a fire at its chemical complex in...
NAFAS to increase fertiliser capacity in Malaysia
The National Farmers Association (NAFAS) is planning to start the second phase of its Petronas Fertiliser Kedah (PFK) fertiliser plant expansion project in Gurun, Kedah, Malaysia, to...
Oxea expands Syngas capacity in Texas
Oxea, a global chemical manufacturer of oxo intermediates and oxo derivatives, has increased the capacity of Syngas at its Bay City plant in Texas, US, by...
Sinopec begins first phase coal-based petchemical project
China's petrochemical Sinopec Group and the provincial government of Guizhou have invested CNY18bn ($2.8bn) for the first phase of a coal-based petrochemical project in Qianxinan city,...
Air Products acquires minority stake in AHG gases and equipment businesses
Air Products has agreed to acquire a 25% stake in the gases and equipment businesses of Abdullah Hashim Industrial Gases & Equipment (AHG), based in The Kingdom of Saudi...
DSM buys majority stake in ICD
Netherlands-based Royal DSM has acquired a 91.75% stake in China's Shandong ICD High Performance...
Evonik, RusBiotech JV to produce L-lysine in Russia
Evonik Industries and Russia-based RusBiotech International have formed a joint venture (JV) company, named Russkie Biotechnologii, for the manufacture of L-lysine in...
Braskem to buy Dow PP business
US-based Dow Chemical has completed the sale of Dow's global Polypropylene (PP) business to Brazil's...
EPA provides health assessment for TCE
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the final health assessment for trichloroethylene (TCE) to the integrated risk information system (IRIS)...
Protex acquires paper chemicals firm
France-based Synthron's parent company, Protex International has acquired US-based paper chemicals company Northern Specialty...
France agrees Lonza acquisition of Arch chemicals
Swiss-based Lonza Group has received antitrust clearance from the Autorité de la Concurrence in France for its tender offer, through its wholly owned subsidiary LG Acquisition, for all...
Dow Chemical, K2 Pure Solutions open new chlor-alkali plant
US-based Dow Chemical and K2 Pure Solutions have begun operating a new chlor-alkali plant at Dow's Pittsburg site, California,...
September 2011
Top
BASF to open new chemical mechanical planarisation plant in Taiwan
BASF plans to start a new production plant for chemical mechanical planarisation products at its KuanYin site in Taoyuan, Taiwan, to serve the semiconductor...
LyondellBasell to shut French refinery
Netherlands-based LyondellBasell intends to close its 105,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Berre, France, following an unsuccessful attempt to sell...
Nuplex to acquire Acquos Masterbatch business
Nuplex Industries, a manufacturer of polymer resins, is set to acquire Acquos' Masterbatch business for A$23.5m (US$23.2m), following regulatory clearance from the Australian Competition...
Amyris joins Michelin to develop renewable isoprene
Renewable chemical and fuel company Amyris has has signed a definitive agreement with Michelin to jointly develop and commercialise Amyris No Compromise renewable...
COG, Apeiron to conduct APN301 trial in neuroblastoma patients
Children´s Oncology Group (COG) and Apeiron Biologics AG (Apeiron) will
jointly investigate Apeiron´s APN301 in a clinical phase II study in pediatric neuroblastoma...
Health Inventures, Sansum Clinic to develop ambulatory surgery center
Health Inventures has entered into a collaboration agreement with a nonprofit outpatient healthcare organization - Sansum Clinic to develop and operate a new ambulatory surgery center (ASC)...
PerkinElmer launches new cellular imaging software version
PerkinElmer has introduced Volocity 6.0, a new version of the company's 3D cellular imaging...
Air Products to expand nitrogen capacity in Korea
Air Products plans to build a new nitrogen plant at its site in Cheonan Industrial Complex, South Chungcheong province, Korea to serve increasing demand from the electronics...
Aramco awards Jazan refinery and aromatics complex contract to Axens
Saudi Aramco has awarded a contract to Axens to provide its process technologies for its Jazan refinery and terminal project, as well as the associated aromatics...
BASF to sell fertiliser business to EuroChem
Germany's BASF has signed a contract with Russia-based EuroChem to sell its fertiliser activities in Antwerp,...
Tronox to acquire Exxaro mineral sands operations
US-based chemical company Tronox has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Exxaro mineral sands operations, which produce the titanium bearing ore feedstock used in the production of...
Telstar supplies lyophilization system to Zambon, R-Pharm
Telstar has supplied two integrated systems for lyophilization of aseptic pharmaceutical product in vials to Italy-based Zambon and Russia-based...
CPC restarts steam cracker at 85-90% capacity
Taiwan's CPC is running its No. 5 naphtha-fed steam cracker in Kaohsiung at around 85-90% of capacity, following its...
HPCL to perform feasibility study at refinery and petrochemical project
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is seeking bids to conduct a feasibility study for a refinery and petrochemical project at Visakhapatnam in southern...
Jacobs Engineering wins two plant contracts from Office Cherifien des Phosphates
Moroccan phosphate producer Office Cherifien des Phosphates has selected Jacobs Engineering to provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for two new diammonium...
SOCAR to build $15bn petrochemical complex in Azerbaijan
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) is planning to set up a $15bn petrochemicals complex in the...
EPA fines chemical company for violations
John R Hess & Company has agreed to pay a penalty of $23,400 to settle claims by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to appropriately report chemicals used on its site...
PPG to expand precipitated silica capacity
PPG Industries plans to increase the precipitated silica production capacity by more than 18,000 tonnes per year to meet the growing...
China's propylene imports ramp up in August
China's propylene imports rose by 40% to 145,649 metric tonne in August 2011, from the 103,703 metric tonne in the same month of 2010, Chinese customs report...
Tata Chemicals, Church & Dwight and FMC to form dry sorbent joint venture
Tata Chemicals, Church & Dwight and FMC have signed a definitive agreement to jointly manufacture and market sodium-based, dry sorbents for air pollution control in electric utility and...
India imposes anti-dumping duty on morpholine imports
India's Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties has imposed an anti-dumping duty of up to $0.81/kg on imports of morpholine from China, the US and European...
ExxonMobil to build synthetic lubricant base stock plant in US
ExxonMobil Chemical plans to build a metallocene polyalphaolefin synthetic lubricant base stock plant at its integrated refining and chemical complex in Baytown, Texas,...
Lanxess to produce bio-based EPDM rubber
German speciality chemical company Lanxess has announced that it plans to commercially produce ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) from bio-based ethylene by the end of...
Badger bags contracts for LG Chem cumene and bisphenol A projects
Badger Licensing has been awarded a contract by LG Chem to license its proprietary technology for a 200,000t/year cumene plant and a 120,000t/year bisphenol A plant in Daesan, South...
Indorama Ventures to acquire Wellman's recycling and fibre manufacturing businesses
Thailand's Indorama Ventures has signed a definitive share purchase agreement to acquire Wellman International's European recycling and fibre manufacturing businesses from...
Williams plans Geismar ethylene capacity expansion
US-based natural gas company Williams said that its Board of Directors has approved an expansion of its Geismar olefins production...
India explores provisional import duties on soda ash
India's Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties, part of the commerce ministry, has proposed to impose anti-dumping duties ranging from $11.55/t to $38.38/t on imports of soda ash...
Sinopec cuts butadiene prices in east and south China
Sinopec has lowered butadiene prices in the eastern and southern provinces of China by 1,000 yuan per ton ($157/t) to 26,000 yuan per ton ($4,073/t) in...
EPA fines Maine facility for unsafe hazardous chemical storage
Monson Companies has been fined $151,900 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the improper storage of hazardous materials, in violation of federal and state...
SCG to acquire minority stake in Chandra Asri
Siam Cement Group's subsidiary SCG Chemicals has agreed to buy a 30% stake in Indonesia's PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical for around THB13.5bn...
SK Engineering and Construction to build $3.5bn petrochemical plant in Egypt
South Korea's SK Engineering and Construction has partnered with US-based Shaw Group and Egyptian firm Carbon Holdings to build a $3.5bn petrochemical plant in...
Rotary Engineering secures chemical plant contract in Singapore
Rotary Engineering has secured a S$110m (US$87m) contract from Taiwan-based Chang Chun Group for the construction of the chemical plant on Jurong Island,...
Technip secures fertiliser plant contract in Brazil
Technip has been awarded a basic and front-end engineering services contract by Petrobras for its grassroots fertiliser complex at Uberaba,...
Berkshire Hathaway completes Lubrizol-acquisition
Berkshire Hathaway has completed the acquisition of US-based speciality chemical company Lubrizol for $135 per share in an all-cash...
Bharat Petroleum plans petrochemical project in southern India
Bharat Petroleum has planned for an Rs50-60bn ($1.04-1.25bn) petrochemical project that will be linked with its Kochi refinery in southern...
Cabot opens masterbatch plant in China
US-based speciality chemical and performance materials company Cabot has commenced operations at its new $20m black masterbatch plant in Tianjin,...
Evonik plans for new biodiesel plant in Argentina
Germany-based Evonik Industries is set to build a new plant for manufacturing catalysts for biodiesel production in Argentina. The plant will have a capacity of 60,000t/year and is expected...
Enerkem signs offtake agreement with Methanex
Canadian biofuels and chemicals maker Enerkem has entered into an offtake agreement with Methanex for the sale of methanol to be produced at Enerkem's facility in Edmonton, Alberta,...
India levies anti-dumping duty on Chinese para-nitroaniline
India's Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties has imposed an anti-dumping duty of up to $0.26/kg on imports of para-nitroaniline from China. The duty will range from $0.09/kg...
Chevron Phillips Chemical subsidiary to buy Neste Oil polyalphaolefin plant
Chevron Phillips Chemical International, a subsidiary of Chevron Phillips Chemical, has entered into an agreement to acquire a polyalphaolefin plant located in Beringen, Belgium, from Neste Oil. ...
Huntsman to increase epoxy resins capacity in US
Huntsman, a maker and distributor of differentiated chemicals, has commenced an in-depth engineering study at its facility in McIntosh, Alabama, US, as part of plans to expand its...
BioAmber to build polybutylene succinate plant for PTTMCC
BioAmber has agreed to build a polybutylene succinate plant in Thailand in 2012 and supply PTTMCC Biochem, a joint venture between PTT and Mitsubishi Chemical, with biobased succinic acid on...
Huachang Chemical and Oriental Energy to set up joint venture in China
Jiangsu Huachang Chemical, a maker of basic chemicals, fine chemicals and biochemicals, has signed agreements with Jiangsu Feixiang Chemical and Oriental Energy to set up a joint venture. ...
Braskem hikes domestic polyethylene offer prices
Brazilian polyethylene producer Braskem has increased domestic polyethylene prices for September by R$200-250 per ton (US$117.27-146.60 per ton) due to the 9.5% rise of the US dollar. Prices...
Chevron Phillips and Sumitomo to close Texas polypropylene plant
Chevron Phillips Chemical and Sumika Polymers America are set to permanently shut down the polypropylene assets of Phillips Sumika Polypropylene, their joint venture company, and wind-up...
Poullaides begins construction on BASF antioxidant plant in Bahrain
Poullaides Construction Company has begun construction work on the new BASF customer specific antioxidant blends plant in Bahrain International Investment Park. According to gulf daily...
Formosa Plastics to restart linear LDPE unit
Taiwan's Formosa Plastics is set to restart its 260,000t/year linear LDPE unit in Mailiao, which was shut down in August 2011 following cut in ethylene feedstock. The company's...
Sasol to build gas-to-liquids facility in the US
South African energy and chemicals group Sasol has selected the southwestern region of the State of Louisiana as the site for a planned gas-to-liquids facility in the US. Construction...
Joint venture selects Technip for Gabon fertiliser project
Gabon Fertiliser Company, a joint venture between Tata Chemicals, Olam International and the Government of the Republic of Gabon, has signed a pre-construction services agreement with Technip...
Satorp to open refinery in 2013
Saudi Aramco Total Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (Satorp) plans to start up its new Jubail refinery in Saudi Arabia in December 2013. Satorp CEO Fawwaz Nawwab has said that...
EFCG approves FDA Generic Drug Use Fees Act
European Fine Chemicals Group (EFCG), the representative body for European manufacturers of fine chemicals, has approved a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal to put forward...
Showa Denko plans chloroprene rubber price hike
Japan's Showa Denko has decided to raise its chloroprene rubber price in markets outside of the country, effective from 1 October 2011. Prices will be increased by at least $600 per...
Lonza subsidiary extends tender offer to acquire Arch Chemicals
LG Acquisition, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Lonza Group, has extended the expiration date for its previously announced tender offer for all outstanding shares of biocides maker...
Lanka Phosphate to buy fertiliser plant
Lanka Phosphate is planning to buy a Rs40m ($0.84m) fertiliser plant to increase fertiliser production. The demand for fertiliser has increased in Sri Lanka due to the issuing of...
Fujian Meide to begin petrochemical unit operations in 2014
China's Fujian Meide Petrochemical, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Packing Group, plans to start operations at a new propane dehydrogenation unit at Fujian province in 2014. The new...
Sasol reports 27% rise in earnings
South African petrochemicals group Sasol posted a 27% rise in full-year earnings to R33.85 for the year ending 30 June 2011, boosted by cost cuts and higher oil and product prices. ...
UOP to provide propylene technology to Chinese petrochemical firm
Honeywell company UOP has agreed to provide technology to Fujian Meide Petrochemical's new propane dehydrogenation unit in Fujian province, China. The p unit will use UOP's C3...
Chinese chemical company suspends cracker and downstream plants
China's Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical has halted operations at its 1.2 million tons a year naphtha cracker and several downstream plants following a blast at an olefins pipeline. The...
Eastman to expand plasticiser capacity in Estonia
Eastman Chemical has planned a second expansion of its Benzoflex plasticiser line at the Kohtla-Järve site in Estonia. The project will increase Benzoflex capacity by 11,000t and...
EPA fines Missouri chemical plant over Clean Air Act violations
US-based chemical company Hercules has agreed to pay a $245,521 civil penalty to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for violating the Clean Air Act's leak detection and...
Dow Chemical increases 2-EHA production capacity
Dow Chemical's performance monomers business has increased the production capacity of 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate (2-EHA) at its facility in Hahnville, Louisiana, US, by 15%. Chad Holzer,...
Ineos licenses polypropylene technology to Chinese plant
China's Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group has selected Ineos Technologies' Innovene polypropylene process to manufacture polypropylene homopolymers, random copolymers and impact copolymers. ...
CaliSolar to construct polysilicon plant in Mississippi
California-based CaliSolar is set to construct a polysilicon manufacturing plant in Mississippi, US, at an estimated cost of $600m. The plant will produce about 16,000t of polysilicon a year...
Lanxess to expand thionyl chloride capacity in India
Lanxess plans to increase production of thionyl chloride by 20% at its Nagda plant in Madhya Pradesh, India. Thionyl chloride is used in the manufacturing of agrochemicals, dyestuffs,...
Praxair plans to build air separation plant in India
Industrial and medical gases supplier Praxair India, a subsidiary of Praxair, is to build an air separation plant in the Pune-Mumbai industrial corridor of western India. The plant will have...
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Suhail Bahwan Group form Indian joint venture
Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Suhail Bahwan Group of Oman have set up a joint venture engineering company in India, named MHI Engineering and Industrial Projects. MEIP will...
Evonik to double L-lysine capacity in US
Germany's Evonik Industries is planning to double amino acid L-lysine production at its plant in Blair, Nebraska, US. The plant is expected to produce 280,000t/year of L-lysine and is...
Perstorp doubles Capa caprolactone plant production capacity in UK
Speciality chemicals company Perstorp has doubled production capacity of its Capa caprolactone plant in Warrington, UK. Caprolactones are used in applications such as resin...
Lanxess to increase glass fibre capacity in Belgium
Speciality chemicals company Lanxess is investing €15m in its glass fibre plant in Antwerp, Belgium. The expansion involves the replacement of two glass furnaces and will see capacity...
Iran explores petrochemical collaborations for port city
The Iranian Government is in talks with investors across Asia to form petrochemical joint ventures in south-eastern port city Chabahar. Authorities hope to establish methanol, urea and...
Phosagro plans gas-chemical complex in Russia
Russian fertiliser group Phosagro plans to invest in a new $2.5bn gas-fired chemical plant in Cherepovets, Russia. Phosagro chief executive Maxim Volkov told Reuters the new plant will...
Dia-Nitrix cuts acrylonitrile operating rates
Japan's Dia-Nitrix has cut the operating rates for acrylonitrile at its 90,000t/year plant at Ohtake and 115,000t/year plant at Mizushima to 90% this month, down from 100% in August. The...
CNOOC to restart Huizhou aromatics unit
China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) has announced that it will restart the 800,000t/year aromatics unit at its Huizhou refinery in November. The unit was shut down in July due...
Cyalume acquires JFC Technologies
Cyalume Technologies Holdings has acquired JFC Technologies' operations and certain related assets for a $5m consideration, split evenly between cash and stock plus an earn-out based on 2012...
Solutia obtains additional film manufacturing capacity in Taiwan
Performance materials and speciality chemicals company Solutia has obtained additional capacity for high-tech conductive film manufacturing from Taiwan's Aimcore Technology for approximately...
Brenntag acquires UK-based speciality chemical distributor
Germany's Brenntag has acquired UK-based Multisol Group, which specialises in the distribution of high-value speciality chemicals. Multisol is a specialist in the distribution of...
Vietnam Polystyrene to begin production at new plant in November
Vietnam Polystyrene plans to start production at its 60,000t/year polystyrene plant in Vung Tau City, Vietnam, in November 2011. The plant will produce both general purpose and...
Univar acquires Arinos Quimica
Univar has acquired Arinos Quimica, a distributor of speciality and commodity chemicals in Brazil. Arinos CEO Mateos Dias said that the combination will create synergies by providing...
PhosChem strikes deal to supply diammonium phosphate to Indian customers
Phosphate Chemicals Export Association has reached an agreement on a price to supply approximately one million tons of diammonium phosphate to two Indian customers through to March 2012. ...
Eastman buys Brazilian company
US-based Eastman Chemical has acquired Brazil-based non-phthalate plasticiser manufacturer Scandiflex do Brasil Indústrias Químicas. Scandiflex's business and...
Evonik to sell Dilavest business to Paramelt
Germany's Evonik Industries has signed an agreement to sell its Dilavest expansion wax business to industrial wax producer Paramelt. Dilavest expansion waxes are used in thermostatic...
Ineos licenses polypropylene technology to Yanchang Petroleum
UK-based Ineos Technologies has licensed its Innovene polypropylene process to the Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Yanan Energy and Chemical in China. The 300,000t/year Yanchang Petroleum plant...
DKSH acquires Australian speciality chemicals distributor
DKSH has entered into an agreement to acquire Melbourne-based Tiger Chemicals as part of plans to expand its presence in Australia and gain access to the New Zealand market. Tiger...
DSM and Sinochem form anti-infectives joint venture
Royal DSM has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Sinochem involving DSM's anti-infectives business group. Under the agreement, Sinochem has taken the 50% equity interest in the business group...
Jacobs wins Ras Tanura refinery contract
Jacobs Engineering has been awarded the second phase of the Ras Tanura refinery clean fuels and aromatics project under Saudi Aramco's general engineering and project management services contract....
Sinopec to build petrochemical complex with consortium
Sinopec Group has signed an agreement with a consortium to build a $4.5bn petrochemical complex in Fujian, China. The consortium includes China Petrochemical Development, Ho Tung Chemical,...
Sinopec reports rise in first-half profit
Sinopec's first-half net profit rose 12% due to stronger contribution from its oil-production business, although its refining business posted an operating loss owing to rising fuel costs. ...
European Chemicals Agency to identify 20 hazardous chemicals
The European Chemicals Agency is set to identify 20 chemicals as 'substances of very high concern' due to their potentially hazardous impact on health and the environment. The chemicals will...
Sika to acquire Brazilian adhesives manufacturer
Swiss speciality chemical maker Sika is to acquire Colauto Adesivos e Massas, a manufacturer of adhesives and sealants as well as acoustic damping and structural reinforcement elements based...
KBR licenses Purifier technology to Indian firm
Global engineering, construction and services company KBR has been awarded a contract by India's Jaiprakash Associates, a Jaypee Group company, to provide licence and engineering design...
Mitsui alliance to establish fertiliser plant in Brunei
Mitsui & Co and Mitsui Chemicals consortium are planning to form a nitrogen fertiliser production joint venture with Brunei's state-run petroleum company to build a fertiliser plant at...
SK Global to build petrochemical plant in Singapore
South Korean chemicals maker SK Global Chemical is set to begin construction of a $2.4bn petrochemical plant on Singapore's Jurong Island. The new plant will produce around 2.6 million tons...
August 2011
Top
Air Liquide licenses methanol-to-propylene technology to Chinese coal group
The engineering and construction division of Air Liquide has signed a contract with Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group to build a methanol-to-propylene plant in Ningdong, Ningxia province, China....
Global Advanced Metals to buy Cabot's supermetals business
Global Advanced Metals has entered into an agreement to acquire the supermetals business of Cabot, a speciality chemicals and performance materials maker. Cabot Supermetals operates...
BioAmber to build biosuccinic acid plant in Canada
BioAmber has selected Ontario, Canada, as the site for a new biosuccinic acid plant. The plant will be built in Sarnia and will have an initial capacity of 17,000t. It will be commissioned...
PPG to form fibreglass joint venture with Indian firm
US-based coatings and speciality products company PPG Industries has signed a letter of intent with India's Harsha Exito Engineering Private to form a 50:50 joint venture to manufacture and...
Dow and Lehigh partner to develop sustainable tyres
Dow Chemical Company and Lehigh Technologies have partnered to develop sustainable materials for tyres. The programme will combine Dow's expertise in polymer chemistry with Lehigh's expertise...
LG Chem to build petrochemical complex in Kazakhstan
Korea-based LG Chem is planning to construct a $4bn petrochemical complex in Atyrau, Kazakhstan, in partnership with Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries. The project includes production...
Zeon Chemicals selects KBR for nitrile rubber plant expansion
Zeon Chemicals has awarded a construction management and services contract to KBR for its nitrile rubber plant expansion project in Texas, US. KBR will manage the first phase of Zeon's...
Momentive to expand silane capacity
Momentive Performance Materials has unveiled plans to expand its silane production capacity to help meet demand from its global customer base, particularly in China. The company intends...
Anadarko awards contract for LNG plant study to KBR
Global engineering, construction and services company KBR has been awarded a contract by Anadarko Mozambique to perform a pre-FEED study for a prospective liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant...
Henkel to build new adhesives facility in China
Henkel has broken ground on a new 150,000m² adhesives facility in Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, China, as part of the overall strategy to expand its capacities in growth regions. ...
Qinghai selects Dow Unipol polypropylene technology
China's Qinghai Salt Lake Industry has selected Dow Chemical's Unipol polypropylene process technology for its new 160,000t/year polypropylene unit. The all gas-phase process for...
Ashland acquires International Specialty Products
US-based Ashland has acquired International Specialty Products, a global speciality chemical manufacturer of functional ingredients and technologies, for $3.2bn. International...
Genomatica produces butadiene from renewable feedstock
Genomatica has produced pound quantities of butadiene, an important chemical in the production of tires, engineering polymers and latex products, from renewable feedstock. The new technology...
EPA fines US company for chemical reporting violations
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued John R Hess & Company with a $33,400 fine for failing to appropriately report chemicals used on site in violation of...
Formosa restarts crude distillation unit
Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical has restarted one of the three crude distillation units at its 540,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery. The company shut the plant for safety reasons after a...
Solvay develops on-site fluorine gas production unit
Belgian chemical company Solvay is set to test a new electronic-grade fluorine gas production unit at its industrial site in Onsan, Korea. The equipment, which has a capacity of 100t...
CNPC and NSFC join to establish petroleum and petrochemical fund
China National Petroleum (CNPC) has signed an agreement with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) to jointly establish a united petroleum and petrochemical fund. As per...
BASF to build acrylic acid production facility in Brazil
Germany's BASF is set to invest in an acrylic acid, butyl acrylate and superabsorbent polymers manufacturing complex in Bahia, Brazil. The €500m investment is the largest investment...
Evonik begins construction of hexachlorodisilane facility in Germany
Germany-based Evonik Industries has begun construction of a second hexachlorodisilane production facility in Rheinfelden, Germany. Hexachlorodisilane is used to manufacture the memory chips...
Ashland gets European Commission clearance to acquire International Specialty Products
US speciality chemicals maker Ashland has received European Commission approval for its $3.2bn purchase of International Specialty Products. Ashland, a producer of Valvoline oil, expects...
EU levies anti-dumping duties on US VAM imports
The European Commission has imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on European Union (EU) imports of vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) from the US. According to ChemWeek, the duties will be in...
Novamont, Genomatica to build Europe's first butanediol plant
Bio-based chemicals manufacturer Genomatica has signed a letter of intent with Novamont to form a joint venture to build the first European butanediol plant. Novamont, a producer...
Nuplex to buy Acquos's Masterbatch business
Nuplex Industries has entered an agreement to acquire Australia-based Acquos's Masterbatch business. Nuplex expects the transaction to make a positive contribution to its earnings per share...
Technip wins Qatari refinery EPC contract
France-based Technip has won an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the expansion of the Laffan Refinery, located in Ras Laffan, Qatar. According to Reuters,...
KBR licenses phenol technology to LG Chem plant in South Korea
Global engineering, construction and services company KBR has licensed its phenol technology to LG Chem's 240,000t per year phenol plant in Daesan, South Korea. The Daesan plant will be...
Evonik, SAAC team up for superabsorbent production
Evonik Industries and Saudi Acrylic Acid Company (SAAC) have signed a joint venture agreement for the production of superabsorbent in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Acrylic Polymers...
Sumitomo, Jilin establish polypropylene joint venture in China
Sumitomo Chemical and China's Jilin Xindongtai Engineering Plastics have formed a 50-50 joint venture for the manufacture and sale of polypropylene for automotive applications in the suburbs...
Brenntag acquires majority stake in Zhong Yung Chemical
Germany's Brenntag has completed the acquisition of the first 51% stake in Zhong Yung Chemical as part of an agreement signed on 9 June 2011. The acquisition of the remaining stake is...
Samsung Petrochemical brings forward Ulsan PTA production
Samsung Petrochemical is to begin production at its newly expanded 400,000t per year purified terephthalic acid (PTA) line in Ulsan, South Korea, earlier than expected in September / October 2011....
Zuari Industries to build speciality fertiliser plants in India
India-based Zuari Industries is to spend Rs450m ($9.9m) on setting up two soluble speciality fertiliser plants in Rajasthan and Orissa. The new plants, which will each have an annual...
Amyris unveils first US Biofene unit
Amyris, a California-based integrated renewable products company, has opened a Biofene industrial-scale facility in Decatur, Illinois, US, at a facility owned by Tate & Lyle...
Sunoco to sell phenol production facility to Haverhill Chemicals
Sunoco has reached a definitive agreement to sell its phenol manufacturing facility in Ohio, US, to Goradia Capital's affiliate Haverhill Chemicals for $106.5m. Sunoco chairman and CEO...
Invensys Supplies Integrated Refinery Information System to SATORP
UK-based Invensys Operations Management has signed a multi-million dollar contract with Saudi Aramco Total Refining & Petrochemical (SATORP) to implement an integrated refinery...
Momentive's OTG Starts New Production Line in Texas
Momentive Specialty Chemicals' Oilfield Technology Group (OTG) has added a new production line at its Brady facility in Texas, US, to provide additional resin-coated proppants to fracturing...
Chrysler and ZeaChem Team Up to Boost Cellulosic Ethanol
Chrysler Group and ZeaChem have signed a memorandum of understanding to accelerate the development and market adoption of cellulosic ethanol. The primary goal is to strengthen the...
BASF to Boost Catalyst Production Capacity
BASF has announced a new round of capital investment projects to step up its production capacity and enhance its global manufacturing operations for copper and copper-chrome catalysts. ...
China Closes Fujia Chemical Plant
Authorities in north-eastern China have ordered Fujia Chemical to immediately shut down its plant in Dalian city following a toxic spill scare. Residents living near the plant had to...
Japan Reports Increase in Ethylene Production
Japan's ethylene production in July rose 8% from June to 566,000 million tons, following the restart of two steam crackers owned by Mitsubishi Chemical, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade...
Hengyi Petrochemical Reports Net Profit for the First Half of 2011
Hengyi Petrochemical has posted first-half 2011 net profit of 1.14bn yuan ($178m) on revenue of 13.76bn yuan ($2.15bn). The Chinese aluminium products manufacturer forecasts a net profit...
Orica Plant Remains Closed Following Chemical Leak
Operations at Australian explosives maker Orica's ammonia plant at Kooragang Island remain suspended following a sodium chromate leak. The leak occurred during a routine closure at the plant...
Cheil-Jedang and Arkema Team Up to Build Plants in Malaysia
CJ Cheil-Jedang and Arkema have chosen the Kerteh site in Terengganu, Malaysia, to build their new bio-methionine and thiochemicals plants, following a thorough feasibility study. The...
Green Chemicals and Clariant Partner for Fire-Retardant Chemical
UK-based chemical solutions maker Green Chemicals has signed a licensing deal with Clariant for a fire-retardant chemical for the use in the textiles sector. The flame retardant chemical...
LG Extends Tender Offer for Arch Chemicals
LG Acquisition, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Swiss Lonza, has extended the expiration date of its tender offer to buy 100% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Arch...
Saudi Methanol Operates Ar-Razi 5 Plant at Normal Rates
After shutting down due to technical problems in early July, Saudi Methanol has begun to run its Ar-Razi 5 methanol plant at Al-Jubail at normal rates. The plant has a capacity of 1.7...
Sipchem Defers Vinyl Acetate Monomer Plant Closure
Saudi International Petrochemical (Sipchem) has delayed the shutdown of its 330,000 million tons/year vinyl acetate monomer plant in Jubail to either September or October. A source close to...
Karpatneftekhim to Build PVC Plant in Ukraine
Ukrainian petrochemicals manufacturer Karpatneftekhim is set to build a new €170m suspension PVC plant in Kalush, Ukraine. The plant is expected to meet local demand for PVC and will...
Indorama to Invest in New Thai Recycling Plant
Indorama Ventures plans to increase its investment in Thailand to set up a new recycling plant in Nakhon Pathom Province that will recycle 36,000t of bottles a year into about 28,500t of...
