To meet rapidly increasing demand for its water-soluble and biodegradable films, the MonoSol Division of Kuraray Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; www.kuraray.com) announced plans to further expand its operations with the construction of a new manufacturing facility in Poland. Additionally, the…
Saint-Gobain (Courbevoie, France; www.saint-gobain.com), through its French subsidiary Placoplatre, has reached an agreement with HIRSCH Servo Group and BEWiSynbra Group to sell its expanded polystyrene (EPS) business in France. Saint-Gobain previously sold its German EPS business to HIRSCH. Saint-Gobain’s French…
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Dusseldorf, Germany; www.henkel.com) has held the groundbreaking ceremony for a new production facility in the high-tech industrial cluster in Songdo, South Korea. With an investment of more than 30 million euros, the new plant will…
Nouryon Chemicals B.V.(Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.nouryon.com) has awarded a Master Services Agreement (MSA) to Worley (North Sydney, Australia; www.worleyparsons.com) to provide engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services. Under the agreement, the services will be provided to twenty of Nouryon’s…
Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; Tokyo; www.sdk.co.jp) has decided to commercialize 1,3-butylene glycol (1,3-BG), which is mainly used as raw material for cosmetics. SDK will finish installation of facilities to produce 1,3-BG in its Oita Complex by the end of 2019,…
Linde plc (Guildford, U.K.; www.linde.com) has started up a new SPECTRA hig- purity nitrogen generator to support the expansion of a leading semiconductor manufacturer in the ZhangJiang Hi-tech Park, Shanghai. Linde's nitrogen will be used throughout the new semi-conductor fabrication…
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) announced the acquisition of a key Malaysian industrial gas player, Southern Industrial Gases Sdn Bhd. This acquisition doubles Air Liquide’s Packaged Gases filling capacity in Malaysia. It is expected to deliver significant synergies by enlarging…
Kraton Corp. (Houston; www.kraton.com) announced that it has agreed to sell its Cariflex polyisoprene business unit to Daelim Industrial Co., Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea; www.daelim.co.kr/) for a purchase price of $530 million. The transaction is expected to close in the…
Alpek S.A.B. de C.V. (San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico; www.alpek.com) announced that one of its subsidiaries has signed an agreement with Lotte Chemical Corp. (Seoul, South Korea; www.lottechem.com) to acquire a100% stake in Lotte Chemical U.K. Ltd., which owns and…
Dow (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) and Evonik Industries AG (www.evonik.com) have entered into an exclusive technology partnership. Together, they plan to bring a unique method for directly synthesizing propylene glycol (PG) from propylene and hydrogen peroxide to market maturity. The basis…