Kraton Completes Capital Investment to Boost Isoprene Rubber Capacity
Kraton Performance Polymers has completed its multi-million dollar capital investment projects to support sales growth in Cariflex isoprene rubber, a high-performance alternative to natural...
Lummus Wins Propane Dehydrogenation Plant Contract
Ningbo Haiyue New Material has awarded a licence and engineering design contract to CB&I's Lummus Technology to build a grassroots propane dehydrogenation unit in Ningbo City,...
SOCAR Invites Bids for Azerbaijan Nitrogen Fertiliser Plant
Azerikimya, a branch of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), has begun a tender procedure for the construction of a nitrogen fertiliser and urea production plant in Sumgait,...
Chinese Paraxylene Plant to be Moved on Toxic Spill Fears
Authorities in Dalian, China, are to relocate the Fujia chemical plant following fears of a toxic spill sparked by a dike breach. The dike was damaged by high waves that threatened to hit...
UOP / Foster Wheeler Technology to be Used in Orpic Refinery Expansion
Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries (Orpic) has selected Honeywell's UOP / Foster Wheeler Solvent Deasphalting (SDA) process technology to convert heavy crude to...
Jayant Agro to Buy Mitsui Stake in Indian Speciality Chemicals Firm
India-based Oleochemical company Jayant Agro-Organics has entered into a share purchase agreement with Mitsui, Japan and Mitsui, Asia Pacific (Singapore) to acquire 24% of paid-up share...
Solazyme, Bunge to Form Renewable Oil Plant in Brazil
US-based Solazyme and Bunge Global Innovation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bunge, have entered into a framework agreement to form a joint venture (JV) for the production of triglyceride oils...
India’s Talcher Fertiliser Plant on Road to Revival
India's Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal to revive the closed plant of the Fertilizer Corporation of India (FCIL) at Talcher, Orissa, India, with an investment of INR85bn ($1.87bn). ...
Sadara Chemical Awards EPCM Contract to Fluor
Sadara Chemical, a joint venture company of Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical, has chosen Fluor to provide engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for its...
SAIL, NFL JV to Build Urea Manufacturing Plant
The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is set to form a joint venture with National Fertilisers (NFL) for its proposed INR44.5bn ($989m) urea manufacturing plant at its site in Sindri,...
Bridgestone to Increase Tyre Plant Capacity in China
China's Bridgestone is planning to increase the production capacity of its radial passenger tyre plant in Wuxi, Jiangsu province in China by May 2012. Bridgestone will invest about...
Valero Shuts Two Crude Units at Memphis Refinery
Valero Energy has shut its two crude units at the 180,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Memphis, Tennessee, US, following a heater explosion on the 80,000-bpd east crude unit. The...
Dow to Boost MBS-Based Additives Capacity in Scotland
Dow Plastics Additives, a business unit of Dow Chemical, has unveiled plans to construct additional equipment to both expand capacity and advance its technology at its Grangemouth,...
JX Nippon and SK Joint Venture to Build Paraxylene and Lubricant Plants in South Korea
Japan's JX Nippon Oil & Energy and SK Global Chemical have agreed to form a 50:50 joint venture company to build a one million ton/year paraxylene plant at SK's refinery in Ulsan, South Korea....
India's JBF to Build PET Facility for BP in Belgium
BP has entered into agreements with India-based JBF RAK to build a new 390,000t/year polyethylene terephthalate (PET) production unit at the company's Geel petrochemicals complex in...
Eastman Chemicals Acquires Dynaloy
Eastman Chemical's subsidiary has acquired the assets of US-based Dynaloy from E&A Industries. The acquisition includes Dynalo'’s inventory, equipment, intellectual property and...
PPG to Acquire Colombian Coatings Maker
PPG Industries and its subsidiary PPG Colombia have entered into an agreement to purchase the coatings businesses of Colpisa Colombiana de Pinturas and its affiliates, including Colpisa Ecuador. ...
DAK to Acquire Wellman PET Business in US
US-based DAK Americas has agreed to acquire Wellman's polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resins business. The acquisition includes PET Resin production facilities in Bay St Louis,...
PTT Chemical Second Half Operating Profit to Fall Due to Shutdown
Thailand-based olefins manufacturer PTT Chemical's second-half operating profit is expected to be lower than that of the first half of the year due to the 40-day shutdown of its one...
Dow to Boost Polyolefin Encapsulant Films Production
US-based Dow Chemical is set to build new manufacturing plants in Map Ta Phut in Thailand and Schkopau in Germany as part of plans to increase production of its Enlight polyolefin...
Ineos to Offer Technology to Chinese Plant
Ineos Technologies has agreed to offer vinyl chloride monomer and suspension polyvinyl chloride technologies to a Qingdao Haijing Chemical project. The project is located at the company's...
UOP to Provide Technology to Chinese Petrochemical Firm
Honeywell company UOP has agreed to provide technology to Zhejiang Julong Petrochemical's new propylene facility in Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province, China. UOP technology's uses...
Shandong Shenda Selects Dow Polypropylene Technology
China's Shandong Shenda Chemical Industry has selected Dow Chemical's Unipol polypropylene processing technology for its new 200,000t/year methanol-based polypropylene plant. The technology...
Westlake to Increase Ethylene Capacity
US-based Westlake has unveiled its plans to increase its ethylene capacity by nearly 226,800t/year. Two crackers in Louisiana will be expanded. The first expansion will take place in the...
Nippon Shokubai to Build Acrylic Acid Plant
Japan-based chemical manufacturer Nippon Shokubai has announced that it will build a new 11bn yen ($140m) acrylic acid plant at its existing facility in Himeji. The plant will produce...
SIIG, Chevron Phillips Form Joint Venture
Saudi Industrial Investment Group (SIIG) and Chevron Phillips Petrochemical have formed a 50-50 joint venture company to establish a nylon manufacturing plant and other downstream...
OTG Opens New US Manufacturing Plant
The Oilfield Technology Group (OTG) of Momentive Specialty Chemicals has started operating its new manufacturing plant in Batesville, Arkansas, US. The new Batesville facility will...
Sinopec, Syntroleum Launch Coal to Liquids Facility in China
China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) and Syntroleum have opened a new 80bpd coal to liquids demonstration facility in Zhenhai, China. The Sinopec / Syntroleum Demonstration Facility...
China National Coal Group Awards Contract to KBR
China National Coal Group has awarded an ammonia technology, process design package and technical services contract to KBR for its two 1,660t per day ammonia synloop units at China Coal...
Formosa to Double Ethylene Capacity
Formosa Plastics is set to invest $1.5m to expand the annual ethylene capacity of its naphtha cracking complex at its Point Comfort production base in Texas, US. The expansion project...
BASF and CSM to Form Bio-Based Succinic Acid Joint Venture
Germany's BASF and Purac, a subsidiary of CSM, have started negotiations to form a joint venture to produce bio-based succinic acid. The succinic acid production process combines...
Dow Settles Federal Pollution Case
Dow Chemical has agreed to pay $2.5m to the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice to resolve alleged violations of environmental laws at its chemical manufacturing...
Evonik Divests Carbon Black Business
Germany-based Evonik Industries has sold its carbon black activities to Rhône Capital and Triton Partners for over €900m to focus on its core speciality chemicals business. In...
KBR to Provide Phenol Technology to Lihuayi Weiyuan Chemical
Engineering, construction and services company KBR will provide phenol technology for Lihuayi Weiyuan Chemical's 220,000t/year phenol and acetone plant in Lijin County, Shandong Province, China. ...
Sinopec to Build Lubricant Plant in Singapore
China's Sinopec is set to construct a lubricant plant in Singapore as part of its global expansion strategy. Sinopec Group subsidiary Sinopec Lubricant Company will make an initial investment...
Sibur Buys JSC Acrylate from Atek
Sibur has acquired Russian acrylic acid and esters producer JSC Acrylate from Atek Group. The annual production capacity of JSC Acrylate's plant is 25,000t of ester grade acrylic acid,...
Jurong Aromatics Awards Contract to Essar
Essar Projects, a part of Essar Group, has secured a $320m engineering, procurement and construction contract from Singapore's Jurong Aromatics. The contract includes construction of...
Solvay and Sadara Joint Venture to Build Hydrogen Peroxide Plant
Solvay is planning to form a 50:50 joint venture with Sadara Chemical to build and operate a hydrogen peroxide plant in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. Sadara Chemical is a planned...
Süd-Chemie Breaks Ground on German Cellulosic Ethanol Plant
Germany's Süd-Chemie has broken ground on the construction of a demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Straubing. The plant will use agricultural waste materials to produce...
FMC to Acquire European Persulphates Business
US-based FMC has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the European persulphates business of RheinPerChemie from Unionchimica. The acquisition will strengthen FMC's peroxygens...
Braskem to Buy Dow Polypropylene Business
US-based Dow Chemical has signed a definitive agreement to sell its global polypropylene business to Braskem for $340m. The total enterprise value is comprised of a $323m cash purchase...
July 2011
Top
Gevo to Build Hydrocarbon Processing Plant in Texas
US-based Gevo has partnered with South Hampton Resources, a subsidiary of Arabian American Development Company, to build a hydrocarbon processing demonstration plant at its facility in...
Kumho Petrochemical to Build Chemical Plants
South Korea's Kumho Petrochemical and its subsidiaries are planning to invest KRW880bn ($837m) by 2014 to build new chemical plants in Yeosu. The project aims to meet surging demand...
BASF to Double Plasticiser Capacity
Germany's BASF is planning to double production of its phthalate-free plasticiser, Hexamoll DINCH, at its Ludwigshafen site by 2013 to meet growing demand. The second Hexamoll plant...
AkzoNobel to Acquire Boxing Oleochemicals
AkzoNobel is planning to acquire Chinese speciality surfactant producer Boxing Oleochemicals. Upon acquisition, the activities of Boxing will be integrated into AkzoNobel's Surface...
Molycorp Awards Contract to KBR
KBR has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract by a wholly owned subsidiary of Molycorp to build a new chlor-alkali plant. The project is part of Molycorp's...
Makhteshim Agan India Opens New Formulation Plant
Makhteshim Agan India, a subsidiary of Makhteshim Agan Group, has opened a new formulation and packaging plant in Dahej, India. The plant's advanced production capabilities and stringent...
United Phosphorus Limited Acquires Majority Stake in DVA
United Phosphorus Limited has acquired a 51% stake in Brazilian company DVA Agro Do Brasil for around $150m. The remaining 49% will continue to be held by the existing shareholders. DVA,...
Dow and Saudi Aramco Joint Venture to Build Chemical Complex
US-based Dow Chemical and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company has agreed to form a joint venture to build and operate a $20bn world-scale, fully integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial...
South Korean June Petrochemical Exports Reach $3.5bn
South Korea's petrochemical exports rose 23.2% year on year to $3.57bn in June, due to an increase in crude oil prices. Korea International Trade Association data showed that in June...
Molindo to Build Ethanol Plant in 2012
Indonesia's Molindo Raya Industrial is planning to start work on a 55 million litres/year ethanol plant in 2012, following the recent acquisition of land for the project. According to...
Paradeep Phosphates Plans to Build Sulphuric Acid Plant
India-based Paradeep Phosphates plans to invest Rs6bn ($135m) to build a 2,000t/day sulphuric acid plant. The investment is aimed to increase capacity and efficiency of the existing...
China Lifts Anti-Dumping Duty on Imported PBT Resin
China's Ministry of Commerce has lifted anti-dumping measures on polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) resin imported from Japan and Taiwan. The ministry said the anti-dumping measures ended on...
AkzoNobel's Second Quarter Net Income Declines Marginally
Dutch-based AkzoNobel has reported a decline of net income by 1.8% in the second quarter of 2011 because of raw material price inflation, low demand in mature markets and prolonged...
China Extends Anti-Dumping Duties on Imported Trichloroethylene
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has extended anti-dumping measures on imports of trichloroethylene from Russia and Japan for another five years, starting 22 July. The move follows the...
Olin Breaks Ground for New Manufacturing Facility
Cleveland-based Olin Chlor Alkali Products, a division of Olin, has broken ground on a $160m membrane cell manufacturing facility at its plant in Charleston, US. The facility is scheduled...
Japan Reports Decline in Naptha Cracker Run Rates
The Japan Petrochemical Industry Association has said that the country's naphtha-fed steam crackers ran at an average rate of 92.8% in June, down from 94.5% a month earlier and from 95.1% in...
Lanxess to Double Menthol Facility Capacity
Germany-based Lanxess is planning to double the size of its menthol manufacturing facility in Krefeld-Uerdingen to meet growing global demand. The extended production facility will make use...
Lignol and HA International Present Foundry Resin Trial Results
Canada-based Lignol Energy and HA International have announced successful production trials of a new foundry resin using Lignol's high-performance lignin. The trials were conducted in...
Tyco to Buy Chemguard
Tyco International has signed an agreement to acquire Chemguard, a US-based manufacturer of fire-suppression foams, equipment and systems, speciality pumps and fluorosurfactant...
BASF to Construct Antioxidant Blends Plant in Bahrain
BASF is set to build a customer-specific antioxidant blends plant in Bahrain as part of its plans to expand its presence in the Middle East. The 16,000t/year plant will come in addition to...
Roxhol Plans Start of Ethanol Plant
Roxhol Bioenergy is planning to start commercial operations at its 100,000l/day ethanol plant in Negros Occidental, the Philippines, in August 2011. According to Platts, the plant ran at...
SGL to Build Graphite Plant
Germany's SGL Group is set to construct a new 3500m² production centre in Bonn as part of an extensive programme of investment along the global value chain for isostatic graphite. ...
European Investment Bank Funds Tunisian Fertiliser Plant
The European Investment Bank has granted a loan of €140m to the Tunisian Chemical Group to construct a triple superphosphate fertiliser plant in Mdhilla. The fertiliser plant will...
Dow and Mitsui Joint Venture to Produce Ethanol-Based Polymers
Dow Chemical has agreed to form a joint venture with Mitsui to produce ethanol and bio-based polymers for packaging, hygiene and medical markets. Under the agreement, Mitsui will become a...
HIG Europe Acquires Haltermann Products
HIG Europe, the European private-equity arm of HIG Capital, has acquired the business of Germany-based hydrocarbon chemicals producer Haltermann. Haltermann produces refinery products for use...
Al Waha Shuts Polypropylene Plant Due to Technical Fault
Sahara Petrochemical's subsidiary Al Waha petrochemicals has shut down its polypropylene facility in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, due to a technical fault in an effluent compressor. Repairs...
Johnson Matthey Reports First Quarter Profit
British speciality chemicals company Johnson Matthey's underlying profit before tax increased by 19% to £98m for the first quarter of 2011/12, primarily due to high demand for products...
India Levies Anti-Dumping Duty on R-134a Imports
India's Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties, a nodal agency under the nation's commerce ministry, has imposed an anti-dumping duty of up to $1.41/kg on imports...
Dalian Petrochemical Suspends Operations at Crude Distillation Unit
PetroChina subsidiary Dalian Petrochemical has shut down its 200,000 barrels/day crude distillation unit in Dalian following a fire. The unit and its downstream facilities produce oil...
South Korean Polyvinyl Chloride Exports Rise in June
South Korea's polyvinyl chloride exports in June rose 5.3% month-on-month to 49,664t. According to Platts, South Korea exported 14,007 tons of the chemical in June, an increase of 67.1%...
SABIC Reports Second Quarter Profit
Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) has reported a 61% increase in profit in the second-quarter of 2011. The company's net income jumped to SR8.1bn ($2.2bn) from SR5.02bn ($1.37bn) a year earlier...
Clariant Partners Elevance to Develop Bio-Based Additives
Switzerland-based Clariant International has entered into an agreement with Elevance Renewable Sciences to jointly develop bio-based plastics additives. The partnership agreement...
Formosa Petrochemical and Kraton to Construct Copolymer Plant in Taiwan
Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical has signed an agreement with Kraton Performance Polymers to form a 50:50 joint venture that will build and operate a 30,000t hydrogenated styrenic block...
BASF Selects Fluor as Engineering Partner
BASF has selected Fluor as an engineering partner for chemicals and petrochemicals capital investment projects across Asia and Europe. Services to be provided will include front-end...
EU Lifts Anti-Dumping Measures on Belarusian and Russian Potash Imports
The European Commission has lifted anti-dumping measures against Belarusian and Russian potash producers. In line with the anti-dumping regulations, Russian potash producers Uralkali...
Foster Wheeler and SOCAR to Form Joint Venture in Azerbaijan
Switzerland-based Foster Wheeler has agreed to form a joint venture company with the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to build an oil and gas processing and...
Russian Firm to Expand Petrochemical Project
Russia-based Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat is planning to invest R140bn ($4.9bn) to expand the petrochemicals project at its site in Salavat, as part of plans to enter new federal and foreign markets....
India Levies Anti-Dumping Duty on Chinese Sodium Triphosphate
India's Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties, a nodal agency under the Commerce Ministry, has imposed an anti-dumping duty of up to $0.556/kg on imports of sodium triphosphate...
TPC Cleared to Restart Chemical Unit
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has issued an air permit to US-based TPC Group to restart an idle dehydrogenation unit to produce isobutylene. Construction of the required...
Ningxia Petrochemical to Construct Fertiliser Plant
China National Petroleum subsidiary Ningxia Petrochemical is set to build a plant producing 450,000t of synthetic ammonia plant and 800,000t of urea a year in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui...
European Naphtha Exports to Brazil Could Rise
Brazilian naphtha imports from Europe are expected to rise by up to 100,000t/month. According to Platts, Brazil is currently contemplating to cut the ethanol blend in gasoline from 25% to...
Formosa to Resume Naphtha Cracker Operations
Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical plans to resume operations at its 700,000t/year No 1 naphtha cracker in August. The plant was closed in May following a fire. According to Reuters, operations...
Polyplastics Plans Malaysian Polyoxymethylene Plant Expansion
Polyplastics is set to increase its production capacity of Duracon polyoxymethylene at its facility in Malaysia from 33,00t/year to 123,000t/year. Polyplastics will introduce its...
Chinese Urea Plant to Deploy Stamicarbon Technology
Stamicarbon has signed a technology licence agreement with China's Hengang Huahe Coal Chemical Industry for a 1,860t/day capacity urea granulation plant. The plant, to be built in Hegang...
DSM Acquires Majority Stake in AGI
Royal DSM has acquired a 51% stake in Taiwanese firm AGI for about &128;41m ($57m). AGI offers a broad range of environmentally friendly ultraviolet curable resins and other products for...
Solvay Awards Chemical Plant Construction Contract to Technip
Solvay has selected French plant manufacturer Technip to plan the construction of an epichlorohydrin plant in Taixing, Jiangsu, China. The plant, which will be based on Solvay's...
Lonza to Acquire Arch Chemicals
Swiss-based Lonza Group has signed an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of Arch Chemicals for $47.20 per share. The hygiene, water treatment, materials protection and personal...
Mossi & Ghisolfi to Build PET and PTA Plants in the US
Italy's Mossi & Ghisolfi Group is set to build a new polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant and accompanying purified terephthalic acid (PTA) facility in Corpus Christi, Texas, US. The...
CNOOC Huizhou Refinery Closes Aromatics Unit
China National Offshore Oil Company's (CNOOC's) Huizhou refinery has shut its 800,000t/year aromatics unit near Daya Bay in southern Guangdong province due to a fire on 11 July. According...
PTT Asahi Chemical to Commence Acrylonitrile Production at Thai Plant
PTT Asahi Chemical is planning to begin commercial acrylonitrile production at its new chemical plant in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, by the end of July. The company is a joint venture...
Rhein Chemie to Buy Wacker's Tyre-Release Agents Business
Rhein Chemie Rheinau has signed a purchase agreement to acquire Wacker Chemie's tyre-release agents business. Under the agreement, Rhein Chemie will gain the rights to related...
Cordiant Funds Jordan-India Fertiliser Plant
Jordan-India Fertilizer Company has received a $10m loan from Montreal-based fund manager Cordiant Capital to build a $186m fertiliser plant in Jordan. The project is sponsored by the...
China to Regulate Chemical Sector
The Chinese Government is drafting a five-year plan to regulate the country's chemicals sector. The move follows a string of reports – 119 in all – submitted to the Ministry of...
Chemical Safety Board Faults DuPont Plant
The US Chemical Safety Board has reported unsatisfactory safety procedures at DuPont's chemical manufacturing plant in Belle, West Virginia. The firm was rebuked for issues including a lack...
Dangote Partners with Saipem to Build Fertiliser Plant
Dangote Group and Saipem's Nigerian unit have signed an agreement to construct a fertiliser plant in southern Edo state, Nigeria. Under the agreement, Saipem will build a fertiliser plant...
EU Cuts Import Duty on South Korean PTA and PET by 25%
The EU's import tariff for South Korean purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has been reduced by 25% due to a free-trade agreement. According to Platts,...
Solvay and Avantium to Develop Green Polyamides
Solvay has partnered with Avantium to jointly develop green high-performance polyamides for engineering plastics. The partnership will produce new high-performance polyamides from...
Honeywell to Invest in Louisiana Facility
US-based Honeywell is to invest $33m in its manufacturing facility in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to produce HFO-1234ze, a material used in insulation and aerosols. The facility is scheduled...
Georgia-Pacific Chemicals Awards EPC contract to ENGlobal
US-based Georgia-Pacific Chemicals has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services agreement to ENGlobal. The work will be specific to the Georgia-Pacific...
Shandong Haili Chemical to Start Caprolactam Plant in 2012
China's Shandong Haili Chemical is planning to complete construction of its new 100,000t/year caprolactam plant in Zibo, Shandong province, by the end of 2011. According to Platts,...
Wison to Start Nanjing Methanol-to-Olefins Plant
China's Wison (Nanjing) Clean Energy Company is planning to start its 295,000t/year methanol-to-olefins plant at Nanjing in 2013, using technology from US-based Honeywell UOP. ...
OM Group to Acquire German Company
US-based OM Group has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Germany's Vacuumschmelze for around €700m ($1bn), including $50m in common stock equity. Vacuumschmelze recorded revenues...
Zhejiang Hengyi Petrochemical to Establish PTA Project
China's Zhejiang Hengyi Petrochemical is planning to set up a project for the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tons. The...
Burel Selects Unipol Polypropylene Technology
Burel Industries has selected Dow Chemical's Unipol polypropylene process technology for its 250,000t/year facility at Gebang Industrial Park in Kuantan, Malaysia. The polypropylene plant...
European Commission Cancels Fines for BASF and Elementis
The European Commission has repealed a November 2009 decision to impose fines on BASF and Elementis for participating in a price-fixing cartel for heat stabilisers, as the statute of...
LG Chem Partially Shuts Daesan Naphtha Cracker
South Korea's LG Chem has partially shut a 900,000t/year naphtha cracker in Daesan to change a component. Traders estimated that the cracker could be offline for at least three to four...
Iran Petrochemical Exports Expected to Reach $14bn
Iran's petrochemical exports are expected to reach $14bn by 20 March 2012. The Director of National Iranian Petrochemical Company Abdolhossein Bayat said that Iran exported $2bn worth...
ICL Finalises Acquisition of Cosmocel Quimica
Israel Chemicals has finalised the acquisition of Mexico-based Cosmocel Quimica for around $30-40m. ICL Performance Products president and CEO Charles Weidhas said: "Through this...
QAPCO to Start Low-Density Polyethylene Plant in Qatar
Qatar Petrochemical (QAPCO) is planning to start its new 300,000t/year low-density polyethylene plant, named LDPE-3, at Mesaieed in December 2011. ICIS reports that the two...
AkzoNobel to Acquire Solvent-Free Separation Technology
AkzoNobel has agreed to acquire Zeta Fraction technology from Integrated Botanical Technologies to isolate intracellular molecules from plant material without using solvents. The technology...
PetroChina and INEOS Form Trading and Refining Joint Venture
PetroChina has completed a transaction with INEOS to form a trading and refining joint venture for just over $1bn. The joint venture includes trading and refining activities at the...
Chinese Firm to Build Refinery and Petrochemical Plant in Brunei
China's Zhejiang Hengyi Group has received approval from the Brunei Government to build a $6bn refinery and aromatics cracker complex in Brunei. The first phase project at Pulau Muara Besar...
Petronas to Build Fertiliser Plant in Malaysia
Petronas Chemicals Group (PCG) is to build a $1.5bn fertiliser plant in Sipitang, Sabah, Malaysia. The urea production capacity of the new fertiliser complex, also known as the Samur...
AkzoNobel Plans Acquisition of German Speciality Coatings Manufacturer
Dutch-based AkzoNobel is planning to acquire Germany-based Schramm Holding to bolster its position in speciality coatings and expand its footprint in Asia. AkzoNobel Industrial...
Indorama to Acquire Stake in PT Polyprima to Secure PTA Supplies
Indorama Ventures has signed a definitive share-purchase agreement to buy a 50% stake in PT Polyprima. PT Polyprima has a total production capacity of 465,000t/year of purified terephthalic...
Evonik to Build Sealant Chemical Plant in Germany
Evonik Industries has announced that it will build a plant in Marl, Germany, to produce hydroxyl-functionalised polybutadiene, a chemical used in sealants and adhesives. Evonik is already...
La Seda Sells Portuguese PET Plant
Spain's La Seda de Barcelona (LSB) has agreed to sell its Portugal-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) production plant to Control PET for €5.6m ($8.1m). The amount will be paid...
UPC to Expand Phthalic Anhydride and Dioctyl Phthalate Production in China
Taiwan's Union Petrochemical (UPC) will invest US$125m to expand the production capacity of phthalic anhydride and dioctyl phthalate in Nanchong, China. According to China Economic News,...
EIPET Breaks Ground on PET Resin Plant
Egyptian Indian Polyester Company (EIPET), a subsidiary of Dhunseri Petrochem & Tea, has broken ground for the construction of a 420,000t/year polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin plant...
Nova Plans to Build Polyethylene Units
Canada's Nova Chemicals has begun feasibility and engineering work for the construction of two new polyethylene operations at its sites in Alberta and Ontario. The assets will consist of...
Pemex and Mexichem to Form Vinyl Chloride Monomer Joint Venture
Mexico's Pemex has said that it is planning to form a $556m manufacturing joint venture with Mexichem to produce vinyl chloride monomer. The collaboration will include the production...
Jaiprakash Associates Awards Urea Plant Design Contract
Toyo Engineering has been awarded a contract by Jaiprakash Associates to develop the basic design of a urea production plant for a planned fertiliser complex in Kanpur, India. The...
Samsung Engineering Wins Contract for High-Density Polyethylene Plant
Samsung Engineering has signed a $229m contract with ONGC Petro additions Limited (OPaL) to build a high-density polyethylene plant in Gujarat, India. The plant will produce 340,000t...
Showa Denko to Increase Ammonia Production
Japan-based Showa Denko has said that it will increase its high-purity ammonia production capacity in Japan, Taiwan and China to meet growing demand from the electronics industry. ...
June 2011
Top
China Reviews Anti-Dumping Measures on Imported Epichlorohydrin
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has begun a final review of anti-dumping measures on epichlorohydrin imported from Japan, Korea, Russia and the US. China imposed five-year anti-dumping...
Gevo and Toray Produce Renewable PET
Gevo has announced that it has successfully produced fully renewable and recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with its partner, Toray Industries. PET is used for conversion into...
DSM to Acquire C5 Yeast
Dutch-based Royal DSM has signed an agreement with Royal Cosun to acquire C5 Yeast Company. The acquisition will allow DSM to combine C5 Yeast Company's business with its own advanced yeast...
Mitsubishi Chemical Restarts Kashima Chemical Plants
Mitsubishi Chemical has restarted its solvents and bisphenol-A plants in Kashima, Japan, which were shut down following the earthquake that devastated the country in March. According to...
Boubyan Reports Profit Rise on Investment in Equate
Kuwait-based Boubyan Petrochemicals has reported a 7% rise in full-year profit, as it gained from investment in a venture of Dow Chemical. According to Bloomberg, the company's net income...
Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation to Develop Plants
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is planning to invest more than $6bn to develop a chain of petrochemical plants in various locations in Nigeria. According to ICIS, the project...
China Reports Decline in May Petrochemical Imports
China has reported a decline in import volumes of petrochemical products in May 2011 due to weak domestic demand. Naphtha imports fell 29% year-on-year to 107,201t while propylene imports...
Engro Urea Plant Starts Operation
Engro Fertilisers has announced the start of commercial operations at its $1.1bn urea plant in Daharki, Pakistan, which has faced delays for months because of gas supply issues. The...
NB Regeneration and United Advisory Sign Agreement to Build Nitrogen Fertiliser Plant
NB Regeneration, a subsidiary of New Bastion Development, has signed a memorandum of understanding with United Advisory to build and operate a nitrogen fertiliser facility in the Republic...
Sumitomo to Expand Alumina Capacity
Sumitomo Chemical is to expand the production capacity of a high-purity alumina manufacturing facility. The expansion will double the plant's capacity of alumina from 1,600t to 3,200t a year. ...
Takreer to Build Propane Dehydrogenation Unit in UAE
Abu Dhabi Oil Refining (Takreer) is building a new propane dehydrogenation unit in the UAE. The unit will use UOP's C3 Oleflex technology to convert propane to propylene. It is expected...
BASF Takes 75% Stake in Mining Solutions Venture
BASF and Ji'Ning Hock Mining & Engineering Equipment Company have signed an agreement to form a new company, in which BASF will hold a 75% stake. The new company will produce...
Indonesian Firm Plans Two Urea Plants in Java
Indonesian fertiliser producer PT Pupuk Sriwidjaja (Pusri) is planning to build two urea production facilities in Cepu, Central Java, and Gresik, East Java. The two plants will have a...
Solvay to Build Speciality Polymers Production Plant in China
Solvay is planning to invest about €120m ($171m) to build a speciality polymers production plant at its industrial site in Changshu, China. The new plant will be built next to...
Celanese Doubles Vinyl Acetate Ethylene Capacity at Nanjing Plant
Celanese has doubled the capacity of its vinyl acetate ethylene unit at its integrated chemical complex in Nanjing, China. The expanded unit, which will use Celanese's advanced vinyl...
Eastman to Acquire Sterling Chemicals
US-based Eastman Chemical has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Sterling Chemicals for $100m in cash. The transaction includes Sterling's plasticiser and acetic...
Medco to Restart Bunyu Methanol Plant at End of 2012
Medco Energi Internasional has said that it plans to restart its 350,000t / year methanol plant on Indonesia's Bunyu Island at the end of 2012. The plant was shut on 1 February 2009 due to...
Aditya Birla Acquires Columbian Chemicals
The Aditya Birla Group has acquired Atlanta-based Columbian Chemicals Company for $875m. The deal is expected to double the company's capacity of carbon black to two million tons. ...
Borealis to Shut Two Low-Pressure Melamine Plants
Borealis is set to shut down two low-pressure melamine plants with an overall capacity of 30,000t / year at its site in Linz, Austria. According to the company, the decision to close has...
China to Witness Rise in Styrene Butadiene Rubber Exports
China's styrene butadiene rubber exports are likely to increase due to new domestic capacities that have become operational since late 2010. The country's current produces 1.05 million tons...
Genomatica Wins Green Chemistry Award
Genomatica has been awarded the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award by the US Environmental Protection Agency for producing high-volume chemicals from renewable feedstocks at low...
Dairen to Close Vinyl Acetate Monomer Plant in Taiwan for Turnaround
Taiwan's Dairen Chemical is planning to shut its 300,000t / year vinyl acetate monomer plant in Mailiao for turnaround. The plant is scheduled to be shut down in the fourth quarter of the...
Safety Checks to Delay Start of ExxonMobil Ethylene Cracker
ExxonMobil is to delay the start-up of its ethylene cracker on Jurong Island in Singapore to 2012 due to ongoing safety checks. According to Reuters, the cracker was part of a project...
TenCate and Toray Sign Supply Agreement
TenCate Advanced Composites has signed a long-term supply agreement with Toray Industries. Under the agreement, Toray will supply high-performance carbon fibre to TenCate in support of...
AkzoNobel to Fit German Chlorine Plant With Electrolysis Technology
AkzoNobel is investing €140m ($199m) to equip a chlorine plant in Frankfurt, Germany, with membrane electrolysis technology. The technology is expected to increase the plants...
PPG Starts Operations at Chinese Resin Plant
PPG Industries has begun operations at its first resin plant in the Zhangjiagang Yangtze International Chemical Industrial Park in Jiangsu Province, China. The plant will produce...
Ma'aden Begins Production of Diammonium Phosphate Fertiliser
Ma'aden Phosphate Company has begun production of diammonium phosphate fertiliser at its production complex in Ras Az Zawr, Saudi Arabia. The $5.5bn joint venture between Ma'aden and SABIC...
China Extends Anti-Dumping Measures on Imported Hydrazine Hydrate
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has extended an anti-dumping duty on imports of hydrazine hydrate from Japan, Korea, the US and France for a further five years. The move follows the...
Lotte Pakistan to Triple PTA Capacity by 2014
Lotte Pakistan is planning to triple its purified terephthalic acid (PTA) nameplate capacity to 1.5 million tons a year by late 2014. CEO Asif Saad said the cost of expansion will be...
Evonik to Build HPPO Plant in China
Germany's Evonik has signed a deal with Chinese authorities to build and operate a 300,000t a year hydrogen peroxide for propylene oxide (HPPO) plant in Jilin Province. The plant will...
ALFA to Acquire Wellman PET Business
Mexican industrial company ALFA has agreed to acquire the US polyethylene terephthalate (PET) business of Wellman for $185m. The acquisition includes the PET resin production facilities in...
RusVinyl Signs Loan Agreement for Polyvinyl Chloride Plant
RusVinyl has signed a loan agreement to finance a 330,000t / year integrated polyvinyl chloride plant in Kstovo, Russia. The agreement consists of a €150m ($214m) loan from Sberbank...
ICL Acquires Mexican Speciality Chemicals Company
Israel-based ICL Performance Products has signed an agreement to acquire Mexican functional food ingredients and speciality chemicals manufacturer Cosmocel Quimica. ICL Performance...
India Imposes Anti-Dumping Duty on Pentaerythritol Imports from China
The Finance Ministry of India has imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty of $515 a ton on all imports of pentaerythritol from China. The Indian Ministry of Commerce has extended...
BASF Declares Force Majeure on Polybutylene Terephthalate
BASF has declared a force majeure on the production of polybutylene terephthalate at its plant in Schwarzheide, Germany, due to the limited availability of butanediol, the chemical used...
China Exim Bank to Finance Bleached Sulphate Plant
China Exim Bank has agreed to provide Belarus with a loan of $654m to build a bleached sulphate production facility at the Svetlogorsk cellulose and cardboard plant. The project will begin...
FMC Wyoming Plans Granger Soda Ash Facility Expansion
FMC Wyoming has announced plans to double the capacity of its Granger soda ash production facility, which is scheduled to restart next month. The expansion will increase the plant's...
Celanese Brings Chinese Ethanol Production Date Forward
Celanese has announced that it will begin industrial ethanol production in China by the middle of 2013, a year earlier than initially planned. The project will add approximately 200,000t...
SABIC and Montefibre to Initiate Carbon Fibre Project
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) has signed a technology agreement with Montefibre to construct an integrated world-scale carbon fibre plant in Saudi Arabia. The project is expected...
BASF to Expand South Korean Plant
BASF is to invest KRW80bn ($72m) in the expansion of its diphenylmethane diisocyanate plant in Yeosu, South Korea. The project will increase the plant's annual capacity from the 190,000t...
Maire Tecnimont Receives Contract for Indian Polyolefin Projects
Maire Tecnimont has been awarded two engineering, procurement and construction contracts from ONGC Petro-Additions for three polyolefin plants in Dahej, India. The two contracts have a...
Ineos to Acquire Tessenderlo's PVC and Chlor-Alkali Business
Ineos has agreed to acquire Tessenderlo Group's polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and chlor-alkali operations, and part of its organic chlorine derivatives business, for €110m ($159.7m) on...
Petrobas to Construct PTA, PET and Fibres Complex
Petrobras has announced that it will build a terephthalic acid (PTA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and fibres complex at the Port of Suape in Ipojuca, Brazil. According to the...
Aneka Receives Loan for Alumina Plant
Japanese banks have provided a loan of $292.5m to Aneka Tambang to help finance the construction of a chemical-grade alumina plant. Aneka and Showa Denko formed a joint venture company...
Japanese Ethylene Output Falls by 1.4%
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has announced that ethylene production in the country dropped by 1.4% between May 2010 and May 2011. According to Plastemart, the...
Petronas Plans Integrated Refinery and Petrochemical Complex
Malaysia-based Petronas is planning to build a $20bn integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex to meet demand for differentiated and speciality chemicals in Asia. The project will...
Saudi to Increase Petrochemical Output by 2015
Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi has said that large-scale petrochemical projects are set to raise the country's overall production capacity to 100...
Novamont and Polimeri Join Forces to Build Bio-Based Chemical Plant
Polimeri Europa and Novamont have partnered to construct a €500m ($700m) bio-based chemical plant in Porto Torres, Sardinia. The plant will produce of bioplastics, biolubricants,...
Samsung BP Chemicals to Increase Acetic Acid Capacity
South Korea's Samsung BP Chemicals is planning to expand the capacity of its acetic acid plant in Ulsan by 100,000t by the end of October. The new capacity will require about 30,000t...
Repsol to Increase Production Capacity of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate
Repsol is planning to increase the production capacity of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers at its Puertollano site in Spain. The new production unit will produce 15,000t of ethylene...
Formosa Ordered to Halt Naphtha Cracking Operations
The Taiwanese Government has ordered Formosa Plastics Group to halt its sixth naphtha cracking complex in Yunlin County following two fires last month. A fine of NT$2m (about US$60,000)...
US Adds Styrene to Carcinogen Warning List
The US Department of Health and Human Services has declared styrene to be a human carcinogen in its 12th Report on Carcinogens. According to the document, styrene showed increased mortality...
Citgo Announces Force Majeure at Aromatics Plant
Citgo has declared a force majeure on toluene, xylene, heptane, special lactolite and blends containing these products at its facility in Lemont, Illinois, US. The move follows the closure...
Byco Oil Pakistan to Build First Aromatics Facility
Byco Oil Pakistan is set to build the country's first aromatics facility. The facility will produce about 100,000t of benzene, 92,000t of paraxylene, 80,000t of isomer-grade mixed xylene...
Russia Plans to Increase Ethylene Production
Russia is planning to build up to ten complexes to increase ethylene production by 2030, each with one million tons of capacity. The project is expected to increase ethylene capacity to...
GEO to Acquire BASF Bisomer Monomer Business
GEO Specialty Chemicals has entered into an agreement with to acquire BASF's bisomer monomer business. The acquisition includes a manufacturing facility in Hythe, UK, which is used...
Solutia Plans to Increase Diphenyl Oxide Production
Solutia is planning to expand its diphenyl oxide production capacity at its operation in Chocolate Bayou, Texas, US, to meet the increased demand from industrial manufacturing and solar markets. ...
Tosoh to Restart Nanyo Caustic Soda Plant
Japan-based Tosoh is planning to restart its 1.125 million tons / year caustic soda plant in Nanyo in mid June. Tosoh runs another 182,000 million tons /year caustic soda plant in Yokkaichi. ...
Toray Plans to Raise Polyphenylene Sulphide Compounding Capacity
Toray Industries is planning to increase its compounding capacity for polyphenylene sulphide in Japan and China. The new project plans the construction of another 1,500t / year facility...
Solvay and Tianjin to Build Soda Ash Plant in China
Solvay has signed an agreement with Tianjin Soda Ash Plant to set up a joint soda ash plant in Bin Hai, China. Solvay said it will invest €16m ($23.47 m) in two stages to acquire a...
IFC Finances JIFCO Phosphoric Acid Plant in Jordan
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has granted a $215m loan to the Jordan-India Fertilizer Company (JIFCO) to construct a phosphoric acid plant in the city of Eshidiya, Jordan. ...
AkzoNobel and Quangxi Join Forces for Titanium Dioxide Plant
AkzoNobel and Quangxi CAVA Titanium Industry have partnered to produce titanium dioxide in Qinzhou, China. The move will help to meet AkzoNobel's growing titanium dioxide raw material needs...
Shell Plans Ethylene Plant in US Appalachian Region
Shell Oil has said that it is planning to build an ethylene cracker plant in the Appalachian region of the US. The cracker will process ethane from the local Marcellus field to produce...
SKC and Uhde Inventa-Fischer to Build PET Plant in South Korea
Sharpe, Kawam, Carmosino and Company (SKC) and Uhde Inventa-Fischer have signed a contract to build a polyethylene terepthalate (PET) plant in Jincheon, South Korea. The plant will have...
Sibur to Open Siberian Petrochemical Plant by 2013
Russian conglomerate Sibur Holding is set to complete its $2bn petrochemical plant in Siberia by early 2013. The company anticipates that the new plant will triple its polypropylene...
China and Kuwait in Final Talks Over Refinery Project
China is in final talks with Kuwait about the details of a planned $9bn refinery and petrochemical project to be built in southern China. The Chinese National Development and Reform...
Chandra Asri to Build Indonesia's First Butadiene Plant
PT Petrokimia Butadiene Indonesia, a subsidiary of PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical, has announced plans to build a butadiene plant with an estimated investment of $110m. The 40,000m²...
Rhodia and Sibur Join Forces in Speciality Surfactants
Rhodia and Sibur have signed a letter of intent to create a joint venture in speciality surfactants in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The companies...
Shell and Cosan Launch Ethanol Joint Venture in Brazil
Shell and Cosan have launched a $12bn joint venture in Brazil to produce ethanol from sugar cane. The new company, named Raízen, will produce and sell over two billion litres a year...
Lanxess to Build an Neodymium Polybutadiene Plant in Singapore
Germany-based chemical company Lanxess is planning to invest €200m in Singapore to build the world's largest manufacturing plant for neodymium polybutadiene, a specialised rubber. ...
LG Chem to Build Polysilicon Plant in South Korea
South Korean chemical company LG Chem is planning to invest KRW491bn ($455m) to build a polysilicon plant in Yeosu, South Korea. The plant will be able to produce 5,000t of polysilicon, used...
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical to Boost Polyacetal Plant Capacity
Japan's Mitsubishi Gas Chemical is planning to increase its production capacity of polyacetal in Thailand from 55,000t to 100,000t a year by the end of March 2013. The company is also...
SIIG and Petrochem Delay Merger Plans
The proposed merger between Saudi Investment Group (SIIG) and National Petrochemical (Petrochem) has been delayed to Q1 2012. The merger, which was expected to be announced in mid 2011, will...
Orlen Opens Two Plants in Poland
Orlen has completed two petrochemical plants in Poland, a 400,000t / year paraxylene plant in Plock and a 600,000t / year terephthalic acid plant in Wloclawek. The plants will allow the...
Petrobras Seeks Partner for Brazilian Petrochemical Plant
Petrobras is seeking partners for its R$4.94bn (US$3bn) Suape petrochemical project in northeastern Brazil, which is now 71% complete. The facility will have three plants, producing...
Yantai Wanhua Polyurethane to Boost Methyl Diphenylene Isocyanate Capacity
Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes is planning to invest 2.38bn yuan ($367m) to carry out technology upgrades at its Ningbo Wanhua Polyurethanes methyl diphenylene isocyanate plant to boost...
Asahi Glass to Boost Chlor-Alkali Output in Indonesia
Asahi Glass is planning to invest 5bn yen ($61.5m) to expand its chlor-alkali production by 30% through its Indonesian subsidiary, PT Asahimas Chemical. The company is increasing...
EU Authorities Approve BASF and Ineos Joint Venture
The EU's antitrust authorities has approved the creation of a joint venture between Ineos and BASF, which will produce styrenics and is expected to have annual sales of about €6.4bn. ...
Sabic and Mitsubishi Rayon Joint Venture to Build Two Plants in Jubail
Sabic and Mitsubishi Rayon have formed a $1bn joint venture to build a methyl methacrylate plant and a polymethylmethacrylate plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The methyl methacrylate plant...
Chang Chun Petrochemical Confirms Acetic Acid Plant Start-Up Plans
Taiwan-based Chang Chun Petrochemical has announced that it plans to start up its 450,000t / year acetic acid plant in Mailiao in the next two months. The company had initially planned to...
Taiwan Orders Closure of Petrochemical Plants After Fire
The local government of Yunlin county in Taiwan has ordered the closure of six petrochemical plants in the area after a series of fires. The shutdown included Formosa Plastics Group's...
Solvay to Set Up Research Centre at South Korean University
Solvay has signed an agreement with Ewha Womans University in South Korea to set up a joint research, development and technology centre on the university's campus. Solvay will...
Ashland to Acquire International Specialty Products
Ashland has revealed a plan to acquire privately owned chemical maker International Specialty Products for $3.2bn in cash to tap into demand for higher-margin ingredients used in personal...
Chinese Petrochemical Industry to Rise
The Chinese petrochemical sector is expected to grow 10% a year over until 2015, according to a report. The sector is expected to reach 16tn yuan ($2.46tn) by 2015, rising from a value...
Biorenewable Chemicals Market to Rise
The value of the biorenewable chemicals market is expected to rise from $2.4bn to $6.8bn by 2015, a compound annual growth rate of 22.8%, according to SBI Energy. The growth will be driven...
BASF and INEOS to Establish Joint Venture Styrene Business
BASF and INEOS Industries Holdings have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture company to produce styrene. The new entity, to be known as Styrolution, will combine the two...
S-Oil to Buy Stake in Hankook Silicon
South Korean firm S-Oil has agreed to buy a 33.4% stake in Hankook Silicon for KRW265bn ($245m) as part of its drive to expand into the renewable energy business. The purchase will be...
Haldia Petrochemicals to Invest in Indian Projects
Haldia Petrochemicals is planning to invest INR40bn ($885m) in eight petrochemical projects in the Indian state of West Bengal within the next four years. Vice-chairman Purnendu Chatterjee...
May 2011
Top
BASF to Build TDI Plant in Europe
BASF is planning to build the world' largest single-train toluene diisocyanate (TDI) in Europe. The plant is expected to have a capacity of 300,000t a year. The TDI plant will be located...
Petronas Reports Q4 Profit Rise
Malaysia-based Petronas Chemicals has reported a 33% increase in profit to RM3.5bn ($1.15 bn) during the year ended March 2011 compared to the profit it reported a year earlier. The company...
Brazilian Chemical Output Falls
Chemical production in Brazil dropped 5.72% between March and April 2011, according to Brazilian chemical industry association Abiquim. The domestic sales of chemicals also dropped 8.1%...
JBF RAK and BP Aromatics Agree to Build PET Plant in Belgium
JBF RAK has signed a memorandum of understanding with BP Aromatics to build a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) facility in Geel, Belgium. The plant will be located adjacent to BP's...
Global Ethylene Capacity to Rise
Global ethylene capacity is expected to reach 162 million tons by 2012 through the addition of new capacities, a report by Merchant Research & Consulting has predicted. During the next...
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Seeks Partner for Indian Petrochemical Project
India's Hindustan Petroleum Corporation has said that it is seeking partners for its INR450bn ($9.9bn) petrochemical project in Visakhapatnam, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The company...
Iran Looks for Partner for Hormuz Fertiliser Plant
Iran has announced that it is seeking a new partner to replace Oman in its $800m Hormuz urea fertiliser plant. The project was being carried out in a 50:50 joint venture between Iran's...
China's Methanol Imports Drops in April
China's methanol imports dropped to 498,255t during April 2011, a 6.6% fall compared to imports in the previous month. In March, China imported 533,203t of methanol, almost double the amount...
SQM Reports First Quarter Profit
Chile-based Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) has reported a 46% increase in profit to $111.4m during the first quarter of 2011, compared to the corresponding quarter in 2010. ...
China Witnesses Petrochemical Output Increase
Sales in the Chinese petrochemical industry have risen 34% during the first four months of 2011 to 2.95tn yuan ($453bn) compared to the same period in 2010, according to a report from...
Dutch Chemical Output Rises
Sales in the Dutch chemical industry increased by 22% in the first quarter of 2011, compared to the corresponding quarter in 2010, chemical industry association VNCI has confirmed. The...
Sinopec and Kuwait Petroleum to Start Construction of Chinese Petrochemical Plant in 2012
Sinopec and Kuwait Petroleum have announced that construction of a proposed joint-venture petrochemical plant and a refinery in China's Guangdong province will begin in 2012. The construction...
Dow Chemical to Open Thailand Polyolefin Elastomers Plant
Dow Chemical has revealed that it plans to open its polyolefin elastomers plant in Thailand's Rayong province on 1 June 2011. The new facility is expected to increase Dow's global capacity...
BNDES Petrochemical Funding Rises in Q1
Brazilian national development bank BNDES increased its funding to the country's chemical and petrochemical sector by 39% year-on-year to R$1.17bn (US$728m) in the first quarter of 2011. ...
Daelim Wins Saudi Petrochemical Plant Contract
South Korea's Daelim has won a contract to build a $750m petrochemical plant for Saudi Arabia's Sahara Petrochemicals. The project is a joint venture between Sahara Petrochemicals and...
Iran to Double Petrochemical Capacity
Iran is planning to nearly double its petrochemical capacity by 2015, from 51 million tons per year to 100 million tons per year. The plan will see increases in the production of...
Mitsubishi Chemical Restarts Quake-Affected Cracker Plant
Mitsubishi Chemical has resumed operation at its No 2 naphtha cracker plant in Kashima, Japan, two months after its operations were disrupted by an earthquake. The cracker has a capacity...
Global Chemical Deal Volume Rises 78% in Q1
M&A volume in the chemical industry has risen 78% during the first quarter of 2011 compared to volume in 2010, according to an analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The firm's...
India Imposes Anti-Dumping Duty on Acetone Imports from Thailand and Japan
India has imposed anti-dumping duty of up to $94.96 per ton on imports of acetone from Japan and Thailand to protect domestic players. The anti-dumping duty will be levied for a period of...
United Chemicals to Borrow Money to Boost Chemical Output
Kazakhstan-based United Chemical is planning to borrow $3bn from banks next year to boost its chemical production, as the country seeks to boost exports of refined oil and gas products. ...
Indorama to Build Fertiliser and Methanol Plants in Nigeria
Indonesia-based Indorama is planning to invest $1.8bn to build fertiliser and methanol plants in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The plants are expected to be operational in 2014 and produce a...
Sunoco to Sell Phenol and Acetone Plant in US to Honeywell
Sunoco has signed an agreement with Honeywell to sell its phenol and acetone manufacturing plant in Philadelphia, US, for an estimated $85m. The company is expected to incur pre-tax...
KarpatNaftoKhim Prepares to Start Ukraine Polyvinyl Chloride Plant
Lukoil-owned Ukrainian petrochemical company KarpatNaftoKhim has announced that it is preparing to start its new polyvinyl chloride production plant in Kalush, western Ukraine. The...
SABIC and Sinopec Partner for Polycarbonate Production in China
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) have signed a memorandum of understanding to produce polycarbonate in China. The agreement will see a...
DuPont Secures 92.2% Stake of Danisco
DuPont Denmark Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of DuPont, has secured 92.2% of outstanding shares in Danisco, valued at $6.4bn. DuPont Chair and CEO Ellen Kullman said that the company...
Deloitte Expert Tips China to Become World's Largest Chemical Market
China may become the world's largest chemical market, overtaking the US by the end of this year, according to Deloitte global chemical sector leader Tim Hanley. Hanley was quoted by...
SABIC and ExxonMobil Chemical Sign Technology Agreement
Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) and ExxonMobil Chemical have signed an engineering and licensing contract for a joint elastomers project in Saudi Aradia. US-based Jacobs Engineering and...
German Chemical Output to Grow
German chemical trade group VCI has raised its chemical sales forecasts for 2011 after seeing a strong demand result in additional plant capacity utilisation. VCI has projected a 9%...
OCI and Janus Joint Venture Acquires Ammonia-Methanol Plant in Texas
Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), a subsidiary of Netherlands-based OCI Nitrogen, has acquired an integrated ammonia-methanol plant located in Texas, US, through a joint venture with...
BASF to Build Dispersions Plant in South Africa
BASF is planning to build a plant in Durban, South Africa, to produce acrylic dispersions for the coatings and construction industry. Production is scheduled to begin in the second half of...
Sasol to Build Ethylene Tetramerisation Plant in US
Sasol has selected S&B Engineers and Constructors to build its ethylene tetramerisation plant at Lake Charles in Louisiana, US. The plant will use Sasol's proprietary technology to...
Makhteshim Agan Reports First-Quarter Profit Rise
The Makhteshim Agan Group has reported a profit of $91.7m during the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 29.4% from the $70.9m profit reported during the corresponding quarter in 2010. ...
Tokuyama to Build Silicon Plant in Malaysia
Japan-based Tokuyama is planning to invest 100bn yen ($1.2bn) to build its second polycrystalline silicon plant at Samalaju Industrial Park in Sarawak, Malaysia. The second-phase plant...
Iran to Build 24 Petrochemical Plants
Iran is planning to invest $14bn to construct 24 petrochemical plants in Asalouyeh, Bushehr. The investment is part of Iran's plan to increase its petrochemical production to 64 million...
QAPCO to Boost Petrochemical Production
Industries Qatar, the parent company of Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO), has unveiled a five-year plan through 2015 to boost its petrochemical production. QAPCO is planning to start...
Momentive and UPC Joint Venture to Produce Phenolic Resins in China
Momentive Specialty Chemicals and UPC Technology have signed a memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture company to produce speciality phenolic resins in China. The joint venture...
OCI to Raise Funds for Polysilicon Capacity Increase
OCI is planning to raise $700m through global depositary receipts to fund an increase of its polysilicon capacity. The South Korea-based company will offer receipts for 360,719 existing...
DuPont to Expand Titanium Dioxide Capacity
DuPont has revealed a plan to expand its titanium dioxide capacity by about 350,000t. The increase will see new production units built at the company's Altamira plant in Mexico, as well...
Petronas to Build Petrochemical Complex in Malaysia
Petronas is planning to build an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in the state of Johor, Malaysia. The state owned Malaysian company is planning to invest around $20bn in...
Japanese VAM Output Drops in February
Japanese vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) production in February 2011 dropped 28.7% from January and 20% from the same month a year earlier to 38,025t, statistics from the Japan VAM and PVOH...
China to Extend Anti-Dumping Duty on Imported Chloroprene Rubber
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has announced that it will continue to impose anti-dumping duty on imports of chloroprene rubber from Japan, the US and the EU for another five...
Lanxess First Quarter Profit Rises 60%
Lanxess has reported a 60% increase in profit during the first quarter of 2011 to €166m ($241m), backed by a 29% jump in sales to €2.1bn. The German chemical company reported...
Mossi & Ghisolfi to Build New PET and PTA Plants in the US
Mossi & Ghisolfi has announced that it is planning to build a one million tons / year polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in the US Gulf Coast region. The company also intends to build...
Styron Breaks Ground at New German Plant
Styron has broken ground on its new solution styrene butadiene rubber plant in Schkopau, Germany. The plant will have an initial capacity to produce 50,000t of solution styrene butadiene...
Royal DSM, Roquette to Open Bio-Based Succinic Acid Plant in Italy
Royal DSM and French starch-maker Roquette Frères are to build a commercial scale plant for the production of bio-based succinic acid in Cassano Spinola, Italy. The plant will use...
Enterprise to Increase Polymer-Grade Propylene Fractionation in Texas
Enterprise Products Partners is to expand its polymer-grade propylene fractionation plant at Mont Belvieu in Texas, US. The expansion will increase the plant's capacity by 10%...
Merck Resumes Xirallic Paint Pigment Production in Japan
German chemical company Merck has resumed operations at its paint pigment plant in Japan. The Onahama plant, which closed in the wake of March's earthquake and tsunami, is the sole source...
Dow to Restart Ethylene Unit Following Maintenance
Dow Chemical is preparing to restart an ethylene unit at its Terneuzen chemicals site in the Netherlands, which was shut in March for maintenance. The cracker plant has a capacity to...
Sahara and Maaden Sign Caustic Soda Production Agreement
Sahara Petrochemicals has signed a shareholder agreement with Maaden, a Saudi Arabian Mining company, to build a CA-EDC complex in Jubail Industrial city, in which it will invest $750m. ...
Clariant Net Income Jumps in Q1
Clariant has posted a net profit of CHF120m during the first quarter of 2011, up from the CHF10m reported during the corresponding period in 2010. The company's earnings before interest and...
Saudi Arabia Petrochemical Export Rises
Saudi Arabia's petrochemical exports increased 31% in March 2011 compared to the corresponding month in 2010. Saudi Arabia exported SAR4.7bn ($1.3bn) of petrochemicals during the month, up...
Environment Groups Sue ECHA
Environmental groups ClientEarth and ChemSec have sued Europe's chemical watchdog for not disclosing the names of companies producing toxic chemicals in EU countries. The groups allege that...
Arkema's Q1 Profit Triples
Arkema's profit during the first quarter of 2011 has more than tripled to €151m ($225m), led by strong demand and higher prices. The French company reported a profit of €40m...
Reliance to Invest in Chemical Business
Reliance Industries is considering a plan to invest $12bn in its chemical business, in an attempt to become a leader in the rubber sector. The company is looking to tap into hygiene...
PPG to Acquire Dyrup
PPG Industries has signed an agreement with Monberg & Thorsen to acquire Denmark-based coatings company Dyrup for €135m ($200m) including debt. Dyrup is a European producer...
Dow to Increase Resin Capacity in Germany
Dow Epoxy, a unit of Dow Chemical, has revealed a plan to increase its liquid epoxy resin capacity at its plant in Stade, Germany, by 30,000t a year. The expansion represents a 10% increase...
BASF's Q1 Profit More Than Doubles
BASF has reported a 134% increase in profit during the first quarter of 2011 to €2.41bn ($3.51bn), up from the €1.03bn ($1.48bn) reported during the corresponding quarter in...
Dorf Ketal Achieves Full Production at Indian Facility
Dorf Ketal Specialty Catalysts has achieved full production at its organic titanate plant in Mundra, India. The facility will produce a wide portfolio of titanates, making it the...
Keyuan Expands Capacity in China
China-based Keyuan Petrochemicals has completed its capacity expansion project at its plant in Ningbo, China, boosting capacity from 550,000t a year to 720,000t a year. Equipment...
BioAmber Raises Funds for Succinic Acid Commercialisation
BioAmber has raised $45m in a Series B financing round to fund the commercialisation of modified polybutylene succinate polymers and biobased succinic acid. The new round of funding was...
FMC Reports Q1 Profit
FMC Corporation has achieved a net profit of $94m in the first quarter of 2011, up from the $77.4m it reported in the corresponding period of the previous year. First quarter revenue...
Bayer to Invest in US Chemical Plant
Bayer MaterialScience has announced plans to invest $120m in its site in Baytown, Texas, US, to upgrade a chemical plant. The investment will be used for environmental upgrades,...
Samsung Wins HDPE Plant Contract in India
India-based ONGC Petro Additions has awarded a contract to Samsung Engineering to develop a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in Dahej, Gujarat, India. Under the $229m contract,...
PPG Acquires Equa-Chlor
PPG Industries has completed the $27m asset acquisition of Equa-Chlor, a manufacturer of chlorine, caustic soda and muriatic acid based in Longview, Washington, US. The company has...
Lanxess Completes DSM Elastomers Acquisition
Germany-based Lanxess has completed the acquisition of DSM Elastomers from Dutch company Royal DSM for €310m. The transaction was announced in 14 December 2010 as part of...
LyondellBasell to Boost Ethylene Output
LyondellBasell Industries is planning to boost its ethylene capacity in the US and build another plant to take advantage of an increased supply of shale gas. The firm could debottleneck...
Bayer MaterialScience to Boost Polycarbonate Capacity in Europe
Bayer MaterialScience is planning to invest €90m to increase polycarbonate capacity at its Krefeld-Uerdingen site in Germany. The plant is currently producing 330,000t of polycarbonate...
Westlake Chemical's Q1 Profit More Than Quadruples
Westlake Chemical's first quarter profit in 2011 more than quadrupled to $83.5m, compared to $17.6m it reported during the corresponding period in 2010. However, its first quarter profit...
Petrochemical Capacity to Increase in Taiwan
Despite the termination of the Kuokuang petrochemical project, several downstream petrochemical projects in southern Taiwan are planning to expand capacities. The petrochemical projects have...
LyondellBasell Q1 Profit Soars
LyondellBasell has reported a profit of $663m during the first quarter of 2011, up from a profit of $8m during the same quarter a year ago. The Dutch chemical company reported a 119%...
Dow Chemical Fails to Restart Netherland Cracker Plant
Dow Chemical has failed to restart its No 1 cracker in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, following maintenance work that began in March. The cracker, one of three plants that Dow Chemical operates...
Gecko Plans to Build Three Chemical Plants in Namibia
South African-based Gecko company is planning to invest $1.8bn to build three chemical acid plants and a harbour in Namibia to cater to the mining industry. The proposed chemical acid...
Albemarle Develops Technology to Produce Lithium from Brine
Albemarle has developed a technology to extract lithium from brine, allowing it to produce lithium carbonate from its bromine facility in Magnolia, Arkansas, US. The chemical company...
Akzonobel to Restructure Pakistan Subsidiary
Dutch chemical company AkzoNobel has revealed a plan to restructure its ICI Pakistan subsidiary into two companies — AkzoNobel Pakistan and ICI Pakistan. AkzoNobel Pakistan will...
Solutia Opens EVA Plant in China
Solutia has opened its Vistasolar ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) manufacturing plant in Suzhou, China. The new plant will strengthen Solutia's position as high-quality solar encapsulant...
Amyris Builds Farnesene Plant in Brazil
US-based Amyris has built a plant at Piracicaba in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, to produce farnesene from sugar-cane syrup. Farnesene is a chemical compound that can be...
Qatar Petrochemical to Launch Polyethylene Plant Next Year
Qatar Petrochemical Company will launch its new low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plant, known as LDPE-3, in the first quarter of 2012. The plant is to be located in Mesaieed, Qatar, and...
Dow Chemical's Q1 Profit Up
Dow Chemical has reported a 34% increase in profit during the first quarter of 2011 to $625m, compared with $466m it reported during the same quarter in 2010. The US-chemical major...
BTB Bank to Fund AzMeCo Methanol Plant
Azerbaijan's BTB Bank has agreed to provide a $30m loan to AzMeCo to fund the construction of a methanol plant in Baku. The plant will produce 720,000t of methanol a year with the...
Clariant Completes Acquisition of Süd-Chemie
Clariant has completed the acquisition of Germany-based speciality and catalysts firm Süd-Chemie for €1.9bn ($2.7bn). Following the transaction, the Switzerland-based firm will own...
April 2011
Top
Momentive and Zhejiang Xinan Joint Venture to Increase Siloxane Output
Momentive Performance Materials and Zhejiang Xinan Chemical Industrial are planning to expand the capacity of their joint venture, Zhejiang Xinan Momentive Performance Materials. The...
BioAmber and Mitsubishi Chemical Sign Succinic Acid Partnership
BioAmber and Mitsubishi Chemical have signed a strategic agreement with Mitsubishi Chemical, making BioAmber and its Asian distribution partner Mitsui the exclusive suppliers of bio-based...
Malaysia to Continue Anti-Dumping Duties Thailand Resins
Malaysia will continue to impose anti-dumping duty on imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or plastic resin originating or exported from Thailand. Based on an administrative review...
Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Suspends Taiwan Petrochemical Plan
Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology has suspended its plan to build a petrochemical complex Changhua, Taiwan. The decision came following opposition to the TWD600bn ($20.7bn) project...
German Court Halts Ethylene Pipeline Project
A German court has halted the construction of an ethylene pipeline project amid concerns that it runs too close to housing. The order is to halt the section between Aalen and Rudersberg, in...
Momentive Plans to Sell Stock in Initial Public Offering
Chemical maker Momentive Performance Materials Holdings is planning to sell up to an estimated $862.5m of common stock in an initial public offering. The firm will use the proceeds from...
PTT Chemical and PTT Aromatics Merger Moves Ahead
Shareholders of PTT Chemical and PTT Aromatics and Refining have approved the merger of the two companies. The merger is expected to be finalised in August 2011, making the combined entity...
Akzo Nobel's Q1 Profit Increases
Akzo Nobel has reported a 58% increase in profit to €128m during the first quarter of 2011, compared to a profit of €81m reported during Q1 2010. The Dutch company's revenue...
EPA Strengthens Air Toxic Emissions Standards for PVC Facilities
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed stronger standards for facilities that produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The standards update the emission limits of air toxics,...
LG Chem Reports Q1 Profit Rise
LG Chem has reported a 27% increase in first-quarter profit to $601m during the three months ended 31 March, compared with KRW517.7bn ($474.8m) it reported during the corresponding quarter a...
Genomatica and M&G to Commercialise Bio-BDO
Italy's M&G (Gruppo Mossi & Ghisolfi) has entered into a deal with Genomatica for the development of sustainable chemicals from biomass through its Chemtex subsidiary. Under the...
Dow Chemical Plans to Boost Ethylene and Propylene Output
Dow Chemical is planning to build an ethylene plant on the US Gulf coast, which is expected to start in 2017. The chemical major is also planning to restart a cracker plant near...
Sabic's Reports Q1 Profit Rise
Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic) has reported a 42% increase in profit driven by increased sales and production. Sabic said its profit climbed to SAR7.69bn ($2.04bn) for the first quarter of...
DuPont Secures China's Approval for Danisco Acquisition
US chemicals group DuPont has received approval from China's Ministry of Commerce for its planned acquisition of Danish ingredients and enzyme maker Danisco. The approval clears the way...
IPIC Seeks to Consolidate Nova and Borealis
The Abu Dhabi Government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) is looking to consolidate Nova and Borealis as it focuses on building up the petrochemical industry in the country....
Tikkurila to Acquire Zorka Color
Tikkurila is planning to acquire the operations of Serbian paint company Zorka Color and its subsidiaries. The Finnish company expects the acquisition to strengthen its position in...
Petrochemical Exports from Saudi Arabia Rise
Saudi Arabia's petrochemical exports increased 31% in February compared to a year earlier, according to government data. The country shipped 2.49 million tons of petrochemicals from its...
Arkema Starts Fluorinated Polymer Production at Chinese Plant
France-based Arkema has started production from its new Kynar PVDF fluorinated polymer production plant at its Changshu site in China. Earlier in January, Arkema revealed a plan to...
Aditya Birla Chemical Buys Chloro Chemicals Unit From Kanoria
Aditya Birla Chemical has bought the chloro-chemical division of Kanoria Chemicals and Industries, for INR8.5bn ($130m). Kanoria operates a plant in Renukoot, Uttar Pradesh, India, under...
Ferrostaal to Invest in Indonesia Plant
Germany-based Ferrostaal is planning to invest $800m to build a methanol and dimethyl ether plant in West Papua, Indonesia. The company is expects to complete all planning and preparation...
Chemtura to Expand Chemical Business in India
Chemtura is planning to invest between $100m and $150m over the next five years to expand its chemical business in India. The US-based chemical company is planning to expand its business...
Rhone to buy Evonik's Carbon Black Unit
New York-based Rhone Capital is considering buying Evonik Industries' carbon black operation for about $1.3bn. Rhone Capital competed against Triton Advisers in the final stages of the...
Brazil's Q1 Chemical Trade Deficit Increases
Brazil's chemical trade deficit reached $5bn during the first quarter this year, increasing 16.9% over the same period of 2010, according to Abiquim, the national association of...
CB&I to Provide Technology to Kazakhstan Petchem Project
Lummus Technology, a unit of CB&I company, has won a contract from Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries to provide licensing and basic engineering of a propane dehydrogenation plant and...
Jurong Aromatics Secures Funds for Singapore Petrochemical Plant
Jurong Aromatics Corporation has secured $1.56bn of debt financing from ten banks to build a petrochemical plant in Singapore. Around 80% ($1.24bn) of the debt will be financed or...
ICL to Expand Potash Plant in Spain
ICL is planning to streamline its Spanish subsidiary Iberpotash and has approved plans to combine two of Iberpotash's operational sites into one. Under the plan, Iberpotash's capacity at...
Technip Secures Methionine Plant Contract in China
Technip has won a contract from Bluestar Adisseo Nanjing Company of China for engineering, procurement and project management services for a methionine plant in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China. ...
Honeywell to Provide Process Control for UAE Fertliser Plant
Honeywell has been selected by Samsung Engineering to deliver an integrated process control system for Fertil-2, a new fertiliser plant being built near Abu Dhabi, United Arab...
Shell to Delay Restart of Singapore Ethylene Plant
Royal Dutch Shell may delay the restart of its Pulau Bukom ethylene plant in Singapore to May because of ongoing technical issues. The cracker, which shut on 18 March and caused Shell...
Researchers Develop Material That Catalyses Two Chemical Reactions
Researchers at University of California Berkeley in the US have designed a novel material that can catalyse two separate, sequential reactions to produce industrially relevant intermediates in...
Japan's Naphtha Imports Drop
Japanese naphtha imports for the petrochemical sector decreased by 10% in March 2011, compared with the same month in 2010, according to Japanese government data, reflecting the impact of...
M&G Starts Work on Cellulosic Ethanol Plant in Italy
Novozymes partner Mossi & Ghisolfi Group (M&G) has started construction work on its cellulosic ethanol plant in Crescentino, north-west Italy. The plant, which will be ten times larger than...
Samsung to Build Aluminum Alkyls Plant for SOCC
Saudi Organometallic Chemicals Company (SOCC) has selected Samsung Engineering to provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for its aluminum alkyls manufacturing facility...
Daelim Completes Construction of Chevron's Polymer Plant
Daelim Industrial has completed construction of Chevron Phillips' polymer plant in Saudi Arabia. The polymer plant will have a capacity of 1.7 million tons including 550,000t of...
Asia Polymer to Build New EVA Plant in Taiwan
Asia Polymer, part of USI Far East Group, is planning to invest between NT$4bn (US$138.2m) and NT$5bn (US$172.8m) to build a new plant in Kaohsiung County, southern Taiwan to increase output...
Sinopec Begins Work on Aromatics Plant in Kazakhstan
China's Sinopec Tenth Construction Company has started work on a 500,000t a year aromatics plant at Kazakhstan's Atyrau oil refinery. Kazakhstan's state-owned KazMunaiGaz had awarded a...
Tata Chemicals to Acquire Stake in Gabon Urea Project
Tata Chemicals will invest $290m to acquire a 25.1% equity stake in a urea manufacturing project in Gabon. The port-based, ammonia-urea fertiliser complex is being set up through a...
Hanwha to Build Polysilicon Plant in South Korea
Hanwha Chemical is planning to invest KRW1.04tn ($955m) to build a polysilicon plant in the city of Yeosu, South Korea. The plant will have a capacity to produce 10,000t of the material,...
Dow and OPX to Collaborate on Bio-Based Acrylic Acid Development
Dow Chemical Company and OPX Biotechnologies have entered into a collaboration to develop an industrial-scale process to produce bio-based acrylic acid from renewable feedstocks, such as corn...
Wacker Begins Construction of US Polysilicon Plant
Wacker Chemie has started construction work on its €1.1bn ($1.6bn) polysilicon plant in the US state of Tennessee. The plant will have a capacity to produce 15,000t of polysilicon a...
Daelim Wins Petrochemical Plant Contract from Petron
Daelim Industrial said it has signed a KRW345.3bn ($317m) deal with Petron to build a petrochemical plant in Limay, Bataan, the Philippines. The South Korean company said that it would...
China Green's Fertiliser Plant to Begin Production
China Green Agriculture has announced that the new fertiliser plant of its Beijing Gufeng Chemical Products subsidiary has started operations. The new plant has a capacity of 200,000t...
Braskem Starts Construction on Brazilian PVC Plant
Braskem has started construction work on its new PVC plant at Marechal Deodoro in the state Alagoas, Brazil. The plant is being constructed with an investment of BRL1bn ($621.9m) and...
Mitsubishi to Restart Ethylene Plant in Japan
Mitsubishi Chemical has said it is planning to restart its No 2 naphtha cracker at its manufacturing complex in Kashima, Japan, on 20 May. The complex was shut following the massive...
China to Curb Petrochemical Projects
China will encourage foreign investments in ethylene projects with a capacity of no less than one million tons, as well as oil and gas exploration, according to National Development and...
Indorama to Increase PET Polymers Production in Europe
Indorama Ventures has approved an expansion of PET polymer production in Europe by 220,000t a year. The expansion will boost Indorama's total PET polymer capacity in Europe to 1.3 million...
LG Chem to Invest in Kazakhstan Polypropylene Plant
South Korean chemical manufacturer LG Chem is planning to invest $1.3bn in a polypropylene plant in Atyrau Oblast, Kazakhstan. Kazakh vice-minister of oil and gas Aset Magauov said that...
Egypt and EU Sign Chemical Industry Memorandum of Understanding
The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), the Chamber of Chemical Industries of Egypt and the Environmental Compliance Office of Egypt have signed a memorandum of understanding to...
Japanese Ethylene Output Up
Japanese ethylene production increased 2.1% in February to 605,300t compared to the same month a year earlier, boosted by additional plant capacity, according to government data. The...
Gulf Petrochemical Production to Rise
Annual petrochemical production in Gulf countries is expected to rise by 46% to 155 million tons a year by 2015, up from 105 million tons at present, according a report by the Gulf...
European Commission Approves Dupont's Danisco Acquisition
The European Commission has approved DuPont's acquisition offer for Danisco, the Danish food ingredients and enzymes maker. The US chemical company announced its intentions to acquire...
EU Chemical Production Increases
EU chemical production in January increased 7% compared with the corresponding month in 2010, according to the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic). Chemical production now stands at...
Solvay to Acquire Rhodia
Belgium-based Solvay has revealed plans to acquire French chemical company Rhodia for €3.4bn. Both the companies have signed an agreement, according to which Solvay will offer...
Marubeni to Buy Butadiene from Braskem
Japan's Marubeni is planning to sign a five-year agreement to buy butadiene from Brazilian firm Braskem. Marubeni will spend JPY45bn ($534m) over five years to buy butadiene from...
Lanxess Starts Production at Indian Resins Plant
Lanxess India has started production at its ion exchange resins plant at Jhagadia, Gujarat. The high-tech resins are used for water treatment in the power generation, microelectronics,...
Westlake to Increase Ethylene Capacity in US
Westlake Chemical has announced an expansion programme that includes increasing its ethane-based ethylene capacity in Lake Charles, Louisiana, US. The company is also planning to expand...
Maruzen Petrochemical Restarts Naphtha Cracker
Japan's Maruzen Petrochemical has restarted its 480,000t / year naphtha cracker in Chiba, Japan, nearly a month after it was shut down following the earthquake on 11March. With the restart...
Uralkali and Silvinit Merger Approved
Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has approved the merger between major fertiliser producers Uralkali and Silvinit. The $7.8bn merger will create the world's largest potash...
Huntsman Acquires Laffans Petrochemicals
US-based chemical company Huntsman has completed the acquisition of Indian chemical producer Laffans Petrochemicals. Following the acquisition, Huntsman has taken the ownership of the 60,000t...
Lucite to Build Methacrylic Acid Plant in US
Lucite International, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Rayon, is planning to build a new methacrylic acid plant at its facility in Beaumont, Texas, US. Lucite is planning to invest $36.2m in...
Evonik Starts Isobutene Plant in Belgium
Evonik Industries has opened a new plant to produce high-purity isobutene at its site in Antwerp, Belgium. The plant has capacity to produce 110,000t of isobutene a year. It forms part of...
TA Holdings Deliberates Fertiliser Plant Conversion
Zimbabwe-based TA Holdings has announced that it requires at least $200m to convert its Sable Chemicals hydro-electrolysis fertiliser plant to a gasification plant, which would allow it to...
Western Australia State Government to Support Perdaman Urea Plant
The state of Western Australia will provide A$83.5m ($86.6m) over the next four years to support Perdaman Chemical's A$3.5bn ($3.6bn) urea plant. Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett...
EU Approves National Bluestar's Acquisition of Elkem
The European Commission has approved China National Bluestar's acquisition of Norwegian silicon producer Elkem. The Commission carefully examined the $2bn merger, holding an enquiry...
Technip Awarded Braskem-Idesa's Ethylene Project in Mexico
Braskem-Idesa, the joint venture between the Brazilian Braskem and Mexican Group Idesa, has chosen Technip as a technology provider for the development of its Ethylene XXI project in...
M Setek to Restart Polysilicon Plant in June
M Setek has announced that it plans to resume polysilicon production at its plant in Soma City, Japan, in June. Operations were suspended after the 11 March earthquake led to power...
Toyo to Build Fertiliser Plant in Indonesia
Indonesia's PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur (Kaltim) has awarded a $577m contract to Japan's Toyo Engineering to build a fertiliser plant in Bontang, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The natural...
Indian Firm to Build Technical Ammonium Nitrate Plant in Australia
India-based Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation is planning to invest $350m to set up a technical ammonium nitrate plant in the state of South Australia, Australia. The plant...
Teijin DuPont Restarts Operations in PET Film Plant
The Teijin DuPont Films joint venture has restarted operations at its PET film plant in Ibaraki, Japan. The plant was shut down following the earthquake and tsunami that struck the country...
BASF, Petronas to Build Superabsorbent Polymers Plant in Malaysia
BASF and Petronas are planning to build a new plant for superabsorbent polymers in Malaysia. The companies have also decided to expand the existing production capacities of their joint...
ExxonMobil Chemical Opens Technology Centre in China
ExxonMobil Chemical has opened a new technology centre at Zizhu Science-Based Industrial Park in Shanghai, China. The $90m technology centre will offer a critical link for the development...
Bayer to Build Isophorone Diisocyanate Plant in China
Bayer MaterialScience is planning to build a plant to produce isophorone diisocyanate, a coating raw material, at its integrated site in Shanghai, China. Bayer is planning to invest...
March 2011
Top
3i Group Plans to Sell Azelis
UK-based private equity firm 3i Group has initiated the sale of Azelis, a Belgium-based chemicals distributor with €1bn ($1.4bn) in sales. 3i has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch...
GPIC Reports Profit
Gulf Petrochemicals Industries Company (GPIC) has reported a profit of $138m in 2010, an increase of $33m from 2009. The company said that it produced 1,475,892t of ammonia, urea and...
Ineos to Expand Ethylene Oxide Business
Ineos Oxide has announced a plan to expand its ethylene oxide and ethylene oxide derivatives capacity over the next few years as part of its strategy to grow its business globally. As part...
Chevron Phillips Could Build Ethane Cracker in US
Chevron Phillips is considering plans to build an ethane cracker and ethylene derivatives plant at one of its existing facilities in the US Gulf Coast region. The plant would use the...
Israel Chemical's Q4 Profit Rises
Israel Chemical has reported a 21% increase in profit to $245.4m during the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with $202.7m it reported during the corresponding quarter in 2009. Israel...
Samsung and Sumitomo to Form LED Component Joint Venture
South Korea's Samsung LED and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical have agreed to form a KRW80bn ($72m) joint venture in South Korea to produce sapphire substrates, which are used to make LEDs. The...
SQM to Boost its Fertiliser and Chemical Capacity
Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM), a Chilean fertiliser and speciality chemical producer, is planning to invest between $1bn and $1.5bn over the next four years to boost its...
Perstorp to Increase 2-Ethylhexyl Acrylate Capacity in Europe and Asia
Perstorp is planning to expand the production capacity of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate in Europe and Asia by establishing production plants its manufacturing unit in Singapore. The company is...
Nigeria to Build Petrochemical Plants
Nigeria has signed a memorandum of understanding with Xenel of Saudi Arabia and Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals of India to build petrochemical and fertiliser plants in the country. ...
Altana Reports Sales Rise
German speciality chemical company Altana has reported a 51% increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation during 2010, rising from €208.4m in 2009 to...
K+S Completes Acquisition of Potash One
Germany's K+S has announced that its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, K+S Canada Holdings, has completed the acquisition of all outstanding common shares of Potash One. Following...
BASF Receives Approval to Build MDI Plant in China
BASF has received approval from China to build a diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) plant in Chongqing, China. The company will invest 8bn yuan ($1.21bn) in the project, which will consist...
India to Revive Closed Urea Plant
Engineers India and National Fertiliser of India are planning to revive the closed urea plant project at Ramagundam, Andhra Pradesh, with an investment of INR40bn ($874.9m). The two...
Mitsubishi Chemical Crackers to Stay Closed for Two Months
Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical has said that it will take at least two months to restart operations at two naphtha crackers at its Kashima plant, which was affected by the earthquake and tsunami...
Nippon Steel Chemical and Showa Denko to Establish Aromatic Joint Venture
Nippon Steel Chemical and Showa Denko will form a joint venture company to produce aromatic chemicals, including styrene monomer, benzene, toluene and xylene. The joint venture, named...
Dhunseri Delays PET Plant Project in Egypt
Dhunseri Petrochem & Tea has delayed the construction of its proposed PET plant in Egypt for two months following turmoil in the country. Construction work of the plant is now scheduled...
Podar Group to Expand Its Fertiliser Business In India
Podar Group is planning to spend $2bn over the next four years to expand its fertiliser business in India. The India-based group will utilise the majority of funds to set up a new...
AkzoNobel to Increase Bermocoll Cellulose Derivatives Production
AkzoNobel will invest more than €60m to increase the capacity of its Bermocoll cellulose derivatives (paint and building material thickeners). Under the expansion plan, the Dutch...
Dynea Chemicals Acquires SC Rom Re Ro Munteanu
Dynea Chemicals has acquired SC Rom Re Ro Munteanu SRL, a privately owned Romanian adhesive manufacturing company. The acquisition is part of Dynea's strategy to strengthen its presence in...
Yara to Build Ammonium Nitrate Plant in Australia
Norway-based Yara International has signed a letter of intent (LoI) with Técnicas Reunidas to build a 330,000tpa ammonium nitrate (TAN) plant on the Burrup Peninsula in Western...
Japan's Petrochemical Output Hit Following Quake
Several petrochemical plants in Japan remain shut while others are running at a low rate following the earthquake and devastating tsunami that occurred on 11 March. About 25% of...
Chemical Production in France to Rise
Chemical production in France, ranging from industrial gases to fertilisers and glues, is expected to rise by 3%, according Union des Industries Chimiques, France's chemical industry federation. ...
Asahi to Increase Hipore LIB Separator Capacity
Asahi Kasei E-materials will increase the production of its Hipore Li-ion battery (LIB) separator at its plant in Hyuga, Miyazaki, Japan, with start-up scheduled for 2013. The start-up,...
UOP to Provide Technology to Petrochemical Complex
UOP, a Honeywell company, has announced that its technology has been selected by Great Orient Chemical for a new petrochemical complex in China that will produce the primary ingredient...
Shell Shuts Ethylene Cracker in Singapore
Royal Dutch Shell has shut its 800,000t/year ethylene cracker in Singapore following operational issues. The company has also declared force majeure on monoethylene glycol and...
Nigeria to Invest in Petrochemical and Fertiliser Plants
Nigeria is planning to spend $10bn of foreign investment to build ten new petrochemical and fertiliser plants, according to the Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke. The projects...
PPG to Acquire Equa-Chlor
PPG Industries has reached an agreement to acquire certain assets of Equa-Chlor, a producer of chlorine, caustic soda and muriatic acid. PPG plans to acquire Equa-Chlor's...
Sibur to Expand Thermoplastic Elastomer Production
Sibur is planning to expand its production of styrene-butadiene thermoplastic elastomers at its plant in Vorenezh, Russia. The Russian company plans to more than double capacity of...
Uhde Begins Work on Skid-Mounted Chlor-Alkali Plant
Uhde has started the construction of the world's first skid-mounted chlor-alkali electrolysis plant in Germany for Leuna-Harze. The plant will be based on Uhde's membrane technology and...
China Agri-Business to Build Fertiliser Plant
China Agri-Business has announced that it plans to build an organic fertiliser manufacturing and logistics facility in Xi'an. The manufacturing facility will have the capacity to...
Braskem Swings to Q4 Profit
Braskem has reported a profit of BRL356m ($218m) in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with a loss of BRL$1.374bn ($820m) during the same quarter in 2009. The Brazilian company's...
Petrobras to Build Fertiliser Plant in Brazil
Petrobras has announced that it plans to build a fertiliser plant in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The state-owned oil company is planning to start construction of the plant in...
Kazakhstan Plans Polyethylene Plant
Kazakhstan is negotiating with South Korea's Hanwha Chemical, Japan's Marubeni and the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government to finance a KZT645bn ($4.4bn) polyethylene plant. ...
Saudi Kayan Starts Trial Production of Polycarbonate in Jubail
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company has started trial production of polycarbonate its petrochemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. Once fully operational in 2013, the...
Makhteshim Reports Q4 Loss
Makhteshim Agan Industries has reported a loss of $132.2m during the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with the $32m loss it reported in 2009. The company has reported a profit of $20.8m...
Honeywell Declares Force Majeure on US Caprolactam Plant
Honeywell has declared a force majeure on caprolactam production at its 375,000t/year plant in Hopewell, Virginia, US. The company said that low availability of phenol feedstock prompted...
Koch Fertilizer Acquires J&H Bunn
Koch Fertilizer has completed the acquisition of UK-based fertiliser blender and distributor J&H Bunn and its subsidiaries for an undisclosed amount. The company has turnover in excess...
Sibur-Neftekhim to Expand Ethylene Plant Capacity in Russia
Sibur-Neftekhim, a subsidiary of Sibur Holding, is planning to invest RUB8.8bn ($306m) to expand the capacity of its ethylene plant in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. The expansion will increase...
Genomatica and Tate & Lyle to Commercialise Bio-BDO
Genomatica and Tate & Lyle have entered into a joint development agreement for the demonstration-scale production of Genomatica's Bio-BDO (1,4-butanediol). Under the agreement, Tate...
CABB Acquired by Bridgepoint
CABB, a German-based manufacturer of fine and speciality chemicals, has been acquired by Bridgepoint from AXA Private Equity for $472m. CABB produces chemical building blocks based on...
GAIL (India) Plans to Build a Petrochemical Plant in Kerala
GAIL (India) has announced that it is planning to build a INR7000m ($152m) petrochemical plant in the Indian state of Kerala. The plant would be ethane-propane (C2-C3) based and would...
Cabot and Risun to Build Carbon Black Plant in China
Cabot has entered and Risun Chemicals Company have agreed to invest $100m to build a carbon black plant in Xingtai City, China. Under the agreement, Cabot will own a 60% stake in the...
Saudi Arabia's Petrochemicals Export Rise
Saudi Arabia has reported a 2% increase in petrochemical exports in January 2011, compared with the same period in 2010. The country shipped 2.17 million tons of petrochemicals from its...
Jacobs Engineering Secures Epichlorohydrin Plant Contract
Jacobs Engineering Group has been awarded a contract to provide technical and project management services for Jubail Chemical Industrial Company's epichlorohydrin plants in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. ...
Bayer to Increase Capacity at German Diphenylmethane Diisocyanate Plant
Bayer MaterialScience is planning to invest €100m to expand its diphenylmethane diisocyanate plant at the Bayer Brunsbüttel Industrial Park in Germany. The project is part of...
Wacker Chemie to Expand Polysilicon Capacity in Germany
Wacker Chemie is planning to invest €130m to expand its production of hyperpure polysilicon at two plants in Germany. The company is planning to debottleneck its plant in Burghausen...
Berkshire Hathaway to Acquire Lubrizol for $9.7bn
Berkshire Hathaway has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of outstanding shares of US-based speciality chemical company Lubrizol for $135 per share. The transaction is valued at...
Japan Petrochemical Production Disrupted by Tsunami
Several petrochemical plants in Japan have been shut or are operating at a reduced rate following the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck the nation last week. Closed...
Iran's Petrochemical Output Rises
Iran's petrochemical output rose to 30 million tons in the first nine months of the 2010/11 financial year, a 24% increase on 2009/10, according to a report from Research and Markets. ...
BASF Sells its Stake in K+S
BASF has obtained a €900m ($1.2bn) pre-tax gain from the sale of its stake in German potash miner K+S in a bid to exit from the nitrogen fertiliser business. BASF sold its 10% stake in...
Dow Chemical Facility in Japan Flooded Following Tsunami
A Dow Chemical facility in Japan has been flooded following the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit the country's north-eastern coast. The company has not reported any injuries at...
BP Acquires Majority Stake of CNAA
BP has agreed to pay $680m to acquire an 83% stake in Brazilian ethanol and sugar producer Companhia Nacional de Açúcar e Álcool (CNAA). In addition, BP has agreed to...
Lanxess Breaks Ground at Compounding Plant in US
Lanxess has broken ground at a new compounding plant in Gastonia, North Carolina, US. The plant will produce high-tech plastics — Durethan and Pocan — and have an initial capacity...
Total, IFPEN and Axens to Develop Bioethylene Production Technology
Total Petrochemicals, IFP Energies nouvelles (IPFEN) and its subsidiary Axens have entered into a partnership to develop new technology that can produce bioethylene by dehydrating ethanol. ...
BASF Explores Investment Opportunities in Brazil
BASF is exploring opportunities for a new investment in Brazil, and is considering projects that include the production of acrylic acid, butyl acrylate and superabsorbent polymers. The...
Borealis Breaks Ground on Austrian Catalyst Plant
Borealis has broken ground on a €75m semi-commercial catalyst plant in Linz, Austria. The plant will be used to develop new types of catalysts, improve processes for catalyst...
Oxea to Further Expand Carboxylic Acids Capacity in Germany
Oxea is planning to build a new carboxylic acids plant in Oberhausen, Germany, which is scheduled to become operational by late 2012. The unit will increase Oxea's carboxylic acids capacity...
Standard Chartered to Invest in Indian Chemical Company
Standard Chartered Private Equity, a unit of Standard Chartered, has invested INR$850m ($18.9m) in Indian chemical company Privi Organics. The funds will partly finance the expansion of...
Emery Oleochemical to Raise Money for Expansion
Malaysia-based Emery Olechemicals is planning to raise MYR480m ($158m) in Islamic bonds within the next four months to finance its expansion projects for the next three years. ...
Saudi Kayan to Start Polycarbonate Plant in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Kayan has announced that it plans to start operations at its 260,000t/year polycarbonate plant at Jubail, Saudi Arabia, by the end of the month. The move will also see the...
Global Speciality Chemicals Market to Rise
The global speciality chemicals market is projected to grow from $476.13bn in 2010 to $610.14bn in 2016, at an estimated combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.11% during the period, according...
Royal Dutch Shell to Restart Petrochemical Plant in Singapore
Royal Dutch Shell is planning to restart its petrochemical plant in Singapore following maintenance and upgrades. Shell operates an ethylene cracker plant in Pulau Bukom, which will...
Bridgestone to Build an Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Plant in Poland
Bridgestone Corporation has announced a plan to invest 5.25bn yen ($63.8m) to build an ethylene vinyl acetate film plant in Poland for its subsidiary, Bridgestone Diversified Products...
Chandra Asri to Expand Its Polyolefin Capacity in Indonesia
Chandra Asri Petrochemical is planning to invest $500m between 2011 and 2014 to expand its polyolefin business. Of this, $100m will be allocated to build a butadiene plant in Banten,...
Solvay to Increase Polyvinylidene Fluoride Capacity in France
Solvay has announced that it plans to increase its polyvinylidene fluoride production at its Tavaux plant in France by 50%. The expanded plant, which will require an investment of €26m,...
AZMECO to Complete Methanol Plant in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan Methanol Company (AZMECO) has said that it expects to complete the construction of its methanol plant in Karadagh, Azerbaijan, in 2011, and begin production in 2012. The plant...
Honam Petrochemical to Invest in Indonesia
South Korea's Honam Petrochemical is planning to invest KRW5tn ($4.49bn) to build a naphtha cracker and downstream plants in Indonesia. The cracker is expected to have a capacity of one...
United Phosphorus to Acquire 50% Stake in Sipcam Isagro Brazil
Agrochemicals and speciality chemicals producer United Phosphorus has entered into an agreement to acquire a 50% stake in the Sipcam Isagro Brazil joint venture from Isagro. Following...
IFFCO to Increase Fertiliser Production in India
Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) is planning to invest INR550-600bn ($1.2-1.3bn) over the next three years to increase fertiliser production in India. The state-owned company...
BASF to Build Sodium Methylate Plant in Argentina
BASF is planning to build a sodium methylate plant at its General Lagos site in Rosario, Argentina. The plant will be BASF's second sodium methylate plant in South America and will have...
Indorama Ventures Acquires Plants from Invista and SK Chemicals
Indorama Ventures has completed the acquisition of plants from Invista and SK Chemicals. The Thailand-based company has completed the acquisition of Invista' PET resin and fibres...
Lotte Group to Invest in Pakistan Petrochemical Plant
KP Chemical, a unit of South Korea's Lotte Group, is planning to invest $400m to expand its petrochemical plant at Bin Qasim Industrial Estate in Karachi, Pakistan. KP Chemical is planning...
Firtash Acquires Ukrainian Chemical Plant
Group DF owner Dmitry Firtash has acquired Cherkassy Azot, which manufactures mineral fertiliser, from Ukrainian businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky for $800m. The deal marks Firtash's...
Nigeria to Invest in Petrochemical and Fertiliser Plants
The Nigerian Government is planning to invest $20bn to build petrochemical plants, according to the country's petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke. The investment will be used to...
Fina Antwerp Olefins to Halt Naphtha Cracker
Fina Antwerp Olefins, the petrochemical arm of Total and Exxon Mobil Corp, is planning to suspend operations at one of its naphtha crackers in Belgium at the end of March to carry out maintenance....
IPIC Eyes Complete Takeover of Cespa
The International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), which acts as Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, has announced plans to takeover Spain-based Compania Espanola de Petrolios (Cepsa). As...
ICL Completes Acquisition of Scotts' Global Professional Business
ICL has completed the acquisition of the Global Professional business of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company for $270m. This purchase includes transfer of Global Professional's products, sales...
Baxter Announces Sale of Ashta to Bigshire
Baxter Associates has announced the sale of Ashta Chemicals to Bigshire Mexico. Ashta is a manufacturer of liquid potassium hydroxide, liquid potassium carbonate, anhydrous potassium...
PTC Awards Polysilicon Plant Contract
Saudi-based Polysilicon Technology Company has awarded a $380m contract to Hyundai Engineering Company and KCC Engineering and Construction to build Phase 1 of a polysilicon plant in Saudi Arabia....
Genomatica Raises Investment for Green Chemical Plant
Genomatica has raised an additional $45m to complete a demonstration project to prove its green chemistry technology can work on a commercial-scale. The new investment will be used to scale...
BASF Plans to Sell Fertiliser Business
BASF is planning to sell the bulk of its fertiliser business, which includes production plants in Antwerp, Belgium, and its 50% share of PEC-Rhin in Ottmarsheim, France. The...
DSM and Kemrock to Produce Specialty Resins in India
Royal DSM plans to form a partnership with India-based Kemrock to set up a speciality composite resins plant in Pune, India. The two companies will use and leverage each other's strengths;...
Invista to Build New Plant In China
Invista has announced that it will build a nylon 6,6 intermediates and polymer plant in Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in Shanghai, China. The company is currently conducting...
Olin Acquires PolyOne's Interest in Chlor Alkali Plant
Olin has acquired PolyOne's 50% stake in US-based SunBelt Chlor Alkali Partnership for $132.3m, becoming the 100% owner of the company. The transaction includes cash plus the assumption...
SRF Unveils Expansion Plan
SRF has unveiled a plan to invest INR2.5bn ($54m) to set up a biaxially oriented polypropylene film plant in South Africa. The plant will have a capacity to produce 5,400t/year of the...
Mitsubishi Rayon to Increase Acrylic Resin Capacity in South Korea
Mitsubishi Rayon plans to double the capacity of its methyl methacrylate plant in South Korea to 188,000t/year by January 2013. The Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings unit will invest 18-20bn...
BASF to Increase Asian Investment
BASF is planning to expand its presence in Asia by investing €2.3bn ($3.1bn) over the next five years. The chemical major is planning to expand chemical production in Malaysia and China. ...
Momentive Swings to Q4 Profit
Momentive Specialty Chemicals has reported a profit of $53m during the fourth quarter of 2010, up from the loss of $6m it reported during the corresponding quarter in 2009. The US-based...
DSM Joint Venture to Expand Resin Capacity in China
Royal DSM's joint venture with Sinopec is planning to build a 100,000t/year composite resins plant in Nanjing, China. The joint venture, Jinling DSM Resins, is expected to invest...
Purac and Indorama to Build Polylactic Acid Plant in Thailand
CSM subsidiary Purac and Indorama Ventures are planning to set up a polylatic acid plant in Thailand. The plant will have an initial capacity of 10,000t/year, which will be raised...
Oxea to Expand Ester Capacity in Germany
Oxea is planning to expand the speciality esters capacity of its plant in Oberhausen, Germany, by 40% by the second half of 2011. The German company also intends to build a new plant in...
PTT Chemical and PTT Aromatics and Refining to Merge
PTT Chemical and PTT Aromatics and Refining have announced a plan to merge and create a stronger entity. The new company will have a capacity to produce 8.2 million tons of petrochemicals...
February 2011
Top
Rhodia to Boost Silica Capacity
Rhodia is planning to increase the capacity of its highly dispersible silica plants in Chicago Heights, US, and Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or, France. The expansion will increase its silica output...
Bayer Opens Polyisocyanates Plant in India
Bayer MaterialScience has opened its €20m ($27.4m) polyisocyanates production plant in Ankleshwar, India. The plant will have an initial capacity of 15,000t/year, which is expected to...
Mexichem Reports Q4 Profit Increase
Mexichem has reported a profit of MXN724m ($59.5m) during the fourth quarter of 2010, up from the MXN622m ($54.4m) reported during the corresponding quarter of 2009. The chemical...
Lotte to Invest in Indonesian Petrochemical Project
Lotte Group is planning to invest $5bn to develop a petrochemical project in West Java, Indonesia. The South Korean company expects to start the construction of the plant in 2012 and...
BIPC's Petrochemical Output Rises
Iran's Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company (BIPC) has said that it exported more than $1bn of petrochemical products between March 2010 and January 2011, a 67% increase from the previous...
NOEC Delays Methanol Plant Completion
China-based New Oriental Energy & Chemical (NOEC) has delayed the completion of its new coal-based methanol plant in Henan province to April 2011. The delay has been attributed to...
Petrobras to Build Fertiliser Plant in Brazil
Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras is planning to build a fertiliser plant in Tres Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul state. The plant will have capacity to produce 1.21 million tons of urea...
Braskem-Idesa to Build Ethylene Plant in Mexico
Braskem-Idesa, a joint venture between Brazilian company Braskem and Mexican group Idesa, is planning to build an ethylene plant in Veracruz, Mexico. The joint venturee has selected...
Hanwha Chemical Plans Polysilicon Plant in South Korea
South Korea's Hanwha Chemical is planning to invest KRW1tn ($900.9m) to build a polysilicon plant in Yeosu, South Korea. The plant will have be able to produce 10,000t/year of polysilicon...
Solvay Acquires Fluorspar Mine in Bulgaria
Solvay has acquired a fluorspar mine at Chiprovsti, Bulgaria, from Italy's N&N Group. Under the transaction, N&N Group will transfer all fluorspar concession and exploration rights...
QQCCIC Plans to Build a Monoethylene Glycol Plant in China
Qianxixian Qianxi Coal Chemical Investment Company (QQCCIC) is planning to build a monoethylene glycol plant in Guizhou province, China. The plant will have a capacity to produce...
Westlake Reports Q4 Profit Rise
Westlake Chemical has reported a profit of $84m during the fourth quarter of 2010, up from the $12.5m it reported during the corresponding quarter of 2009. The US-based company reported...
LyondellBasell Swings to Q4 Profit
LyondellBassell has reported a profit of $874m during the fourth quarter of 2010, a turnaround from the $850m loss reported during the corresponding quarter of 2009. The Dutch chemical...
Kemira to Build Two Coagulant Plants
Kemira is planning to invest €40m ($54.7m) to build two coagulant plants in Europe. The plants will be built next to Bayer MaterialScience's isocyanate plants in Dormagen, Germany...
BP Zhuhai to Expand Petrochemical Capacity in China
BP Zhuhai Chemical Company is planning to increase its production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) at its facility in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China. The planned debottleneck will increase...
Work Begins on Iran's Marjan Petrochemical Plant
Construction of the €342m ($467.8m) Marjan Petrochemical project has begun in Assolouyeh, Iran. The plant will have a capacity to produce 1,650,000t/year of methanol and is expected...
Chandra Asri Plans Polypropylene and Polyethylene Expansion
Indonesia's Chandra Asri Petrochemical expects to complete the expansion of its polypropylene and polyethylene capacity in Banten, Indonesia, by the end of this year. The Indonesian company...
Clariant Swings to Q4 Profit
Clariant has reported a profit of CHF46m ($47.78 m) during the fourth quarter of 2010, a turnaround from a loss of CHF68m ($71.9m) reported during the corresponding quarter in 2009. The...
EBRD to Support Polish Chemical Plant Expansion
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is planning to extend PLN300m ($104.8m) to Polish chemical company Ciech to support its capital investment. Ciech is a leading...
Myriant and Davy Sign Memorandum of Understanding
Myriant Technologies and Davy Process Technology, a subsidiary of Johnson Mattey, have signed a memorandum of understanding to use succinct acid as a bio-derived feedstock for the production...
Shell and Cosan Form Ethanol Joint Venture
Royal Dutch Shell and Cosan have formed a $12bn joint venture named Raizen to produce ethanol. The previously announced 50:50 joint venture will begin operations by mid 2011 and produce...
Samsung Fine and Memc Form Polysillicon Joint Venture
Samsung Fine Chemical has formed a 50:50 joint venture with US-based MEMC Electronic Material to build a polysillicon plant in South Korea. The South Korean company is planning to invest...
Clariant Planning to Buy Sud-Chemie
Clariant plans to buy Germany-based private-equity-owned Sud-Chemie for $1.9bn in cash and stock to expand in chemical catalysts used in the oil and automotive industries. Under the...
Yara's Q4 Profit Up
Yara's fourth-quarter profit increased 9.9% to Nkr1.56bn ($267m) compared with the Nkr1.4bn ($248.5m) it reported during the corresponding quarter in 2009. The Norway-based company...
Iran Plans to Expand Polystyrene Production
Iran has unveiled a plan to increase the production capacity of the Tabriz Petrochemical plant to boost the production of polystyrene. Tabriz Petrochemical Company currently produces 15,000t...
Tronox Exits Bankruptcy
Tronox has emerged from US Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings as a smaller and stronger company, the company has claimed. The US chemical company had filed for bankruptcy protection in...
India Commissions Cracker Plant
Indian Oil has commissioned an INR144.3bn ($3.1bn) naptha cracker plant at Panipat in Indian state of Haryana. The plant has a capacity to produce 800,000t/ year of ethylene and 600,000t/year...
Valspar Q1 Profit Drops
Valspar has reported a profit of $33.4m during the first quarter of 2011, a 2% decrease from the $33.9m recorded in corresponding quarter of 2010. The US-based company's revenue increased...
Ma'aden Starts Production at Ras Azzour Ammonia Plant
The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) has started production at its ammonia plant in Ras Azzour, Saudi Arabia. The plant has capacity to produce 1.1 million tons of ammonia a year,...
QAPCO Awards Ethylene Plant Contract to Shaw
Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO) has awarded Shaw a basic engineering services contract to expand an ethylene plant in Mesaieed, Qatar. The expansion of the 720,000t/year plant will...
Iran's Petrochemical Exports Rise
Iran's petrochemical export during the ten months ending in 20 January 2011 have increased by 61% to $8.7bn. The country exported 13.2 million tonnes of petrochemical products during...
Total's Q4 Chemical Profit Doubles
Total's chemical segment more than doubled its profit to €170m ($229m) during the fourth quarter of 2010, rising from the €72m ($97m) reported during the corresponding quarter in 2009. ...
Petrochemical Capacity in Gulf Region to Rise
The Gulf Region is expected to see a 46% rise in petrochemical capacity through a capital investment of $50bn, the Gulf Petrochemical and Chemical Association (GPCA) has said. The...
WR Grace's Q4 Profit Drops
WR Grace has reported a profit of $44.9m during the fourth quarter of 2010, a slight decrease from the $46.4m profit it reported during the same quarter of 2009. The US-based chemical...
Mogilevkhimvolokno to Invest in Belarus PET Plant
Mogilevkhimvolokno is planning to invest $163.7m in a new plant to expand its polyethylene terephthalate (PET) capacity in Belarus. Mogilevkhimvolokno, a subsidiary of Belneftekhim,...
Petrobras to Double Biofuel Output
Petrobras is planning to invest $3.5bn over the next four years to double its biofuels capacity. The Brazilian state-owned company is planning invest the money to expand the capacity of...
Agrium Reports Q4 Profit Increase
Agrium has reported a profit of $158m during the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase from the $30m profit reported during the corresponding quarter of 2009. The Canada-based...
Cabot Starts Construction of Masterbatch Plant in China
Cabot has started construction at a $20m black masterbatch plant in the Tianjin Economic Development Area in China. The plant will have the capacity to produce 45,000t of masterbatches a...
Global Chemical Sector M&A Volume Increases
Global M&A volume increased by 100% in 2010 compared to the volume recorded in 2009, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The report revealed that announced deal...
China's Petrochemical Output Increases
China's petrochemical output increased 33.8% in 2010 to $60.5bn, according to statistics from China's National Development and Reform Commission. China's imports of petrochemical...
Indorama Plans Polyethylene Plant in Uzbekistan
Indorama has signed a joint venture agreement with Uzbekneftegaz, Uzbekistan's national gas company, to invest $1.2bn to build a 400,000t/year polyethylene plant in the country. The project...
Kumho Petrochemical Completes High-Butadiene Rubber Plant Expansion
Kumho Petrochemical, a unit of Kumho Asiana Group, has completed expansion of its high-butadiene rubber plant in South Korea. The expansion required an investment of KRW171.7bn ($155.2m)...
Global Methanol Market to Rise
The global methanol market is expected to reach 55.3 million tons by 2015, according to a report by Global Industry Analysts. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to emerge as a leading...
Styron to Boost Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber Capacity
Styron is planning to invest $125m to build a solution styrene butadiene rubber plant at its Schkopau facility in Germany. The plant will increase its solution styrene butadiene rubber...
FMC Reports Q4 Loss
FMC has reported loss of $53.5m during the fourth quarter of 2010, a sharp decline from the $62.1m profit reported during the corresponding quarter of 2009. The US-based chemical...
IRPC to Double Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Capacity
IRPC, the petrochemical unit of Thailand-based PTT, is planning to invest $100m to double its acrylonitrile butadiene styrene production. The investment is part of the chemical company's...
Dow Chemical to Close Two Vinyl Chloride Monomer Plants in the US
Dow Chemical is planning to close two vinyl chloride monomer plants in the US to shift basic feedstock towards performance-derivative businesses. The affected plants are in Oyster Creek,...
Mitsui and Mitsubishi Rayon to Expand Methyl Methacrylate Monomer Capacity
Mitsui and Mitsubishi Rayon have formed a joint venture to produce methyl methacrylate monomer, an acrylic resin compound used in LCD panel components and car parts. As part of the...
Saudi Arabia Sees Petrochemical Exports Rise
Saudi Arabia's petrochemical exports increased in December 2010, boosted by demand from China, India, Europe and the Middle East. According to data from the country's Department of...
K+S Increases Ownership in Potash One
German fertiliser company K+S Aktiengesellschaft has acquired a 90.9% stake in Potash One, and has announced plans to acquire the remaining stake. In November 2010, Canada-based Potash...
Shareholders Approve Merger Between Uralkali and Silvinit
The shareholders of Russian fertiliser producer Uralkali and Silvinit have approved a $1.4bn merger to create a larger potash producer. Under the transaction, Uralkali will buy a 20% stake...
Equate Reports Profit Rise
Equate Petrochemical has reported a profit of $880m for the year ending 31 December 2010, a 73% increase from the figure reported in 2009. The Kuwait-based company reported sales of more...
AkzoNobel Opens Coating Plant in India
AkzoNobel has opened a plant in India to manufacture marine and protective coatings, automotive coatings and powder coatings. The plant in Hoskote, near Bangalore, will produce 18...
Global Defoamers Market to Rise
The global defoamers market is expected to reach $2.77bn by 2015, propelled by demand from end-use industries including petroleum, paints and coatings, according to a report by Global...
Shell Chemical Announces Q4 Profit Rise
Shell Chemical's profit during the fourth quarter of 2010 increased by 77% to $493m, rising from the $279m reported during the same quarter of 2009. The chemical company's sales...
BASF to Increase R&D Spending
BASF is planning increase its R&D spending in 2011 to secure its future. The chemical company, which is working on some 3,000 projects, spent €1.5bn ($2bn) in 2010 and...
Renewable Chemical Market to Rise
The renewable chemical market is expected to reach $67.13bn by 2015, a report by Markets and Markets has predicted. The firm predicts that the renewable chemical market will grow at a...
Ukraine Polystyrene Output Drops
Ukraine's polystyrene output decreased by 19.4% in 2010, falling from 20,607t in 2009 to 16,607t, figures published by the Statistics Committee of Ukraine have revealed. The courtry's...
Brazil's Chemical Output Increases
Brazil's industrial chemical production increased 6.99% in 2010, according to Abiquim, the country's national association of chemical industries. The improvement in output is attributed...
Dow Chemical Q4 Profit Up
Dow Chemical's fourth quarter profit almost tripled to $511m in 2010, up from the $172m it reported during the same quarter in 2009. The US-based chemical major's sales increased 22% to...
Idle US Ammonia Plant to Restart
Potash Corp affiliate PSC Nitrogen Fertilizer has announced that it will restart the idled anhydrous ammonia plant at its Geismar complex in Louisiana, US. The plant was shut in 2003 due...
Eastman Completes Sale of PET Business
Eastman Chemical has completed the sale of its polyethylene terephthalate (PET) business unit and the related assets of its performance polymers unit to DAK for $600m. The sale includes...
Celanese Reports Q4 Profit Rise
Celanese has reported a profit of $56m in the fourth quarter of 2010, up from the $4m reported in the same quarter in 2009. The US-based chemical company reported a 9% increase in revenue...
Wanhua Raises Stake in Borsodchem
China's Wanhua Industrial Group has raised its stake in Hungarian chemical company Borsodchem from 38% to 96% in a $1.66bn deal. The acquisition is expected to give Wanhua access to...
Eastman Reports Q4 Profit Rise
Eastman Chemical has reported a profit of $19m during the fourth quarter of 2010, reversing the $32m loss it posted in the corresponding quarter in 2009. Eastman said its...
Uzbekistan to Upgrade Polyethylene Plant
Uzbekistan is planning to invest $1.2bn to upgrade a polyethylene plant in Mubarek, in the south of the country. The upgrade at the government-owned plant will be jointly financed...
Aditya Birla Group to Acquire Colombian Chemicals
Aditya Birla Group is planning to acquire US carbon black manufacturer Colombian Chemicals from One Equity Partners, the merchant banking arm of JP Morgan Chase, for $875m. The Indian...
Indonesia Plans Coal-Based Methanol and Olefins Plants
Indonesia is planning to build a coal-based methanol plant and an olefins plant in East Kalimantan with a capital investment of $1bn. The plants will produce 300,000t/year of methanol...
Solvert Plans Biomass Chemical Plant in UK
Solvert is planning to invest £100m ($160m) to build a plant to produce industrial chemicals from domestic and commercial waste in Teeside, UK. The company is looking to use organic waste...
Huntsman to Build Fertiliser Plant in France
The pigment division of Huntsman has announced a plan to build a €30m ($41m) magnesium sulphate fertiliser plant in Calais, France. The plant will use spent acid from pigment...
Saudi Kayan to Build N-Butanol Plant in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Kayan Petrochemicals has signed an agreement with Saudi Acrylic Acid and a Dow-Aramco joint venture to build a SAR1.8bn ($480m) n-butanol plant in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. ...
Cytec to Sell Building Block Business
Cytec Industries is planning to sell its building block chemicals business to HIG Capital for $180m. The US-based chemical company said that the deal includes $165m in cash and a note for...
Tata Chemical to Expand Soda Ash Capacity
Tata Chemical is planning to invest $100m to expand the soda ash capacity of its US unit, General Chemicals, by 400,000t. General Chemicals produces 2.5 million tons of soda ash a year,...
Toray to Increase PET Capacity in China
Japan's Toray Industries is planning to invest 5.5bn yen ($67m) to increase production at its optical-use polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film plant in Jiangsu, China. Toray plans to start...
Hyundai Secures Borouge Expansion Project
South Korea's Hyundai Engineering and Construction has secured a $169m contract from Borouge to build a cross-linkable polyethylene plant at its petrochemical complex in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. ...
Ineos and Sinopec to Build New Phenol Plant in China
Ineos and Sinopec are planning to invest $500m to build a joint venture phenol plant in Nanjing, China. The plant will produce 400,000t/year of phenol and 250,000t/year of acetone,...
West European Olefin Output Up
West European ethylene production increased by 8.1% in 2010, rising to 20.281 million tons, the Association of Petrochemicals Producers in Europe has said. Propylene production increased...
Solutia Reports Q4 Profit Rise
Solutia has reported a $47m profit during the fourth quarter of 2010, up from the $7m reported during the same quarter in 2009. The US-based company's sales increased 7% to $489m, up from...
Nalco Sells Performance Products Business to Lubrizol
Nalco Holding has sold its Nalco Performance Products Group to Lubrizol for $166m as part of plans to focus on its core water and process treatment business. Nalco Performance Products...
Phosagro Seeks Loan for Sibur Fertiliser Unit Acquisition
Russia's Phosagro is planning to take out a $500m loan to acquire Sibur's fertiliser unit. Sibur and Phosagro have said that they already have an understanding on the sale of assets and, if...
January 2011
Top
Peru Approves Nitratos Petrochemical Project
Peru's energy and mines ministry has approved Nitratos del Peru's $650m petrochemical project, which is likely to be established in Pisco province. The project includes the construction of...
Du Pont Reports Q4 Profit Drop
Du Pont has reported a 15% drop in profit to $376m during the fourth quarter of 2010, down from the $441m reported during the corresponding quarter of 2009. Sales for the quarter increased...
Japanese Bank to Fund Turkmenistan Chemical Plant
Turkmenistan is planning to build a $1bn chemical fertiliser plant with the help of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The plant will be built in 2014 in Mary, Turkmenistan,...
Asahi Kasei to Build Acrylonitrile Plant in South Korea
Asahi Kasei Chemicals is planning to invest 20bn yen ($242m) to build a 245,000t/year acrylonitrile plant in Ulsan, South Korea. The Japanese company is planning to start construction in...
Tianji Awards Aniline Plant Contract to KBR
KBR has secured a contract from Tianji Coal Chemical Industry Group of China to build an aniline plant in Lucheng, China. Under the contract, the US-based engineering group will...
Dhunseri to Build PET Plant in Egypt
India-based Dhunseri is planning to start the construction of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Egypt at the end January at a cost of $170m. The plant, located in Port Said, will...
Albermarle Reports Q4 Profit Rise
Albemarle has reported a 34% rise in profit to $84.9m during the fourth quarter of 2010, up from the $62.3m it reported during the same quarter of 2009. The US-based speciality chemical...
Saudi Kayan Starts Trial at Jubail HDPE Plant
Saudi Kayan has begun trial operations at its high-density polyethylene plant (HDPE) in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. The plant is designed to produce 400,000t/year of HDPE for use...
Akzonobel to Build Pulp Chemical Plant in Brazil
Akzonobel is planning to invest €90m ($122.7m) in its pulp and paper chemical business Eka Chemical to build a pulp chemical plant in northern Três Lagoas, Brazil. The investment...
PTT Chemical Partners With Myriant
PTT Chemical has invested $60m to buy a stake in US-based research and development company Myriant Technologies. PTT Chemical and Myriant will form a joint venture to collaborate on...
Iranian Petrochemical Exports to Europe Increases
Iranian petrochemical exports to European countries are expected to reach $2bn by the end of March 2011. Iran currently exports petrochemical products to 65 countries, including 17...
Global Automotive Chemical Market to Rise
The global automotive chemical market is expected to reach $3.9bn by 2015, according to a report by Global Industry Analysts. The research says that growth in the market will be driven...
Gita Holding to Buy Vinyls Italia
Gita Holding has announced that it plans to buy polyvinyl chloride producer Vinyls Italia, and increase the production capacities of its plants following the acquisition. The Swiss-based...
Analysts Expect Rise in Indian Acrylic Emulsion Market
The Indian acrylic emulsions market is expected to reach $491.2m by 2016, a study by Frost and Sullivan has estimated. Increasing income levels and infrastructure development are expected...
Sojitz and Kawasaki Complete Fatima Urea Plant
Sojitz and Kawasaki Heavy Industries have completed a urea plant for Fatima Fertilizer near Sadiqabad in Pakistan. The Fatima Group awarded the 13bn yen ($157m) contract for the plant in...
Mascotte Acquires Stake in Sun Materials
Mascotte Holding is to acquire a controlling 50.1% stake in Taiwan-based polycrystalline silicon manufacturer Sun Materials for $150m. Under the agreement, the Hong Kong-based Mascotte...
PPG Industries' Q4 Profit Rises 44%
PPG Industries has reported a 44% increase in profit during fourth quarter of 2010 to $205m, compared to the $142m it reported in the same quarter of 2009. The US-based company's sales rose...
Japan's Naphtha Imports Rise
Japan's naphtha imports for the petrochemical sector rose 2.3% in December 2010, compared to same month in 2009. Imports of naphtha for ethylene production amounted to 1,549,841t...
US Extends Biofuel Loan
The US Government has extended loan guarantees worth $650m to four biofuel companies to help build plants to produce motor fuel from sources such as animal fat, orange peel and trash. The...
Methanex to Expand Methanol Capacity
Methanex has announced that the first shipment of methanol from its plant in Damietta, Egypt, is expected in the first quarter of 2011. The 1.3 million tons/year plant, originally scheduled...
Cargill to Divest Majority Stake in Mosaic
Cargill is planning to divest its majority stake in Mosaic in a deal worth $24bn. The US-based fertiliser maker will distribute its Mosaic stake to its shareholders and debt holders under...
Sabic Reports Q4 Profit Increase
Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic) has reported a 27% increase in profit during the fourth quarter of 2010 to SAR5.81bn ($1.55bn), up from the SAR4.58bn ($1.22bn) it reported during the same quarter...
Celanese to Open Two Ethanol Plants in China
Celanese Far East has signed a letter of intent to build and operate two ethanol plants in China. The Celanese subsidiary plans to build the ethanol plants in Nanjing Chemical Industrial...
Mitsubishi to Boost Pitch Output
Mitsubishi Chemical is planning to increase its production of high-grade pitch used for needle coke and carbon fibres. The Japanese chemical company is aiming to raise revenue from this...
Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Company Sees Profit Triple
Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Company said its profit nearly tripled to SAR1.03bn ($270m) in Q4 2010, compared to the SAR335m ($89m) it reported in the corresponding quarter in 2009, driven by...
World Fermentation Chemical Market to Rise
The world fermentation chemical market is expected to exceed $48bn by 2015, driven by the eco-friendly nature of fermentation chemicals and the global market for these chemicals, according to...
Lanxess to Invest in German Chemical Plants
Lanxess is to invest €40m ($53.8m) in two projects for the Basic Chemicals business unit in Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany. The investment will be used to build a production plant...
Octal to Expand PET Capacity in Oman
Octal Petrochemical has secured a $296m loan from six Middle Eastern banks to carry out the second phase expansion at its PET resin plant in Oman. The project will increase production...
Sipchem Q4 Profit More than Doubles
Saudi International Petrochemical (Sipchem) has reported a 121% increase in profit during Q4 2010 to SAR125m ($33.4m), up from SAR56.5m ($15m) in the corresponding quarter of 2009. The...
Kuraray to Expand Resin Capacity in Germany
Kuraray Europe, Kuraray's wholly owned European subsidiary, is planning to invest €58m ($77.4m) to expand the production capacity of its PVA resin plant in Frankfurt, Germany. ...
CNCEC Secures Chemical Plant Contracts
China National Chemical Engineering (CNCEC) has secured three engineering contracts worth RMB1.66bn ($251.7m). A RMB405m ($61m) contract has been signed between CNCEC subsidiary China...
Tianjin Soda Delays Dioctyl Phthalate Plant Start to 2012
China's Tianjin Soda has delayed the start up of its 100,000t/year dioctyl phthalate plant in Binhai Industrial Area, Tianjin, to the first quarter of 2012. The company had initially planned...
EKHO to Set Up Fertiliser Plant in Egypt
Egyptian Kuwaiti Holding (EKHO) has signed an EGP1.5bn ($259m) contract with an unnamed French company to set up a phosphate fertiliser plant in Sadat city, Egypt. A unit of the...
Braskem Plans Tyre Chemical Plant in Brazil
Braskem is planning to invest R$300m ($179m) in a tyre chemical plant in Brazil. The plant is expected to be set up in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and will produce butadiene. The...
Lanxess Breaks Ground at Indian Compounding Plant
Lanxess has broken ground at its €10m ($13m) compounding plant at Jhagadia, India. The plant will produce Durethan (polyamide) and Pocan (polybutylene terephthalate) compounding, and...
Yeochun NCC Restarts Naphtha Plant
Yeochun NCC has restarted operations at a naphtha plant in Yeosu, south of Seoul, following a fire. The South Korean ethylene producer, which has capacity to produce 580,000tof the chemical...
Evonik and GACL Sign Agreement to Build Two Plants in Gujurat
Evonik and Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals of India have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly build two plants in Gujarat, India. The memorandum will see a hydrogen peroxide planta...
Vinyls Italia to Restart PVC Production
Vinyls Italia is planning to restart its PVC plants in Italy in March 2011, after a break of almost two years, as a Russian-Swiss fund presents a final offer to buy the Italian producer. ...
Japanese Ethylene Output Falls
Japan's ethylene production fell 2.7% in December 2010 compared to output in the corresponding month a year earlier, marking the second straight month of year-on-year decline. According...
Mexichem Reports Q4 Sales Increase
Mexichem's sales increased 16% to Mex$9.4bn ($760m) during the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to the corresponding quarter a year ago, driven by prices and volumes in its principal products...
Samsung Engineering Wins US Chemical Plant Contract
Samsung Engineering has been awarded a $410m contract to build two chemical plants in US by Dow-Mitsui Chlor-Alkali, a joint venture between Dow and Mitsui. The two plants are a chlorine...
DAK Plans to Acquire Eastman's PET and PTA Business
DAK Americas is planning to acquire Eastman Chemical's integrated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) businesses for $600m. The proposed acquisition...
Orkla Sells Elkem to China National Bluestar
Norwegian group Orkla has agreed to sell its Elkem unit to China National Bluestar for $2bn. The deal includes Elkem Silicon Materials, Elkem Foundry Products, Elkem Carbon and Elkem Solar,...
Süd-Chemie to Provide Fertiliser Catalyst to Yara
Süd-Chemie has signed a $40m five-year agreement with Norway-based chemical company Yara International to provide catalysts for fertiliser production. Under the agreement,...
Sipchem Awards Chemical Contract
Sipchem has awarded a contract to South Korea's eTEC Engineering & Construction Company to build an ethyl acetate plant in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. The plant will produce...
PTT Likely to Merge Chemical and Aromatics Units
Thailand's state-run PTT is most likely to merge subsidiaries PTT Chemical with PTT Aromatics and Refining as the first-phase of a consolidation plan. The proposed consolidation could...
Formosa Plastic Reports Profit Rise
Formosa Plastics has reported a profit of NT$12.8bn ($437m) during the quarter ending 31 December 2010, boosted by demand for chemicals and plastics in China. Taiwan's leading...
Du Pont to Acquire Danisco
Du Pont has agreed to acquire Danish enzymes and speciality food ingredients manufacturer Danisco for $6.3bn. The transaction includes $5.8bn in cash and the assumption of $500m of Danisco...
FMC Increases Soda Ash Capacity
FMC Wyoming has restarted its soda ash plant in Wyoming, US, which has been idle since 2009. The US-based company said that it temporarily suspended production at the plant due to...
Global Acetic Acid Market to Reach 11.3 Million Tons in 2015
The global market for Acetic acid is expected to reach 11.3 million tons by 2015, according to a report by Global Industry Analysts. The growth will be mainly driven by increased demand...
IRPC to Increase Propylene Capacity
IRPC, the polymer business arm of PTT, is planning to increase its propylene capacity with an $800m investment. The Thailand-based company plans to raise capacity to710,000t per year, a...
Eastman to Sell Methanol Plant in US
Eastman Chemical is planning to sell a closed methanol and ammonia plant in Texas, US, to a Swiss-based firm led by entrepreneur Deo Van Wijk. The US-based company has not disclosed...
RPM Reports Profit Drop
RPM International's profit dropped 13% to $48.7m during the quarter ending 30 November 2010, compared with a profit of $55.9m reported during the same quarter the previous year. The...
EU Chemical Output Up
The European Chemical Industry Council has reported that EU chemical production increased by 5.5% year-on-year in October 2010, and 11.3% in the first ten months of 2010, compared with the...
Arkema to Increase PVDF Capacity in China
Arkema has said that it will speed up the development of a previously announced Kynar polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) production plant at its site in Changshu, China. The PVDF plant is...
Chemchina to Acquire 60% Stake in MAI
China National Chemical (Chemchina) is planning to acquire a 60% stake in Makhteshim-Agan Industries (MAI) from Israel's Koor Industries, a unit of IDB Holding, for $2.4bn. Under the...
Migao to Build Fertiliser Plant in China
Migao is planning to build a 100,000t-per-year speciality compound fertiliser plant in Zunyi, China. The plant will be built in two phases, the first of which will have a capacity of 50,000t...
Nalco to Sell Marine Chemical Business to Wilhelmsen
Nalco has signed an agreement with Norway's Wilhelmsen Ships Service to sell its Nalfleet marine chemical unit for $41m. Under the agreement, Nalco will transfer certain assets relating...
Saudi Aramco to Award Jubail Petrochemical Project Contracts
Saudi Aramco petrochemicals, in a joint venture with Dow Chemical, is planning to award three engineering, procurement and construction contracts for the Jubail petrochemical project in...
Trelleborg Acquires PPL Polyurethane Products
Trelleborg has acquired UK-based PPL Polyurethane Products for an undisclosed price. PPL Polyurethane Products manufactures polyurethane-based products at its facilities in Retford and...
Interagro to Close Four Fertiliser Plants in Romania
Romanian fertiliser company Interagro is planning to close down four of its fertiliser plants by April 2011. The plants facing closure are located in Savinesti, Bacau, Turnu Magurele...
Cepsa Acquires La Seda's PET Plant
Cepsa Química, a subsidiary of Cepsa, has completed the acquisition of La Seda de Barcelona's PET plant in San Roque, Spain, for €32m ($47m). The acquisition includes...
South Korean Petrochemical Firms Aim to Increase Exports
South Korea's 19 major petrochemical makers plan to invest KRW5.8tn ($5.15bn) this year, up 2% from 2010. The firms plan to increase petrochemical exports by 12%, from $35.7bn last year...
Schulman's Q1 Profit Down
Chemical maker A Schulman's has reported a Q1 profit of $9.2m, down 46% from the $17m profit reported during the same period in the preceding year. The US-based company's revenue increased...
BASF Acquires CRI / Criterion Styrene Catalyst Business
BASF has completed the acquisition of CRI / Criterion's global styrene catalysts business from Royal Dutch Shell for an undisclosed sum. In addition, BASF has acquired CRI / Criterion's...
Hercules to Sell Pentaerythritol Business to Perstorp Polyols
Ashland subsidiary Hercules plans to sell its pentaerythritol business to US-based Perstorp Polyols, a subsidiary of Perstorp Holding, for an undisclosed price. The proposed...
EPA Seeks Safety Testing of 19 Widely Used Chemicals
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering new rules that would require manufactures or importers of to test and publish the health and environmental effects of 19...
Exxonmobil's Singapore Project Faces Delay
Exxonmobil's second petrochemical project at Singapore's Jurong Island could be delayed until 2012 due to difficulties in mechanical and construction works. The company began the project...
Mosaic Reports Profit Rise
Mosaic has reported a profit of $1bn during the quarter ending 30 November 2010, up from the $107.8m it reported in the corresponding quarter of 2009. The earnings included a gain of $570m...
EU Approves Ethanol Joint Venture Between Shell and Cosan
The European Union has cleared a joint venture between the UK's Shell Group and Brazil's Cosan for the production of ethanol. The union added that the joint venture would lead to vertical...
Heilongjiang Heihua to Merge With Xiamen Xianglu
Heilongjiang Heihua is planning to merge with Xiamen Xianglu Petrochemicals through the acquisition of shares held by controlling shareholder Xiamen Xianglu Chemical Fiber Company. Heihua...
Italy Imposes Ban on Single-Use Polyethylene Bags
Italy has imposed a ban on single-use polyethylene-based retail carryout bags, becoming the first EU country to impose such a measure. The plastic bag ban was adopted on 22 December 2010...
Peru Approves Orica's Petrochemical Plant
Peru has approved the environmental impact study of Orica Nitratos Peru's proposed petrochemical plant, to be set up in San Juan de Marcona, Peru. The plant will be set up at a cost of $500m...
PolyOne Acquires Uniplen
PolyOne has acquired Uniplen Industria de Polimeros (Uniplen), the Brazilian producer of speciality engineered materials and distributor of thermoplastics. PolyOne will pay $21m for...
Zhejiang Juhua to Raise Money for Expansion
Zhejiang Juhua is planning to raise 1.65bn yuan ($249.5m) through private placement to expand chemical production in China. The Chinese company, which produces fluoro chemicals and...
Shell Restarts Ethylene Plant
Royal Dutch Shell has restarted its ethylene plant in the US, following an extended outage caused by a ruptured steam line. The 558,000t-per-year plant was shut down in the last week of...
Qapco LDPE Plant to Start This Year
Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) is planning to start its new low-density polyethylene (LDPE-3) plant in Qatar by the end of this year. The plant will have a capacity to produce...
CPC to Scale Down Petrochemical Investment
CPC is planning to scale down its proposed investment at Kuokuang Petrochemical Park in Taiwan from NT$900bn ($30.87bn) to NT$600.5bn ($20.5bn) to increase the chances of it passing...
Quaker Chemical Acquires Summit Lubricants
Quaker Chemical has acquired speciality grease manufacturer Summit Lubricants for $30m, which it says will complement its business. The purchase price is based on Summit Lubricants'...
December 2010
Top
Shell and Qatar Petroleum to Build Petrochemical Plant
Royal Dutch Shell and state-run Qatar Petroleum have signed a memorandum of understanding to build a $6bn petrochemical project at Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. The project includes...
Sinopec and Far East New Century Form PTA Joint Venture
Sinopec Yizheng Chemical Fibre, a subsidiary of China's Sinopec Group, has formed a joint venture with Taiwan's Far Eastern New Century to set up a purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant...
Sibur and Reliance to Set up Butyl Rubber Plant in India
Russian petrochemical company Sibur and Reliance Industries of India have formed a joint venture to set up a $450m butyl rubber plant in India. The plant will be set up at Reliance...
Eastman Restarts US Olefin Cracking Plant
Eastman Chemical has restarted its idle olefin cracking plant at Longview in Texas, US. The plant will increase Eastman's olefin capacity by approximately 215,000t and brings the...
Season's Greetings
chemicals-technology.com will be taking a short break over the holiday season. Our full daily news service will return on 4 January. Thank you for your support in 2010, and we wish you a...
Indorama to Increase PET Investment
Indorama Venture is planning to invest $3.8bn over the next five years to expand its PET resin capacity. The Thailand-based company had previously announced an investment of $2bn,...
Clariant to Invest in Research Centre
Clariant is planning to invest €50m ($65m) in an R&D facility in Frankfurt, Germany, to expand research activities. The facility will be located at Frankfurt-Höchst Industrial Park...
US Extends Tax Relief for Ethanol Producers
The US has approved an $858bn tax relief bill that extends subsidies and protective tariffs for domestic US ethanol producers for another year. The bill includes billions of dollars worth of...
BASF to Expand Superabsorbent Capacity
BASF is planning to raise superabsorbent capacity at its plants in Antwerp, Belgium, and Freeport, US. The German chemical major is planning to increase annual capacity by 70,000t, by 2012,...
BASF, Sinopec to Expand China Operation
BASF and Sinopec joint venture BASF-YPC is to further expand the capacity of chemical plants at Nanjing, China, with an additional investment of $1bn. The joint venture will expand the...
Borealis to Expand Polyethylene Capacity in Finland
Borealis is planning to invest €17m ($22m) in its polyethylene plant at Porvoo in Finland. The expansion project includes a new ethylene compressor as well as an upgrade of the...
Celanese Plans Ethanol Plants in China
Celanese is planning to open two ethanol plants in China in a bid to enter the country's fuel ethanol market. The US-based company had announced to build one or two coal-based ethanol plants...
EPA and ECHA Sign Cooperation Agreement
The US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) have signed an agreement to promote enhanced technical cooperation on chemical management activities. ...
Mitsui and Dow Complete Chlor-Alkali Joint Venture Formation
Mitsui Chemical and Dow Chemical have formed a joint venture to construct and operate a membrane based chlor-alkali plant at Dow's plant in Texas, US. The new company will be named...
GS Engineering Wins Sipchem Plant Contract
Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) affiliate International Polymers has awarded an $800m contract to South Korea's GS Engineering to build an ethylene vinyl acetate plant in...
German Chemical Output to Slow in 2011
German chemical industry association VCI has forecast that the country's chemical output will slow in 2011, compared with 2010. The prediction is in line with that of Cefic, the European...
Dow to Expand Propylene Output in Thailand
Dow Chemical is planning to invest $67m to expand its propylene glycol production in Thailand. The company will build a new plant in the eastern province of Rayong, which will have an...
Lanxess to Buy DSM's Elastomers Business
Lanxess will acquire an elastomers business from Roay DSM for $415m. DSM Elastomers produces 200,000t of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) a year in Geleen, Netherlands, and...
NPC Secures Fund for Petrochemical Projects
The National Petrochemical Company (NPC) of Iran has signed an agreement with five domestic banks to secure $23.5bn of funding to set up 35 petrochemical plants in the country. State-owned...
Keyuan to Boost Capacity in China
Keyuan Petrochemical is planning to increase its production capacity by 30% from 550,000t to 720,000t a year. The Ningbo, China-based company, which produces aromatics, propylene, styrene,...
Solvay to Open Epichlorohydrin Plant in China
Solvay is planning to build an epichlorohydrin plant in Taixing, China, with a capacity of 100,000t a year. The plant will be based on Solvay's Epicerol technology and is expected to...
Arsenal Capital Buys Para-Chem Southern
Arsenal Capital Partners has acquired the Para-Chem Southern for an undisclosed price. The acquisition followed Arsenal's acquisition of Royal Adhesives & Sealants in November this...
STX to Build Methanol Plant for AZMECO
STX Offshore and Shipbuilding has secured a $200m contract from Azerbaijan Methanol Company (AZMECO) to build a methanol plant in Garadagh region of Azerbaijan. The EPC contract has...
JG Summit Holdings Increases Cracker Investment
JG Summit Holdings has announced that it will increase investment in its proposed naphtha cracker plant in Batangas City, the Philippines, from $500m to $600m. The plant will have an...
Yule Catto to Acquire PolymerLatex
Yule Catto plans to acquire PolymerLatex from TowerBrook Capital Partners for $585m. The UK-based chemical company says the acquisition will complement its synthomer emulsion polymers...
Olin to Overhaul US Chlorine Plant
Olin is to invest $160m in its Tennessee, US, chlorine plant to change production techniques to make the plant mercury-free by 2012. The US-based company will convert the facility's...
Lucite to Restart Texas MMA Plant
Lucite is to restart production of methyl methacrylate (MMA) at its Texas, US, plant in the first quarter of 2011. The company did not disclose details of the output, although the...
BASF Completes Cognis Acquisition
BASF has completed the acquisition of speciality chemicals producer Cognis from Permira Funds, GS Capital Partners and SV Life Sciences for €3.1bn ($4.1bn). The acquisition includes...
Japan's Ethylene Output Falls
Japan's ethylene output fell by 1.4% in November 2010 compared with the same month in 2009. According to data from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the country's...
Omnova Solutions Completes Acquisition of Eliokem
Omnova Solutions has completed the acquisition of Eliokem International from AXA Private Equity for $302m. The US-based chemical company says the deal includes Eliokem's debt and was subject...
IRPC to Expand Capacity
Thailand-based IRPC is planning to invest $2bn from 2011-2015 to expand petrochemical output to meet rising demand. The petrochemical group aims to raise THB35bn ($1.2bn) through loans or...
Wacker to Build Polysilicon Plant In US
Wacker Chemie is planning to build a polysilicon plant near the city of Cleveland in Ohio, US. The company is planning to invest €1.1bn ($1.45bn) to produce 15,000t of material for...
DuPont Unveils Growth Plan
DuPont expects to register sales of $33-34bn in 2011, with compound annual growth of about 7% between 2010 and 2015. The chemical major expects that full-year 2010 sales growth will be...
SK Chemicals Sells PET Plants in Poland and Indonesia
SK Chemicals has sold its chemical plants in Poland and Indonesia to Indorama for KRW68bn ($59.6m) as part of efforts to focus on its bio and medicine business. The South Korean chemical...
Lanxess to Invest in China Chemical Plant
Lanxess is planning to invest €30m ($39.6m) in a leather chemical plant in Jiangsu province, China. The plant will have an annual capacity of 50,000t and will produce Tanigan,...
Sinopec Plans Ethylene Production Increase
Sinopec is planning to increase the production capacity of ethylene to more than nine million tonnes a year by the end of its 11th five-year plan of China, which ends this financial year. ...
Bayer to Expand China Capacity
Bayer is planning to invest about €1bn ($1.3bn) to double its polymer-production capacity in China over the next five years. The Germany-based chemical group plans to increase sales...
China Announces Increase in Petrochemical Output
China's petrochemical output surged 35.3% between January and September 2010 to 6.33tn yuan ($948.9bn), according to statistics from China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation...
DSM to Buy Majority Stake in AGI
DSM is planning to acquire a 51% stake in Taiwan chemical company AGI for $63.5m. The Dutch chemical company will acquire the stakes through a private placement and a public tender...
Rhodia Acquires Feixiang Chemical
Rhodia has completed the acquisition of Chinese chemical company Feixiang Chemical for $489m. Following the acquisition, the company has been renamed Rhodia Feixiang Specialty...
Mitsubishi Chemical Unveils Capex Plan
Mitsubishi Chemical Holding has unveiled a capex plan to invest 1tn yen ($11.9bn) over the next five years. The Japanese chemical company is planning to invest 750bn yen ($8.8bn) in...
Israel Chemicals to Buy Scott's Fertiliser Unit
Israel Chemicals is planning to buy The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company's fertiliser unit for $270m. Scotts' Global Professional business produces speciality fertilisers and plant...
Arkema Plans to Acquire Three Total Businesses
Arkema is planning to buy three coatings resins and photocure resins businesses from Total’s Speciality Chemicals for €550m ($733m). The assets to be acquired includes coatings...
Formosa Plastics Unveils Investment Plan
Formosa Plastics Group is planning to invest $11.3bn in China, the US and Vietnam to expand its chemical and petrochemical capacity. The leading Taiwanese polyvinyl chloride producer...
CNCE Subsidiary Awarded Butanediol Plant Contract
China National Chemical Engineering (CNCE) subsidiary China Chengda Engineering has secured a contract from Xinjiang Markor Chemical Industry to build a 1,4-butanediol plant in China. The...
India's Polyethylene Imports Rise
India's polyethylene imports between April and November 2010 increased 10-12%, but import of polypropylene decreased by 15-17%, compared to the same period in 2009. India imported 600,000t...
Harima to Acquire Momentive's Ink and Adhesive Business
Harima Chemicals is planning to acquire the ink and adhesive businesses of Momentive Specialty Chemicals for an undisclosed price. The ink and adhesive resins business registered $278m...
US Chemical Production Growth to Continue in 2011
US chemical production is expected to grow 5% in 2011, boosted by recovery in the sector, according to a report by the American Chemistry Council (ACC). The ACC expects US chemistry exports...
BASF and Petronas Plan Chemical Plant in Malaysia
BASF and Petronas have signed an agreement to jointly set up a speciality chemical plant in Malaysia with an investment of €1bn ($1.3bn). The US-based chemical major, along with...
Dow Chemical to Increase Ethane Cracking Capacity
Dow Chemical is planning to increase its ethane cracking capacity by between 20% and 30% in the next two or three years. The capacity expansion will increase Dow’s global use of ethane...
EU Approves Sun Capital's Acquisition of DSM Special Products
Sun Capital Partner has received EU approval to buy DSM's specialty products subsidiary. The US-based private equity firm will acquire the €100m ($133.5m) / year unit, and will merge...
EU Chemical Output Rises
Chemical production in the European Union increased by 6.5% in September 2010 year-on-year and 12.2% in first nine months, according to an EU chemical trend report. Ddata for the first...
Sasol to Build Ethylene Tetramerisation Plant
Sasol is planning to build the world's first commercial ethylene tetramerisation plant in the US. The plant is capable of producing more than 100,000t of combined 1-octene and 1-hexene a...
Hexpol Completes Acquisition of Excel Polymer
Hexpol has completed the acquisition of rubber compounding group Excel Polymer for $220m. Excel Polymer produces performance elastomer solutions, compounded polymer materials and...
Lanxess Starts Resins Plant in India
Lanxess has started its iron-exchange resins plant at Jhagadia chemical park in the Indian state of Gujarat. The plant will produce 35,000t of iron-exchange resins a year, which will be used...
IRPC to Raise Propylene Output
IRPC is planning to increase its propylene output by 58% by 2014 with the construction of a new plant in Thailand. The company, 37% owned by Thailand energy firm PTT, has sought approval...
More than 4,000 Chemicals Registered for ECHA REACH Deadline
The EU's European Chemical Agency (ECHA) has reached its first deadline and completed registration of 4,300 chemical substances under its REACH chemicals regulation. The agreement...
EU Clears Süd-Chemie and Ashland Joint Venture
The European Union has cleared the formation of a foundry chemical joint venture between US chemical company Ashland and German chemical company Süd-Chemie. The two companies...
EU Gives BASF Conditional Approval to Acquire Cognis
BASF has secured conditional approval from European Union to acquire Cognis Holding, which has sold its businesses related to the production of a chemical used in coatings and adhesives. ...
FMC to Close Phosphate Plant in Spain
FMC Corporation will stop operations at its Foret phosphates plant in Huelva, Spain, by 31 December 2010. The closure of the plant has been announced following a Spanish court's...
Maaden Secures Loan for Saudi Arabian Caustic Soda Plant
Saudi Arabian Mining (Maaden) has secured a SAR900m ($240m) loan from the state-run Saudi Industrial Development Fund to finance a caustic soda project in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The project is...
Arkema Plans to Triple Resin Capacity in China
Arkema is planning to increase the production of nylon 12 and bio-sourced nylon 11 resins three-fold at its plant in Changshu, China, by 2013. The chemical company will build a new plant in...
Jurong Aromatics Seeks Loan for Singapore Plant
Jurong Aromatics has announced that it plans to borrow $1.56bn to finance the construction of a petrochemical plant on Jurong Island, Singapore. The loan will be arranged by ING Groep NV...
Ineos and BASF to Set Up Styrenics Joint Venture
Ineos Industries and BASF are to combine their respective styrenics businesses and form a joint venture, to be called Styrolution. Styrolution will combine the two companies' businesses...
Huntsman Wins Dutch Sustainability Award
Huntsman Polyurethanes has become the first chemical company to win a 'Lean and Green' award in Netherlands. The award has been given by Sustainable Logistics Innovation Connekt, a...
BASF to Acquire Shell Subsidiary's Styrene Business
BASF has signed an agreement to acquire the styrene catalyst business of Shell subsidiary CRI / Criterion for an undisclosed fee. CRI / Criterion manufacturers chemical catalysts that are...
Süd-Chemie and German University Partner for Catalysis Research
Süd-Chemie and the University of Technology in Munich, Germany, have teamed up for a €20m ($26m) catalysis research project. In addition to basic research in the field of...
BASF Unveils Chinese Investment Plan
BASF has announced plans to invest €1bn ($1.3bn) in China over the next few years to build new plants. The German chemical-maker will invest more than €2bn ($2.61bn) in 100 plants...
Eastman Completes Expansion of Estonia Plasticiser Plant
Eastman Chemical has completed capacity expansion work at its Benzoflex plasticiser plant in Kohtla-Järve, Estonia. The expansion increases the plant's Benzoflex capacity by...
SKC Completes Polyurethane Plant in Poland
SKC has completed the construction of a polyurethane plant in a special economic zone in southwestern Poland. The plant will produce 20,000t of polyurethane per year, which will mainly be...
Sinopec to Reduce Chemical Output
Sinopec has announced output reductions at petrochemical plants producing polyethylene, polypropylene and monoethylene glycol. Sinopec's Shanghai Petrochemical shut a...
German Ministry Funds Carbon Dioxide Project
Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research has pledged €2.2m ($2.9m) to a project that will explore the economical and ecological use of carbon dioxide on an industrial...
EU Bans Bisphenol A in Baby Bottles
The European Union is to ban polycarbonates containing bisphenol A from use in baby feeding bottles from 1 June 2011. The EU Health and Consumer authority has cited studies that indicate...
November 2010
Top
BASF Investment Secures Jobs at German Plant
BASF has agreed to invest between €9bn and €10bn ($12.1bn-$13.5bn) at its Ludwigshafen plant in Germany through to 2015, securing 33,000 jobs at the site. The German chemical...
Sumitomo Chemical to Build Plant in Singapore
Sumitomo Chemical is planning to build a 40,000t-per-year solution styrene-butadiene-rubber plant on Singapore's Jurong Island. The plant is scheduled to start operation in the fourth...
Cognis Reports Profit Rise
Cognis has reported a profit of €184m ($245m) during the first nine months of 2010, up from €1m during the same period in 2009, boosted by an increase in sales volumes. The...
Total Plans Petrochemical Plant in Qatar
Total Petrochemicals is in talks with Qatar over plans to develop a $6bn petrochemical plant in the gas-rich Arab Gulf state, according to Reuters. The proposed complex in Ras Laffan includes...
Makhteshim Agan's Q3 Loss Widens
Makhteshim Agan's losses have widened to $56.2m during the third quarter of 2010, increasing from a $17.5m loss a year earlier. The Israeli company reported the loss despite recording a...
India Levies Anti-Dumping Duty on Polypropylene Imports
India is to impose an anti-dumping duty on imports of polypropylene from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Singapore for five years. It will also be applicable to homo-polymers of propylene and...
Egypt Hydrocarbon Corporation Secures Loan for Chemical Complex
Egypt Hydrocarbon Corporation has secured a $298m loan from domestic banks to fund the construction of a chemical complex in Ain Sohkna, Egypt. The complex will produce nitric acid,...
Arkema Unveils Five-Year Growth Plan
Arkema has announced that it aims to increase its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by more than €1bn ($1.35bn) by 2015, up from its EBITDA goal...
Du Pont Settles West Virginia Pollution Case
Du Pont has agreed to pay $80m for the medical monitoring of a class of residents in West Virginia, US, who claimed that they were exposed to toxic substances from one of its zinc-smelting plants....
Israel Chemicals Posts Q3 Profit Decline
Israel Chemicals has reported a profit of $242.9m during the third quarter of 2010, down from the $256.6m it recorded in the same period of 2009. However, its revenue for the period grew...
PetroChina to Complete Daqing Ethylene Expansion in 2012
PetroChina has said that it will complete the expansion of its ethylene plant in Daqing, China, by June 2012, a year later than planned. The expansion will double the plant's...
Arkema to Treble Polyamide Production at China Plant
Arkema is planning to triple production of polyamide its plant in Changshu, China, by 2013. The French chemical-maker plans to construct a new plant with a polymerisation capacity of...
South Korean Petrochemical Exports Rise
The value of South Korea's petrochemical exports in October 2010 increased by 22% compared to the same period in 2009, reaching $29.9bn due to higher product prices. According to data...
BME to Invest in Three South African Nitric Acid Plants
BME, part of the Omnia group, is planning to invest R1.4bn ($198m) in the construction of three nitric acid plants in South Africa. The plants are scheduled to be commissioned by the...
Valspar Reports Profit Rise
Valspar has reported a profit of $51.3m for the fourth quarter of 2010, up from the $49.9m it recorded in the same quarter in 2009. The US-based paint maker's revenue increased to $876.8m,...
China Chemical Completes Maleic Anhydride Plant
China Chemical has completed construction of a maleic anhydride production plant in China. The plant will produce 30,000t of the chemical doubling its overall production capacity 60,000t...
Aurelius Acquires KemFine UK
KemFine Group has completed the sale of KemFine UK to Aurelius for an undisclosed price. The business, which reccorded sales of $41m in 2009, had produces chemicals for the...
Iran Petrochemical Production Rises
Iran has produced more than 23 million tons of petrochemical products in the first eight months of 2010. The country has also recorded a 50% increase in export of petrochemical products...
GS Engineering to Build Fertiliser Plant in Australia
GS Engineering has secured a $2.88bn contract from Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers to build a urea plant in Perth, Australia. The plant will be built at Shotts Industrial Complex in...
Enterprise Acquires Isobutylene Plant
Enterprise Products Partners has acquired a chemical plant from Bigler LP in Houston, US, for $38.5m. The 250-acre complex has capacity to produce 300 million pounds of high-purity...
Tronox to Exit Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in January 2011
US-based Tronox is expected to emerge as a reorganised business after nearly two years in bankruptcy, after a court confirmed the chemical firm's Chapter 11 exit plan. The chemical maker is...
Four Dead and 37 Injured in Chinese Chemical Plant Blast
Four people have died and 37 others injured following a blast at a Yushe Chemical Industry plant in China's Shanxi province. The blast occurred on 20 November, killing people and injuring...
Dow and Wacker Open Chinese Silicone Plant
Dow Corning and Wacker Chemie have opened their silicone manufacturing plant in China's Jiangsu province. The manufacturing site, based in Zhangjiagang, was built with an investment of...
Formosa Petrochemical Delays Production at Ethylene Plant
Formosa Petrochemical has delayed the start of production at its 1.035 million ton-per-year No 2 ethylene plant in Taiwan due to minor leakages. The plant was shut down on 5 October 2010...
Makhteshim Acquires BravoAg and Gains Stake in JK
Makhteshim Agan has acquired Mexico City-based crop protection manufacturer Ingenieria Industrial (BravoAg), and a 51% stake in South Korean glyphosate manufacturer JK. The Israeli...
Bayer to Invest in Five Plants in China
Bayer MaterialScience is planning to invest €110m ($148m) in five downstream facilities in China by 2012. The company will invest in three polyurethanes systems houses, a...
Arkema to Invest in US Acrylics Business
Arkema is planning to invest $110m in its acrylics business in Texas, US, over the next three years. The investment will focus on acrylic acid and esters, water treatment, super...
PTT Chemicals Anticipates 2011 Revenue Increase
PTT Chemicals has said it is expecting its revenue to increase to THB160-170bn ($5.4-5.7bn) in 2011. The Thailand-based olefin maker says the utilisation rates at all plants would rise...
EU Imposes Anti-Dumping Duty on Chinese Melamine
The European Union has imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty of between 44.9% and 65.2% on melamine imports from China for the next six months. European producers, who produce more than...
DNP Green Technology Acquires Bioamber Joint Venture
DNP Green Technology fully acquired 100% of the shares in Bioamber, a joint venture it formed with France-based Agro-Industrie Recherches et Developpements in 2008. Following the...
BHP Billiton Pulls Out of PotashCorp Bid
BHP Billiton has withdrawn its $38.6bn bid for Canadian fertiliser major PotashCorp after talks with regulators failed. Canada's Ministry of Industry had previously blocked the deal, saying...
Formosa Plastics Unveils Expansion Plans
Formosa Plastics Group is planning to invest $2.3bn in a petrochemical plant in Ningbo, China. Under its second phase expansion plan, the company will invest in subsidiaries Formosa...
Indorama Invests in PET and PTA Resin Plants
Indorama Group plans to invest $1.2bn in two resins plants, one in India and the other in the Middle East. Each plant will have an annual production capacity of 500,000t of...
China Extends Ethanolamine Anti-Dumping Levy Duration
China has extended the levy of anti-dumping duty on ethanolamine imports from Japan, Malaysia, the US and Taiwan for another five years. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce imposed an...
Evonik Reports Q3 Profit Jump
Evonik's profit soared during the third quarter of 2010, rising from €168m ($229m) in Q3 2009 to €260m ($356m) in the same period this year. The Germany-based speciality...
CNOOC Breaks Ground on China Fine Chemical Plant
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has started construction at an 8.3bn yuan ($1.2bn) fine chemical project in China's Hainan province. The plant will be built in two phases,...
SKC Acquires Stake in Evonik Subsidiary
SKC has acquired a 45% stake in Evonik Degussa Peroxide Korea for KRW23bn ($20m), forming a joint venture to produce hydrogen peroxide in South Korea. Evonik Degussa Peroxide Korea,...
Olam to Establish Fertiliser Plant in Gabon
Olam International has formed a joint venture with the Republic of Gabon to construct an ammonia-urea fertiliser plant. The plant requires an investment of $1.3bn and will have a capacity...
H&R Wasag Reports Q3 Profit Rise
H&R Wasag has reported a profit of €14.5m ($19.9m) during the third quarter of 2010, nearly double the figure it reported in the same period in 2009. The German chemical...
Nova to Divest Stake in Joint Venture to Ineos
Nova Chemicals has announced that it is planning to sell its shares in Ineos Nova to Ineos in the first quarter of 2011, for an undisclosed sum. Ineos signed an agreement with Nova to...
Chemtura Emerges from US Bankruptcy Protection
Chemtura has completed financial restructuring and emerged from its 20-month long US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The US-based speciality chemical maker said that it had...
DuPont to Acquire MECS
DuPont has agreed to acquire sulphuric acid technology provider MECS from American Securities for an undisclosed amount. MECS designs sulphuric acid plants and related high...
Ammoni Awards Russian Fertiliser Plant Contract
Ammoni has awarded a $1bn contract for the construction of a fertiliser plant in Russia to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Sojitz Corporation of Japan and China National Chemical...
Celanese to Build Two Ethanol Plants in China
Celanese is planning to build two coal-to-ethanol plants in China with an investment of $350m. The US-based chemical company plans to set up the two plants on the Chinese coast, each with...
Sibur Starts Production at Russian Styrenics Plant
Sibur has started production of ethyl-benzene, styrene and expandable polystyrene at its upgraded plant in Perm, Russia. The company has invested more than R8bn ($260m) to upgrade and expand...
Qatar Chemical Opens Second HDPE Plant in Mesaieed
Qatar Chemical has opened its second petrochemical plant in Mesaieed industrial city, Qatar. The Q-Chem II plant is a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum (51%) and Chevron Phillips...
Lanxess Reports Q3 Profit Leap
Lanxess reported a profit of €118m ($162m) during the third quarter of 2010, up from the €23m ($31.5m) profit recorded during the same quarter of 2009. Lanxess' sales jumped 35%...
Braskem and Ineos Form Polyethylene Technology Partnership
Braskem has signed an agreement with Ineos Technologies to acquire slurry technologies for two of its three polyethylene plants at the Ethylene XXI petrochemicals project in Mexico. Under...
HB Fuller Begins Work on Indian Adhesive Plant
HB Fuller has started construction of a $12m adhesive plant in India as part of efforts to expand into the country's adhesive market. The US-based adhesive and sealants maker has a...
SK Energy to Restart Cracker
SK Energy plans to restart its idle No 1 naphtha-fed steam cracker in Ulsan, South Korea, following an improvement in margins. The cracker is capable of producing 200,000 million tons...
Solvay Announces Investment in French Chemical Plant
Solvay has announced that it will invest $115m to replace a mercury-based electrolysis system at its chlor-alkali plant in Tavaux, France, with a membrane-based system. The...
PTT Q3 Profit Falls by 59%
PTT Aromatics and Refining has reported a 59% drop in its Q3 profit to THB695m ($23.46 m), down from the THB1.71bn ($57m) profit it reported in the same quarter of 2009. however,...
Lumena to Acquire Controlling Stake in Sino Polymers
Lumena Resources is planning to acquire a 95% stake in Cayman Islands-based Sino Polymers New Materials for HK$11.05bn ($1.43bn). Lumena, based in Hong Kong, will pay for 90% of the stake...
AkzoNobel Opens Chemical Plant in China
AkzoNobel has opened its €275m ($381.8m) chemical plant in China's Zhejiang province, further expanding its presence in the country. The plant, located in Ningbo, will mainly...
Samsung Fine Chemical to Build Polysilicon Plant in Korea
Samsung Fine Chemical is planning to form a joint venture with US-based MEMC Electronic Materials to build a polysilicon plant in Korea. The South Korean company is set to invest...
Arkema to Invest in New Plant in France
Arkema is planning to invest €30m ($42.7 m) in a dimethyl amino ethyl acrylate plant in Carling, France. The plant will replace an older facility, increasing the site's capacity by...
Iran Petrochemical Product Exports up by 50%
Iran has exported more than $5.4bn of petrochemical products in first seven months of 2010, up by 50% compared to the same period in 2009. The products include polyethylene, methanol,...
ZRCC Launches EO / EG Plant in China
Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Petrochemical (ZRCC) has launched an ethylene oxide / ethylene glycol (EO / EG) plant in China's Zhejiang province. The plant has a capacity to produce 650,000t...
South Korean Companies Plan Naphtha Capacity Increases
LG Chem is planning to raise the naphtha cracker capacity at its Daesan plant in South Korea by about 100,000t in March 2011, increasing total capacity to 1.9 million tons a year. South...
Shenhua and Dow Plan Coal-to-Chemicals Plant in China
China's Shenhua Group and US-based Dow Chemical are planning a large coal-to-chemicals plant in Shaanxi province, China. The firms intend to invest $10bn in the first phase of the...
M&A Volume Reaches $66bn
The value of mergers and acquisitions in the global chemical sector reached $66.6bn during the third quarter of 2010, increasing by 20% compared with the volume in 2009, according to a report...
Total and CPI Plan to Establish Olefin Plant in China
Total and China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) are to build a coal-based petrochemical plant in Mongolia, China. The France-based company and Chinese energy group will launch a...
Air Products to Pay Penalties for Waste Violations
Air Products has been fined $1.485m in penalties for violations of Texas and US federal waste disposal laws, officials have said. The US-based chemical company has been fined for its failure...
Rhodia Q3 Profit Quadruples
Rhodia's profit in the third quarter of 2010 jumped four times to €56m ($78.5m) from €14m ($19.6m) last year, the company has announced. The French chemical maker's sales increased...
Amec to Build Ethanol Plant for Ineos
Amec has secured a $100m contract from Ineos New Planet BioEnergy to build an ethanol plant in Florida, US. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract secured by the...
Malaysian Petro Giant Plans New Fertiliser Plant
Petronas Chemicals Group, a subsidiary of Petroliam Nasional, is planning to build a fertiliser plant in Sabah, Malaysia, worth about $1bn. Petronas Chemicals chairman Datuk Wan Zulkiflee...
Westlake Reports Increased Q3 Profit
Westlake Chemical's profit has more than doubled to $62.7m during the third quarter of 2010, up from the $29.8m it reported in the same quarter a year ago. The US-based chemical...
China's Chemical Imports Down
China's chemical imports declined during September 2010 with moderation of economic activities in the country. According to data from China Customs, the country imported 74,924t of ethylene,...
Reliance Q2 Profit Up
Reliance Industries' profit increased by 28% to INR49.2bn ($1.1bn) during the second quarter of 2010, compared with the same quarter in 2009. The Indian company's sales increased by 23%...
Ineos Restarts Ethylene Cracker in France
Ineos has restarted the 775,000t/year ethylene (C2) cracker at its Lavera refinery in southern France, the company said. The nationwide shutdown in France over pension reform has led to...
Petronas Chemicals to Raise IPO
Petronas Chemicals plans to raise MYR12.5bn ($4bn) from an initial public offering (IPO) to help fund its future expansion plans, including acquisitions. The company had planned to sell $2bn...
Do-Floride to Invest in Lithium-ion Material Plant
Do-Floride Chemicals is planning to invest RMB344m ($51m) to produce materials for lithium-ion battery production. The Chinese company expects the new plant to produce 20,000t of...
China Drops Anti-Dumping Duty Investigations on Saudi Methanol
Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) said China will not impose anti-dumping duties on methanol exported from Saudi Arabia. Sipchem claimed the Chinese Ministry of Commerce...
Kiri Buys DyStar's US Operations
Kiri Dyes and Chemicals has acquired DyStar Group's US operations from Platinum Equity for $10m. The acquisition includes DyStar's textiles dyes and textile auxiliaries, as well as...
Honam Completes Acquisition of Titan Chemicals
Homan Petrochemical has completed the acquisition of Malaysia's Titan Chemicals for $1.28bn. Under the deal, the South Korean chemical company has acquired a 73% stake in Malaysian olefins...
Braskem and Idesa JV Ethylene Plant to Begin Operations in 2015
Braskem and Grupo Idesa's $2.5bn Ethylene XXI project in Mexico is moving ahead and is expected to go on stream in 2015. The joint venture plans to complete the front-end engineering and...
LyondellBasell Swings into Profit in Q3
LyondellBasell reported a net profit of $467m during the third quarter of 2010, led by increased demand for polyolefins and higher ethylene sales prices. This is compared to a loss of $651m...
Lanxess to Expand Capacity at Dormagen Plant
Lanxess is planning to expand production of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer at its plant in Dormagen, Germany. The speciality chemical company is expected to increase production by 30%...
Braskem Invests in Green Propylene Plant
Braskem is planning to invest $100m to establish a plant that will use feedstock ethanol from sugar cane to produce propylene. Braskem has said that each ton of polypropylene produced in...
Global Acrylic Resins to Exceed $16bn by 2015
The global acrylic resins market is expected to exceed £16.4bn by 2015, boosted by increased demand for superior performing and cost-effective products, according to a report by Global...
BASF Profit Soars
BASF has announced that its profit increased five-fold to €1.25bn ($1.72bn) during the third quarter of 2010, up from the €237m ($330m) it reported during the same quarter in...
Mitsui and Sinopec to Form EPT Joint Venture
Japan's Mitsui Chemicals and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation are to form a joint venture to produce ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer (EPT) in China. Around 27bn yen ($335m) will...
Borouge Starts Abu Dhabi Polyolefins Plant
Borouge has started commercial operations at its expanded polyolefins plant in Ruwais, United Arab Emirates. The expansion will double Borouge's polyethylene production to 1.2 million...
EU Chemical Production Increases
Chemical production in the European Union in August 2010 increased by 9.4% compared to the same period last year, according to the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic). It added...
ADIB Agrees to Fund Borogue Plant Expansion
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) will provide DH3.41bn ($935m) to Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company (HDEC) to help finance its expansion project in Abu Dhabi. The Borouge 3...
Henkel Plans to Invest in Hungarian Adhesive Plant
Henkel is planning to build an adhesive plant in Tatabánya-Környe, Hungary. The German chemical company will invest €14.7m ($20m) in the plant, which is expected to...
CPDC Borrows for Production Expansion
China Petrochemical Development Corporation (CPDC) has signed for a NT$21.8bn ($710.9m) loan to finance increases in caprolactam and acrylonitrile production. The loan will enable CPDC...
Rockwood Reports Q3 Profit Rise
Rockwood Holdings has reported a profit of $40m during the third quarter of 2010, rising from $10m in the same quarter of 2009. The US-based speciality chemical maker reported adjusted...
October 2010
Top
Green Plains Completes Global Ethanol Acquisition
Green Plains Renewable Energy has completed its $169m acquisition of Global Ethanol. The acquisition includes two ethanol production plants in US, which will increase its production capacity...
AkzoNobel Opens Powder Coatings Plant in China
AkzoNobel has opened its sixth powder coatings facility in China as part of its strategy to double revenue in the country within the next five years. The new facility will...
US Foams Market to Expand
The US market for polymeric foams is expected to grow to £8.6bn ($13.6bn) in 2015, rising from £7.6bn ($12bn) in 2010, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.5%. According to...
Solvay and MGC to Develop Bio-Based Polyamides
Solvay Advanced Polymers will work with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical (MGC) to develop high-temperature bio-based polyamides for high-performance durable applications. The new polymer will...
Lanxess Opens Chinese Pigment Plant
Lanxess has opened a new plant in Shanghai, China, which will produce high-quality black iron oxide pigments. The plant has capacity to produce 10,000t of the pigments, which are used...
Celanese Sees Q3 Profit Slide but Revenues Rise
Celanese has reported a profit of $145m during Q3 2010, down from the $398m it reported in the same period in 2009. However, the firm's 2009 profit included $382m related to a deferred...
Eastman to Sell PET Business to DAK
Eastman Chemical is to sell its polyethylene terephthalate (PET) business unit and related assets of its performance polymers unit to DAK for $600m in cash. DAK will acquire Eastman's...
China Imposes Anti-Dumping Duty on Methanol Imports
China has imposed an anti-dumping duty of more than 9% on methanol imports from companies in Malaysia, Indonesia and New Zealand. Officials have said that the levy will be applied to...
Court Approves Chemtura Reorganisation Plan
A US court has approved Chemtura Corporation's reorganisation plan, which will allow the company to exit bankruptcy protection. The US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan approved the plan...
Sigma-Aldrich Announces Q3 Income Rise
Sigma-Aldrich Corp has said its net income grew by 8% in Q3 2010, following an increase in sales from chemicals and research products units. The biochemicals firm earned $93m during the...
Biocause to Invest in Propylene Production
Hubei Biocause Pharmaceutical plans to invest around 301m yuan ($45m) in propylene production. The firm will has expects to spend around 200m yuan ($30m) on the construction of a facility...
South Korea Petrochemical Exports Rise in September
South Korea's petrochemical exports rose by 7.42% to $2.75bn in September, following higher product prices and low base-year figures. South Korea's export price of naphtha rose 6% to $674...
Zhejiang to Begin Work on New Polypropylene Plant
Zhejiang Shaoxing Sanyuan Petrochemical has announced that it will begin the construction of a new polypropylene plant at its Shaoxing facility in China by the end of the year. The plant...
ExxonMobil Completes Capacity Expansion
ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Chemical, has said that Japan Butyl has completed an expansion to increase butyl rubber production at its Kawasaki, Japan plant. The...
WR Grace Reports Q3 Income Rise
WR Grace has reported net income to $54.9m in the third quarter of 2010, a a 23.6% rise from the $44.4m in the same period of 2009. The US-based chemical company's gross profit percentage...
Petrologistics Begins Propylene Production at Texas Plant
Petrologistics has started production at its propylene plant in Texas, which is expected to be running at full capacity within 30 days. The plant will produce 544,000t of 70%...
India Lifts Anti-Dumping Duty on Saudi Polypropylene
India has suspended anti-dumping taxes on polypropylene imports from Saudi Arabia. An anti-dumping duty of more than 22% was imposed in August 2010, ranging between $440 and $820 per...
AkzoNobel Posts Q3 Profit Rise
AkzoNobel's net income increased by 21% to €238m ($330m) during the third quarter of 2010, rising from €197m ($273m) during the same quarter a year ago. The Dutch chemical...
Honam Considers Indonesian Ethylene Plant Proposal
Honam Petrochemical is studying plans to build a $500m ethylene plant in Indonesia next year. The proposed plant could have an annual capacity of 450,000t. The South Korean...
Evonik Plans Methionine Expansion in Singapore
Evonik is planning to build a plant to produce DL-methionine and its intermediates in Singapore. The German chemical firm said the new plant will have an annual capacity of 150,000t,...
Philphos Receives Bank Credit to Fund Expansion
The Development Bank of the Philippines has given Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corporation (Philphos) a $23m credit line to help it boost fertiliser production. Philphos expects that...
Sinopec Plans Bond Issue
China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) is planning to sell bonds worth 23bn yuan ($3.5bn) to fund the development of new ethylene and processing plants. The chemical maker will spend...
SABIC Reports Q3 Profit Rise
Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) has reported a Q3 2010 profit of SR5.33bn ($1.42bn), a 46% rise from the SR3.65bn ($971m) recorded a year earlier. The chemical company reported gross income of...
Solvay to Invest in Advanced Material Fund
Solvay, Korea Venture Investment and AJU IB Investment are planning to invest €26m ($36m) in the Korea Advanced Materials Fund, which will support start-ups with promising...
LG Chem Reports Q3 Profit Rise
LG Chem has reported a 10.5% profit increase of KRW599.1bn ($531m) in the third quarter of 2010, up from KRW542.2 bn ($479.8m) in the same period a year ago. The South Korean chemical...
SABIC Plans Purified Terephthalic Acid Plant Expansion
Saudi Arabian Basic Industries (SABIC) has announced plans to expand the production capacity of affiliate company Arabian Industrial Fibers (Ibn Rushd) later this year. The would double...
Nanjing Hongbaoli Plans Fund Raising
Nanjing Hangbaoli is planning to raise RMB246m ($36.9m) for the technical upgrading of its polyethylene plant through private placement. The Chinese company plans to issue 17 million...
Foster Wheeler to Build Polyethylene Plant
Foster Wheeler, a subsidiary of Global Engineering and Construction Group, has secured a contract from Carbon Holding to build a polyethylene plant in Ain Sokhna, Egypt. The plant, which...
Ineos Declares Force Majeure at French Plant
Ineos has declared force majeure on ethylene oxide and other ethylene and propylene derivatives produced at its French refinery near the Fos-Lavera oil port due to ongoing strikes in...
Linde and Samsung to Build Saudi Acrylic Acid Plant
A consortium comprised of Samsung Engineering Company and Linde has won a contract to build a SR4bn ($1.1bn) acrylic acid plant for Saudi Acrylic Monomer Company (SAMCO). SAMCO...
Sipchem Reports Profit Rise
The Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) has reported a third-quarter profit of SR84m ($22m), a 54% rise from the corresponding period in 2010. The company said it had earned...
Lubrizol Starts Work at China Additive Plant
US-based Lubrizol has started work on its proposed additive plant in the Zhuhai Gaolan Port Economic Zone in China. The plant will be complementary to Lubrizol's existing joint venture,...
Sika Acquires May National
Sika has acquired May National Associates, a US-based firm that manufactures silicone and polyurethane products for the construction, industrial, and distribution markets. The...
Industries Qatar Posts Q3 Profit Rise
Industries Qatar has reported a 23% increase in its profit to QR1.47bn ($400m) during the third quarter of 2010, up from QR1.2bn ($329m) during the same period in 2009. The...
Saudi Chemical Profit Falls
Saudi Chemical reported a 49% drop in profit during third quarter of 2010 to SAR54m ($14.4m), down from SAR105m ($27.9) during the same period in 2009. The firm's net profit for the first...
SI Group Considers Second Plant in China
SI Group is planning to boost its chemical compounds and resins capacity by investing $30m to build a second plant in China. The US-based chemical maker is yet to finalise the site for the...
IVRCL and Kemira Form Water Chemical Joint Venture
IVRCL and Kemira Oyj have agreed to form a joint venture to manufacture water treatment chemicals in Visakhapatnam, India. The $10m plant will produce 50,000t of water-treatment...
Petronas Chemicals Plans Initial Public Offering
Petronas Chemicals, the chemical arm of Malaysian energy firm Petronas, is planning to raise $4bn for an expansion plan. The firm will use some of the proceeds to set up a fertiliser plant...
Qatar Commissions Melamine Plant
Qatar has commissioned a QR1.3bn ($356m) melamine plant in Mesaieed Industrial City. The plant is a joint venture between Qatar Fertiliser Company and Qatar Intermediate Industries...
Bayer Thai to Increase Bisphenol-A and Polycarbonate Capacity
Bayer Thai is planning to increase production capacity of polycarbonate and bisphenol-A in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, by the end of 2010. Bayer said the capacity expansion will boost...
Taiwanese Petrochemical Firm Plans to Expand Production
China Petrochemical Development Corporation is planning to invest NT$5bn ($159m) to increase its caprodactam and acrylonitrile production. The Taiwanese petrochemical company said it...
ChemChina Plans to Buy Stake in Makhteshim Agan
China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) is planning to buy a 70% stake in Makhteshim Agan Industries from parent group Koor Industries. Under the proposal, ChemChina will purchase...
Omnova Could Acquire Eliokem
Omnova Solutions is planning to sell $250m of notes to help it fund a $310m acquisition of French specialty chemical manufacturer Eliokem International from AXA Private Equity. The...
Wuhuan Signs Expansion Contract
Wuhuan Technology Holding, a subsidiary of China National Chemical Engineering, has signed a $395m contract with Vietnam Hebei Nitrogenous Fertilizer and Chemical to expand the Hebei...
Consortium Plans Philippine Ethanol Plant
A consortium of Filipino, Taiwanese and Japanese companies is to invest $120m in a bioethanol plant in San Mariano, the Philippines. The project will be carried out by Green Future...
China Funds Bangladeshi Fertiliser Plant
China has agreed to provide $559m to fund the construction of a fertiliser factory in Sylhet, Bangladesh. The China National Complete Plant Import & Export Corporation (Complant)...
Solvay to Expand Compounding Capacity
Solvay has announced that it will invest €21m ($29m) to build a speciality polymer compounding plant in the Jiangsu province, China. The facility will produce compounds...
Dow Chemical Announces Chinese Investment
Dow Chemical plans to invest $28m to expand its coating materials manufacturing operations in China. The investment will be used to expand Phase III of its existing plant in Foshan,...
BASF Opens Chemical Plants in Poland
BASF has opened two new plants in Srem, Poland, to produce polyurethane systems and other chemicals for the construction industry. The plants will develop and manufacture...
JPMC Forms Joint Venture with Asian Fertiliser Company
Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) has signed a $840m joint venture agreement with Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative and Indonesian fertiliser firms to secure long-term supplies. ...
Chevron Phillips to Build 1-Hexene Plant in US
Chevron Phillips Chemical Company is planning to build a 1-hexene plant at its Cedar Bayou Chemical Complex in Baytown, US. The plant will be capable of annually producing 200,000t...
Chinese Chemical Leak Hospitalises Residents
Ninety people China's Jiangxi province have been hospitalised following an acidic gas leak from a chemical plant at the weekend, local government officials have said. The gas hovered...
Chinese Firm to Expand Phosphate Production
China Blue Chemical, the chemical fertiliser subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation has started its 1.97bn yuan ($293m) phosphate fertiliser expansion project in Hubei...
Al Rajhi Plans Chemical Plants
Al Rajhi Group has signed a $1.1bn contract with South Korea's STX Heavy Industries to set up two chemical plants at the Yanbu industrial complex in Saudi Arabia. The first proposed plant...
Ha Bac to Invest in Fertiliser Production
Ha Bac Nitrogen Fertilizers and Chemical Company is planning to invest $373m in upgrading and expanding urea production at its plant in Hanoi, Vietnam. The company expects that the...
BASF to Separate Styrene Business
BASF is planning to separate its styrene operation to form a new entity. Styrolution will be formed out of BASF's styrene and polystyrene operations, which are located outside of the...
MasTec Awarded US Ethanol Plant Contract
MasTec has secured a $296m contract from US-based BlueFire Renewables to build a cellulosic ethanol plant in Fulton, US. The plant will be built by Wanzek Construction, a wholly owned...
RPM Q1 Profit Slides
RPM International has reported a net income of $69m for the first quarter of 2010, down from a $73m profit in the same period of 2009. The US-based specialty chemical maker said its...
Hungary Declares State of Emergency in Wake of Chemical Spill
Hungary has declared a state of emergency following spillage of toxic sludge from a chemical plant that has killed four and injured more than 120. More than 35 million cubic feet of red...
Scientists Share Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2010 to a Japanese scientist and two US researchers. Akira Suzuki, Ei-ichi Negishi and Richard F Heck developed...
Rockwood to Expand Lithium Hydroxide Production
Rockwood Holdings is planning to expand its production of lithium hydroxide for transportation batteries at its plant in North Carolina, US. The US Department of Energy has supplied a...
Mitsui and Honam to Build Catalyst Plant
Mitsui Chemical and Honam Petrochemical have agreed to build a catalyst plant in Yeosu, South Korea. Each company would invest $8.9m in the joint venture plant, which is expected to produce...
LG Chem Acquires Dow Joint Venture
South Korean chemical maker LG Chem has bought out Dow Chemical's 50% stake in joint venture LG Dow Polycarbonate. LG Dow Polycarbonate has two plants in Yeosu, south of Seoul with a...
Cabot to Expand Fumed Silica Facility
Cabot Corporation and China National Bluestar Corporation have started a $43m expansion of their silica manufacturing facility in Jiangxi, China. The project, Cabot Bluestar Chemical, is a...
India to Start Work on Delayed Urea Plant
Construction work on the delayed INR800bn ($17bn) Talcher urea unit revival project in Orissa, India, will begin in October 2011, according to the Indian Government. Rashtriya Chemicals...
Agrium Receives AWB Acquisition Approval
Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board has approved Agrium's A$1.2bn ($1.2bn) bid to acquire AWB. The North American fertiliser company's acquisition will enable it to increase sales...
AZ Electronic Plans Initial Public Offering
AZ Electronic Material Group is planning to raise $700m through an initial public offering to pay down its debt and fund expansion in Asia. The chemical company in Luxembourg, owned by...
China XLX to Invest in Carbamide Production
China XLX Fertilizer is planning to invest RMB3bn ($447m) to build its fourth carbamide plant in China. The plant will raise China XLX Fertilizer's annual carbamide output from 1.25...
Chemtura to Pay $3.9m to Clean Toxic Site
Chemtura Corporation has agreed to pay $3.9m to clean up a toxic waste site in New York, US. The company's plant in Brooklyn's Red Hook neighbourhood, which operated from 1958 to 1999,...
DuPont Plans R&D Investment in India
DuPont is planning to invest $100m over the next three years to expand its research and development unit in Hyderabad, India. Part of the investment will be used to develop new technology...
Apollo Completes Chemical Units Merger
Apollo Global Management has completed the merger of its two chemical companies, Momentive Performance Materials and Hexion, forming a new entity. Momentive Performance Materials Holdings...
Green Plains to Acquire Global Ethanol
Green Plains Renewable Energy has signed an agreement to acquire Global Ethanol for $169.2m. Green Plains said the transaction will also include $147.6m for ethanol production facilities and...
Demand for Ethylene Oxide and Ethylene Glycol to Rise
Global demand for ethylene oxide and ethylene glycol will grow at by 4.52% a year up until 2020, a study has suggested. According to Research and Markets, demand for ethylene oxide...
Mitsubishi to Build PET Plant in China
Mitsubishi Plastics is planning to set up a PET film plant with an investment of 24bn yuan ($3.5bn) in Jiangsu, China. The plant will have an annual capacity of 22,500t and is expected to...
SK E&C Wins Jurong Aromatic Plant Contract
SK E&C has received a contract from Jurong Aromatics to construct an aromatic plant in the Jurong Petrochemical Complex in Singapore. Under the contract, SK E&C will provide...
Lukoil Subsidiary to Restart Polyethylene and PVC Production
Karpatneftekhim, a subsidiary of Russian oil and gas group Lukoil, is planning to restart production of polyethylene at its plant in Kalush, Ukraine, after a gap of more than two years. ...
Trans Polymers to Build Polyethylene Plant in Pakistan
Trans Polymers Limited has announced that it plans to build a $701m polyethylene plant near Port Qasim in Karachi, Pakistan. The facility will produce 350,000t of polyethylene to meet...
Mitsui Chemicals and Idemitsu Form Joint Venture
Mitsui Chemicals and Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan have formed a 50:50 joint venture and combined two naphtha crackers. The companies will also combine their plants in Chiba...
ExxonMobil to Settle Case for Hazardous Waste Impoundments
Energy major ExxonMobil will spend $150m to close a case involving more than one billion gallons of illegally stored hazardous waste at the Agrifos Fertilizer site in Pasadena, Texas. The...
Reliance Industries Plans Cracker Plant
Reliance Industries plans to invest INR160bn ($3.5bn) in setting up a cracker plant in Jamnagar, India, according to sources close to the plant. The plant will produce ethylene,...
China XLX Fertiliser to Build Fourth Urea Plant
China XLX Fertiliser will invest 3bn yuan ($447m) in building a fourth urea plant near its existing plants in Xinxiang City, Henan . The plant will have an annual capacity of 800,000t and...
HC Petrochem to Expand Paraxylene Production
HC Petrochem has awarded a contract to UOP to provide technology for the expansion of its petrochemicals plant in Daesan, South Korea. Under the agreement, HC Petrochem will use UOP's Parex...
GNFC to Invest $888m on Expansion
India's Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers Company (GNFC) is investing INR40bn ($888m) over the next five years to expand its business. The company said that it would implement six...
Honam to Raise Funds for Titan Acquisition
Honam Petrochemical has announced that it plans to raise $350m from a sale of floating-rate notes to help fund the $1.25bn acquisition of Titan Chemicals. The South Korean ethylene producer...
September 2010
Top
Lotte Pakistan to Increase Chemical Production
Lotte Pakistan is planning to increase its production of pure terephthalic acid with a $500m investment. The measure is been taken to meet the demand for chemical, which is used in...
Mangalore Chemicals to Set Up Fertiliser Plant
Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers has revealed that it is planning to invest INR4bn ($86m) to set up a new fertiliser plant in the next two years. The indian company said that the plant...
Tri Polyta Indonesia to Merge with Chandra Asri
Tri Polyta Indonesia has announced that it will merge with Chandra Asri in a share swap deal worth $1.2bn. Under the agreement, Tri Polyta will issue 2.93 billion new shares to Chandra...
La Seda Cuts Stake in Portuguese Terephthalic Acid Plant
La Seda de Barcelona has reduced its stake in a major terephthalic acid plant construction project in Portugal to 41%. The Spanish group had held a 51% stake of the €400m ($538m)...
Lanxess to Invest in Brazil
Lanxess is planning to invest R$70m ($41m) to boost the production capacity at its Brazilian facilities. Production of high performance neodymium-polybutadiene rubber at the firms Cabo de...
India Imposes New Anti-Dumping Duty
India has imposed an anti-dumping duty of up to $0.671 per kilo on Chinese imports of sodium tripolyphosphate, a chemical used in the manufacture of household cleaning products. The duty...
Biolab UK Fined for Safety Violations
The Environment Agency has fined Biolab UK £66,000 for violating safety measures following an explosion at its factory near Cheltenham in 2006. The explosion caused toxic chemicals to leak...
BASF to Open Production Base in China
BASF has decided to build a production base for water treatment and paper chemicals in Nanjing, China. The plants will have a capacity to produce 40,000t of quaternised cationic monomers...
Lanxess Announces Expansion Plans
Lanxess has revealed that it is looking for acquisitions in the mid-cap category in Brazil, India and China. The company will set up an ion exchange resins plant in Jhagadia in the...
Aubin Expands Laboratory and Testing Facilities
Aubin has completed a major expansion of the laboratory and testing facilities at its UK headquarters. The expanded complex includes 170m² of laboratory facilities, 2,600m²...
Oswal Seeks to Invest in Fertiliser Plants
Oswal Chemicals and Fertilizers is to establish two fertiliser plants in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh with an investment of INR70bn ($1.5bn). The proposal includes a INR50bn...
SABIC Opens Spanish Resin Plant
US-based Sabic Innovative Plastics has opened its €300m ($400m) polyetherimide resin plant in Cartagena, Spain. The facility, which will manufacture Ultem base resin, is expected...
Valspar Completes Wattyl Acquisition
Valspar has completed the acquisition of Australian paint manufacturer Wattyl for $142m, including Wattyl's assumed existing debt. The acquisition is part of Valspar's expansion plan...
Omnova to Acquire Eliokem
Omnova Solutions has announced plans to acquire speciality chemicals manufacturer Eliokem International for €227.5m by the end of 2010. US-based Omnova plans to raise $425m to help fund...
Braskem America to Invest in US Polypropylene Business
Braskem America will invest $50m in its US polypropylene business through 2011, the company has said. This will include a $35m investment in manufacturing assets, of which $15m has...
GAIL to Expand Chemical Plant
GAIL India is planning to invest INR81.4bn ($1.77bn) to double the capacity of its Pata chemical plant in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The state-owned company said it will increase...
Mitsubishi Chemical to Produce LED Lighting Components
Mitsubishi Chemical is planning to invest 15bn yen ($175m) to set up a production line to produce materials for LED lighting at its factory in Ibaragi prefecture, according to a report in...
Sinochem Hires Banks to Counter BHP Bid
Sinochem Corporation has hired Deutsche Bank and Citigroup as part of its strategy to counterbid BHP Billiton's $39bn offer to buy Potash Corporation. Sinochem is also exploring the option...
Haike Chemical Posts Operating Loss
Haike Chemical has posted a loss of $21m for the first half of 2010, despite a 78.7% rise in revenues to $467m. Haike's petrochemical revenue contributed $407.8m, up 86.9% from $218m in the...
EU Proposes Ban on Common Bomb Chemicals
The European Union (EU) has proposed new rules that would ban or limit access to chemicals that can be used to prepare homemade bombs. Officials said that bleaching agent hydrogen peroxide...
Evonik to Divest Carbon Blacks Business
Evonik Industries will divest its carbon blacks business as part of plans to focus on speciality chemicals. The German chemical company said its carbon blacks unit reported sales of...
GPCA to Protest India's Polypropylene Anti-Dumping Duty
The Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) has said that it will approach the World Trade Organization (WTO) to protest India's imposition of anti-dumping duty on...
TCP Reports Q4 Profit Rise
TCP Group has reported a profit of $14.4m during the fourth quarter of 2010, up 85% from $7.8m during the same period in 2009. The US chemical maker reported an operating profit of $24m...
Construction of Chinese Nitrile Rubber Plant Begins
Lanxess–TSRC Chemical Industrial Company, a joint venture between Lanxess and TSRC Corporation, has started construction of a nitrile rubber plant in Nantong, China. The 40,000m² plant...
SRF to Build New Fluorochemicals Unit in Gujarat
SRF has announced that it will invest around INR2bn ($45m) to build two new units in its Dahej chemical complex in the Indian state of Gujarat, over a period of 12-18 months. Under the...
Wastewater Treatment Chemical Market to Grow
The wastewater treatment chemical market is expected to reach $26bn by 2015, according to an online survey conducted by market research company McIlvaine. The market, currently worth $21bn,...
Taiwan Petrochemical Plants Shut Following Typhoon
Heavy flooding in the wake of Typhoon Fanapi has forced several petrochemical plants in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to shut down. Taiwan's state-owned CPC Corporation shut its 500,000t / year No...
Banks Agree Funding for Jurong Aromatics Plant
Royal Bank of Scotland and ING have agreed a debt package of $1.56bn for Jurong Aromatics' new petrochemicals project in Singapore. The funds will be used to build the $2.4bn project, which...
Qatar Chemicals to Start HDPE Plant
Qatar Chemicals, a joint venture between Chevron Phillips Chemical and Qatar Petroleum, will start its new high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plant at Mesaieed, Qatar, by October. The 350,000t...
Pemex Invests $110m in Capacity Expansion
Pemex subsidiary PPQ has spent $110m on expanding and modernising its aromatic plants at Cangrejera petrochemical complex in the Veracruz state of Mexico. The investment also expanded...
Polypropylene Demand to Rise Further
Global polypropylene demand is expected to reach 59.6 million tons by 2020, according to a study by GBI Research. The report said demand had grown at 3.6% a year, rising from 26.6 million...
Asia-Pacific Specialty Chemicals Market Continues to Grow
The Asia-Pacific specialty chemicals market generated revenue of $215.2bn in 2009, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4% between 2005 and 2009, according to a report...
EPA to Investigate Chemical Release at BP Plant
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched an investigation into the release of benzene and other chemicals from a BP refinery in Texas, US, earlier this year. The agency...
Eastman Chemical to Increase Capacity at Longview Facility
Chemical and plastic-maker Eastman Chemical has announced that it intends to expand 2-ethylhexanol capacity at its Longview site in Texas, US. The expansion will increase the capacity...
Willbros Awarded CB&I EPC Contract
Willbros Group has been awarded a contract to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for 45 miles of export pipelines for a new gas processing plant to be owned and operated...
Athabasca to Acquire Excelsior Energy
Athabasca Oil Sands (AOSC) has announced that it will buy oil sands and chemicals processing company Excelsior Energy for $144m. AOSC will acquire concentrated, high-quality oil sands leases...
China BlueChemical to Start Second Methanol Plant
China BlueChemical has announced that it will start operations at its second methanol plant on Hainan Island, China, later this month. The No 2 plant, built at the same site as the No 1...
Aramco and Dow Move Ahead with Saudi Petrochemical Plant
Aramco and Dow Chemical will begin construction of a $15bn petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia on schedule, in spite of a decision to change its location. The plant was originally planned to...
Legend Holdings to Invest in Alkene Plant
Legend Holdings will invest CNY18bn ($2.6bn) to build an alkene and fine chemical base in Shanghai province, China, with an annual capacity of one million tons. In the first phase, the...
Sinopec Ethylene Project Reaches Full Capacity
An ethylene plant set up by Sinopec Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Company has reached full capacity. The plant can produce one million tons of ethylene a year, and is expected to generate...
Omnia Raises Capital for Nitric Acid Plant
Omnia has completed capital raising worth R2bn ($280m), and now plans to invest R1.4bn ($196m) to build a nitric acid plant in Sasolburg, South Africa. The plant will produce 1,000t of...
HB Fuller Posts Q3 Profit Drop
HB Fuller's net profit has dropped to $19m in the third quarter of 2010, down from the $35.4m recorded in the corresponding quarter of last year. However, the US-based specialty...
Bodal Chemicals to Establish SSP Plant
Bodal Chemicals has announced that wholly-owned subsidiary Bodal Agro Tech will set up a single super phosphate (SSP) plant in Padra, India. The INR310m ($6.6m) plant is expected to have...
Tianjin Soda to Double Oxo-Alcohols Capacity
Tianjin Soda is planning to double the capacity of its oxo-alcohols plant in Binhai industrial area, Tianjin, by October 2012. The first phase of the plant, which will have capacity to...
Grace to Acquire Synthetech
WR Grace has signed an agreement to acquire US-based fine chemical manufacturer Synthetech for $19m. Grace expects that the acquisition will help it to manufacture the specialty single-site...
Ethylene Output Drops in Japan
Ethylene production in Japan dropped 4.4% in August year-on-year, according to a report by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Japan’s total ethylene output fell from...
Apollo to Merge Chemical Units
Apollo Management is planning to merge its two chemical companies to make a specialty chemicals and materials company. The merger of Momentive Performance Materials and Hexion is expected on...
Chinese Fertiliser Production Rises
Fertiliser production in China has increased to 39,472kt in the first seven months of 2010, rising 3.4% from the same period in 2009. China also produced 28,084kt of nitrogen fertiliser, a...
Vietnam to Build Bio-Ethanol Plant
The central province of Ninh Thuan in Vietnam has received foreign direct investment of $50m to install a bio-ethanol plant. The Thai-Viet Bio Ethanol JSC plant will be located in Phuoc...
NatureWorks Plans Polylactic Acid Plant in Thailand
NatureWorks is planning a joint venture with PTT to invest $400m in a new polylactic acid plant in Thailand. The plant would have an annual capacity of 150,000t and could be operational by...
Uhde Secures PET Plant Deal
Uhde Inventa-Fischer has secured a contract to build a 550,000t-per-year polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin plant for Octal Petrochemicals. Uhde will use melt-to-resin technology to...
Top Chemical Company Revenues Fall
The revenues of the world's 100 biggest chemical companies have fallen below the $1,000bn mark for the first time since 2005. The companies reported sales of $997bn in 2009, a drop of...
Keyuan Begins Construction of SBS Production Facility
Keyuan Petrochemicals has started construction of its $17.5m styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) production facility in Ningbo, China. The company said the facility in Zhejiang province would...
China Approves Refinery Projects
Sinopec and Kuwait's $8.7bn refinery and petrochemical joint venture has been given environmental clearance and technical review approval by Chinese officials. The proposed plant, which will...
Methanex to Restart Methanol Plant in Canada
Methanex Corporation is planning to restart its methanol plant in Alberta, Canada, with a capital infusion of $40m. The 470,000t-a-year plant has been idle since 2001. Methanex said it...
Fulcrum Awards Ethanol Plant Contract
Fulcrum BioEnergy has awarded a contract for the provision of engineering and construction services for its new waste to ethanol production plant to a subsidiary of Fluor Corporation. The...
Petro Rabigh to Focus on Asian Markets
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical (Petro Rabigh) is to expand its Rabigh complex in Saudi Arabia as part of plans to focus on the Chinese and Indian markets. The $10bn project includes a...
Bolivia to Invest in Lithium and Potassium Production
Bolivia is planning to invest $450m in a project to begin the production of lithium carbonate and potassium chloride. Bolivia said the proposed plant would be able to produce 30,000t of...
UK Equity Firm to Divest Chem Plant
UK-based private equity firm 3i Group has signed an agreement to divest Spanish chemical company Panreac to Illinois Tool Works, in a deal worth €72m. Panreac produces 12,000...
Kemira Plans Chemical Plant in China
Finnish chemical company Kemira has announced that it plans to set up a €25m chemical plant in Nanjing, China, to produce speciality chemicals. The plant will be established at...
European Chlorine Producers Adopt Membrane Process
More than half of the European chlorine producers are using membrane-based technology, according to a chemicals organisation. Euro Chlor, the European chlor-alkali industry association,...
Solvay and Sinochem to Produce Wet Chemicals
Solvay is planning to build an electronic grade hydrogen fluoride production plant with its Chinese partner Sinochem Lantian, a subsidiary of the Sinochem Group. The work is being undertaken...
Oman to Invest in Indian Fertiliser Sector
Oman will invest nearly $3bn to reopen several Fertilizer Corporation of India and Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation plants in India. The fund will also be used to expand Rashtriya Chemicals...
Global Fatty Esters Market to Reach $2bn by 2015
The global market for fatty esters is forecast to reach $2bn by 2015, according to a report from Global Industry Analysts. The sale of fatty esters in the US is also expected to reach $835m...
PetroChina to Double Refining Capacity
PetroChina's proposal to double the refining capacity of its Huabei plant has been approved. The company will increase the capacity of the refinery to ten million tonnes a year, and...
US Researchers Extract Chemicals from Biomass
Researchers at Iowa State University, US, have discovered a way to produce high-value chemicals such as propylene from biomass instead of petroleum. The team found the components during a...
Australian Government Approves Perdaman Plant
Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers has received approval from the Australian Government to start its coal gasification plant in Collie, Western Australia. The $3.5bn plant will process...
Petro Rabigh Restarts Polypropylene Plant
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh) has restarted its polypropylene plant in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia. The 700,000t/year plant was stopped in early August due to shortage...
Thai-Viet to Build Ethanol Plant in Vietnam
Thai-Viet is planning to build a 950m-dong ($50m) ethanol manufacturing plant in the Ninh Thuan province of Vietnam. The plant, Bio Ethanol Thai-Viet, is a joint venture between Bio...
Novolyte and Foosung to Form Electrolyte JV
Novolyte Technologies, a portfolio company of Arsenal Capital Partners, has signed an agreement with Foosung to form a new joint venture company for the production of lithium battery electrolytes....
Makhteshim Turns Down Albaugh Acquisition
Israel's Makhteshim-Agan Industries (MA) has ended talks to acquire US firm Albaugh for approximately $1bn, blaming findings during due diligence. MA said it halted the negotiation due to...
Germany's Chemical Output to Rise
The chemical industry in Germany has reported a 5.2% sales rise in the second quarter over the first quarter, an increase of 22.7% to €41.6bn compared with the corresponding quarter last...
Chemetall to Expand Lithium Hydroxide Production
Chemetall Foote, a subsidiary of Rockwood Holdings, has awarded a contract to US-based KBR group to help expand the production of lithium hydroxide at its Kings Mountain facility in North...
Mascoma Acquires SunOpta Ethanol Plant
SunOpta has sold its cellulosic ethanol producing unit SunOpta BioProcess (SBI) to US-based Mascoma for $51m to focus on its core natural and organic foods business. The deal allowed Mascoma...
Polycarbonate Demand to Grow
Global demand for polycarbonate is expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% up to 2015, according to a new study. The demand for polycarbonate is highest in Asia and...
BP to Sell Stake in Ethylene and Polyethylene Unit
BP has agreed to sell its 15% interest in Ethylene Malaysia (EMSB) and 60% interest in Polyethylene Malaysia (PEMSB) to Petronas. Under the agreement, Petronas will pay $363m including a...
SPIC Starts Single Super Phosphate Plant
Southern Petro Chemical Industries Corporation (SPIC) has started a new Single Super Phosphate production plant (SSP) at its Tuticorin complex in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. SPIC said...
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical H1 Profit up 51%
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical has reported a profit of 1.494bn Yuan ($219m) in the first half of 2010, up 51% compared to the corresponding half last year. The Chinese petrochemical...
SunSi Energies to Acquire Trichlorosilane Unit in China
SunSi Energies has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to acquire Wendeng He Xie Silicon, a trichlorosilane manufacturing facility in Weihai City, China. Under the agreement, SunSi will acquire...
Showa Denko, Antam to Build Chemical Alumina Plant
Showa Denko KK (SDK) and Antam are planning to build a chemical alumina plant in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, with an investment of $450m. The new plant, Indonesia Chemical Alumina, will have...
Covidien Completes Sale of Specialty Chemical Business
Covidien has completed the sale of its specialty chemical business to an affiliate of New York private equity firm New Mountain Capital for $280m. The sale includes a manufacturing plant...
Du Pont, Sinopec Start EVA Production in China
The Beijing Huamei Polymer Company, a joint venture between Du Pont and China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) has started the production of ethylene vinyl acetate at its Beijing plant. The...
PPL to Set Up New Sulphuric Acid Plant
Paradeep Phosphates Limited (PPL) run by India-based KK Birla group will invest INR5bn ($106m) to set up a sulphuric acid plant and expand its existing phosphoric acid plant in the Indian state...
Westlake to Start Chlor-Alkali Plant in US
Westlake Chemical is proceeding with the chlor-alkali plant at its vinyls manufacturing complex in Geismar, US. The proposed plant is estimated to annually produce 250,000 electrochemical...
Vale Plans $12bn Investment to Boost Potash Output
Brazilian mining giant Vale is planning to invest $12bn by 2014 to increase potash production. The company aims to increase its annual potash output from 750,000t a year to 10.6 million...
LyondellBasell Starts Up German HDPE Plant
LyondellBasell has announced the successful start up of its new high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant at Munchsmunster, Germany. LyondellBasell said the plant will use hostalen advanced...
Vietnam Gets First Polypropylene Plant
Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company has completed the construction of Vietnam's first petrochemical plant for Vietnam Oil and Gas. The $234m polypropylene production plant in...
SABIC to Produce Oleochemicals
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) has signed an agreement with Lurgi to produce oleochemicals in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The new production line, being built by SABIC's affiliate...
August 2010
Top
Shell Completes Ethylene Cracker Debottlenecking
Shell Chemicals has completed the first turnaround at the CSPCL Nanhai petrochemicals joint venture complex in Guangdong, China. Shell said it has also carried out the debottlenecking of...
Keyuan Petrochemicals to Expand
Keyuan Petrochemicals will build a new styrene-butadiene-styrene production facility in the third quarter of the year with an annual capacity of 70,000t. The facility is expected to cost...
South Korean Firm to Build Aromatic Plant in Singapore
SK Engineering and Construction has secured a $950m contract from Jurong Aromatics to build an aromatic plant on Jurong Island, Singapore. It will be capable of producing four million...
Nuplex Reports Rise in Annual Profits
Nuplex Industries has reported a full-year net profit of NZ$64.2m ($45m), rising from NZ$16.7m ($11m) a year earlier. Nuplex said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and...
Petrobras America and KL Energy Plan Cellulosic Ethanol Production
Petrobras America, a subsidiary of Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras, has signed an agreement with KL Energy to produce cellulosic ethanol from sugarcane bagasse. Under the...
Iran Plans Two Petchem Plants
Iran is planning to construct two petrochemical plants in its southern region in collaboration with an unnamed Turkish company. According to reports, National Iranian Petrochemical Company...
NOVA Chemicals Reports Q2 Income Rise
NOVA Chemicals has reported a net income of $51m in the second quarter of 2010, rising from a net loss of $83m during the same period last year. The company's olefins / polyolefins business...
Shell and BASF Fined $626m for Toxic Leaks in Brazil
A Brazilian court has asked Royal Dutch Shell and BASF to pay $626m in compensation following contamination at an agricultural chemical plant in Sao Paulo. According to reports, heavy...
Punjab Chemicals to Produce Herbicides
Punjab Chemicals and Crop Protection (PCCPL) is to invest around INR350m ($7m) to expand its Dera Bassi plant in the Indian state of Punjab to produce herbicides for two companies in...
Chemtura to Pay $26m to Clean Up Toxic Sites
Speciality chemicals manufacturer Chemtura has agreed to pay the US Government $26m to clean up 17 contaminated sites in 14 states. The locations include 12 sites on the Environmental...
Brazil PVC Consumption to Grow
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) consumption in Brazil is expected to grow 7% a year over the next five years, driven by growth in civil construction and infrastructure industries, according to...
Petrokimia Plans Phosphoric Acid Plant
Petrokimia Gresik has signed an agreement with Petro Jordan Abadi to build a $200m phosphoric acid plant in East Java, Indonesia. The proposed plant will have a production capacity of...
LanzaTech Produces Polymer Chemical from Waste Gas
LanzaTech has announced it is using gas fermentation technology to produce a chemical building block used to make polymers, plastics and hydrocarbon fuels. The chemical, 2,3-Butanediol, can...
Sinopec Reports Profits Rise for First Half of 2010
Sinopec has said its profits in the first half of the year have increased by 6.7% to 35.46bn yuan ($5.2bn) since the same period last year. The company's operating revenue in the...
Range Fuels Opens US Methanol Plant
Range Fuels has opened a new plant in Georgia, US, to produce cellulosic methanol from non-food feedstocks such as wood chips and switchgrass. The facility is expected to pump out 20...
IFC Considers Investment in Kudos Chemie
The International Finance Company (IFC) is considering whether to make an investment of about $30m in Kudos Chemie, an India-based speciality and fine chemicals manufacturing company. Kudos...
Gulf Resources Subsidiary Begins Crude Salt Production in China
Gulf Resources subsidiary Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company has begun production of bromine, crude salt and speciality chemicals at its Chinese plant. The firm expects the new facility...
Singapore to Enhance Petchem Production
Singapore is planning to boost infrastructure development, create competitive feedstock for petrochemicals and move up the value chain with advanced materials and speciality...
Mitsui Subsidiary Buys AgriGuard
Mitsui subsidiary Mitsui AgriScience International has taken over Irish agrochemical company AgriGuard, acquiring a 100% stake from AgriGuard Holdings. Mitsui intends to double its sales...
Indian Polypropylene Imports Slide
Imports of polypropylene (PP) in India declined 37% between April and July year-on-year, even though demand increased by 13%. Only 114,000t of PP were imported during the period, a fall...
Flint Hills Resources Plans Ethanol Plant Acquisition
Flint Hills Resources has signed an agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland to acquire two ethanol plants in Iowa, US. Flint Hills said the Hawkeye plants in Menlo and Shell Rock...
BorsodChem to Begin Operations at Isocyanate Plant in 2011
Budapest-based BorsodChem has announced that operations at its new isocyanate plant will begin in 2011. Wanhua Industrial Group acquired a 38% stake in BorsodChem's holding company,...
BHP Billiton Offers $38.5bn for Potash Corp
BHP Billiton has launched a $38.5bn takeover bid for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, the world's largest fertiliser company. The Anglo-Australian mining giant offered $130 a share for...
US Body Seeks Input on Hazardous Chemical Measures
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has sought suggestions from its stakeholders to identify hazardous chemicals and develop exposure reduction strategies. During...
Global Renewable Chemicals Market to Reach $56.9bn
The global renewable chemicals market is forecast to reach $56.9bn by 2015, according to a report from Global Industry Analysts. Advances in biotechnology are expected to help...
Chemtura and UP Chemical Plan New Plant
Chemtura Corporation and UP Chemical have agreed to form a joint venture company that will produce high-purity metal organic precursors for high-brightness LED applications. Chemtura...
South Korean Methanol Imports Rise 13.5% in July
South Korea imported 148,370t of methanol in July 2010, an increase of 13.5% from the same month in 2009. The country imported 41,856t of methanol from Iran, a rise of 61.2% compared with...
LyondellBasell Q2 Profits Soar
LyondellBasell Industries has reported a net income of $203m for the second quarter of 2010, excluding $8.64bn after-tax gains related to emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and...
Hexion Returns to Q2 Profit
Hexion Specialty Chemicals made a profit of $52m in the second quarter of 2010, bouncing back from a $56m net loss in the same quarter a year ago. The US-based company's revenue jumped...
BASF to Build Dispersion Plant in China
BASF has announced that it will build a 100,000t dispersion plant in the Daya Bay Petrochemical Industrial Park in Huizhou, China. The facility will produce XSB dispersions for the...
Aarti Upgrades its Hydrogenation Technology
Indian speciality chemicals manufacturer Aarti Industries has upgraded its hydrogenation technology to boost production capacity. The eco-friendly Buss Loop Hydrogenation Technology...
Dorf Ketal Acquires Vertec
Dorf Ketal Chemicals has acquired Johnson Matthey's UK-based Vertec business for INR2bn ($42m). Under the agreement, Dorf Ketal acquires Vertec's trademarks, intellectual property and...
Saudi Kayan Receives $1.2bn Loan from NCB
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical has received a SAR4.5bn ($1.2bn) loan from National Commercial Bank (NCB) to help finance the building of its Jubail petrochemicals plant. The seven-year loan...
PetroKimia Plans PDH and Polypropylene Plant in Iran
PetroKimia has announced that it plans to build a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene plant in the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in south Iran. The Indonesia-based company...
Chinese Gas Leak Prompts Evacuation
More than 2,000 people had to be evacuated from Zhejiang province, China, on 13 August following a toxic gas leak from the Hangzhou Hexiang Fine Chemical Plant. Five firemen were...
Tata Chemicals Plans Potash Production Plant
Tata Chemicals is looking to establish a production facility in India to manufacture potash from seawater. The proposed plant at Mithapur, in the Indian state of Gujarat, would have an...
Sinopec to Establish Olefin Plant in China
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has announced that it will set up a coal-based methanol-to-olefin plant in China. The coal-based plant will have an annual capacity of...
Operations Begin at Chinese Gasification Unit
China Shenhua Coal to Liquid and Chemical Company has started the gasification unit at its coal-to-olefin plant in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. The gasification unit is part of the company's...
Fortron to Increase PPS Plant Capacity
Fortron Industries will increase polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) production at its Wilmington plant in North Carolina, US. The company has not divulged the capacity expansion or investment,...
Cobalt and Fluor Sign Deal to Produce Biobutanol
Fluor Corporation will provide Cobalt Technologies' biobutanol production units with engineering consulting services as part of a deal between the two companies. Under the agreement, Fluor...
Evonik Q2 Profits Soar
Evonik has reported a net profit of €240m ($311m) in the second quarter of 2010, up from €89m ($115m) in the same quarter a year earlier. The German speciality chemical group said...
EPA Proposes Increase in Toxic Chemicals Reporting
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to increase the frequency of chemicals reporting under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The proposal requires manufacturers...
Global Aniline Consumption to Rise
Global aniline consumption is expected to reach 6.2 million tons by 2015, according to a report by Global Industry Analysts (GIA). Growth will be driven by the increasing demand in...
China to Levy Anti-Dumping Duty on Terephthalic Acid
China has decided to levy an anti-dumping duty on imports of terephthalic acid from South Korea and Thailand for the next five years. The Ministry of Commerce began imposing the custom duty...
Tianjin Bohua Plans Chinese Propane Dehydrogenation Plant
Tianjin Bohua Petrochemical Company has awarded a contract to build a new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Tianjin, China, to Lummus Technology, a subsidiary of CB&I. The...
Arvand Petrochemical to Start Operations at PVC Plant
Arvand Petrochemical will begin operations of what it believes to be the largest polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in the Middle East. The facility in Mahshahr, south-west Iran, has been built at...
Hubei Yihua to Acquire Assets from Parent Company
Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry will invest RMB510m ($75m) to purchase the remaining 50% stake in two chemical companies from its parent company, Hubei Yihua Group. The firms in the Hubei...
PhosAgro Considers Merger with Silvinit
Fertiliser company PhosAgro and potash producer Silvinit could merge to create a new chemical company. According to a proposal submitted to the Russian Government, current PhosAgro...
NatPet Begins Production at Propylene and Polypropylene Plant
National Petrochemical Industrial Company (NatPet) has started production at its propylene and polypropylene plant in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. The plant will produce 400,000t...
Gevo to Acquire Ethanol Plant from Agri-Energy
Gevo has signed an agreement to acquire an ethanol production facility from Agri-Energy in south-west Minnesota, US. The Colorado-based biobutanol technology developer will retrofit...
Sipchem Starts VAM Production
Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) has started commercial operations at the vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The plant, which belongs to the...
Production Begins at Venezuelan Methanol Plant
Metanol de Oriente (Metor) has started methanol production at its second plant in Etado Anzoategui, Venezuela. The plant, built at a cost of $136m, is expected to produce 850,000t of...
SK Chemicals to Double Polyester Film Output
SK Chemicals (SKC) is planning to double its polyester film production by 2015. The South Korean chemicals producer intends to build new polyester-producing plants in China and Southeast...
Solutia Develops Encapsulant to Prevent Solar Cell Corrosion
Solutia has developed an advanced encapsulant to prevent corrosion in solar cells. Solutia said its Saflex PS41 PVB, which restricts discolouration, can also be used in...
Eastman to Buy Back Shares
Eastman has decided to repurchase up to $300m of its common stock, making use of its current liquidity. The company will use the money to pay dividends, offset dilution and fund...
Sipchem and Rhodia to Build Ethyl Acetate Plant
Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) has signed an agreement with Rhodia to set up a SAR400m ($107m) ethyl acetate plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The proposed plant, part...
Petro Rabigh to Invest in Polyol Plant
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh) is planning a $100m polyol processing plant that will supply proplylene oxide to Saudi Advanced Industries and National Industries. ...
PIC Unveils $10bn Plan
Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) is to invest $10bn in expanding its operations over the next four years following the cancellation of a joint venture with Dow Chemical. PIC plans...
Saudi Aramco and Dow to Move Proposed Chemical Plant
Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical have decided to shift their proposed chemical and plastics plant on the Persian Gulf coast from Ras Tanura to Jubail. The companies believe the industrial city...
Bioenergy to Build Colombian Ethanol Plant
Bioenergy, a unit of Ecopetrol, has awarded a $140m contract to Spanish engineering and construction firm Isolux Corsan to build an ethanol plant in Meta, Colombia. Isolux Corsan will...
Dow Chemical to Increase Polyolefin Capacity
The Dow Chemical Company will increase the production of polyolefin elastomers at its facilities in Freeport, Texas; Tarragona, Spain; and Thailand. The capacity expansion will reach...