LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) announced that a joint venture between PolyMirae Company Ltd (PMC) and SK Advanced (SKA) has selected LyondellBasell’s world leading polypropylene fifth generation Spheripol technology for a unit to be constructed in Ulsan, South Korea. The…
Cabot Corp. (Boston, Mass.; www.cabotcorp.com) has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to participate in an $80-million investment in advanced vehicle technologies research. Cabot will leverage its novel process technology to contribute to the research and development…
The board of directors of Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) has appointed Ilham Kadri as Chairman of the Executive Committee, member of the Board of Directors and CEO of the Group, with effect from March 1, 2019. On that date,…
The former AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals is being relaunched as Nouryon (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.nouryon.com). The move follows the recent acquisition of the business by The Carlyle Group and GIC and marks the company’s transition to becoming an independent, global specialty…
Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) and Sonatrach (Algiers, Algeria; www.sonatrach.com) have signed a shareholder agreement to create a joint venture known as STEP (Sonatrach Total Entreprise Polymères). STEP will be responsible for carrying out a joint petrochemical project in Arzew,…
Wison Engineering Services Co. Ltd. (Shanghai; www.wison-engineering.com) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Wison Engineering Ltd. (Saudi Branch) has signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, worth approximately $150 million, with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) for a Utilities…
Nalco Water, the water-management business of Ecolab Inc. (St. Paul, Minn.; www.ecolab.com), has acquired ChemStaff, a privately held provider of strategic consulting and engineering solutions for the global power industry. The acquisition further strengthens Nalco Water’s solutions and services to…
Sumitomo Chemical Corp. (Tokyo; www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp) held a completion ceremony for its new production line for feed-additive methionine at its Ehime Works in Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The amount of investment in the new manufacturing facility represents one of the…
Hexpol AB (Malmö, Sweden; www.hexpol.com) completed the acquisition of 80% of the shares in MESGO Group, based in Italy, from the existing main owner Mr. Francesco Caldara and co-owners. MESGO Group is an industry leader in high-performance elastomers as fluorocarbons and…
McDermott International, Inc. (Houston; www.mcdermott.com) announced that it has been awarded a sizeable technology contract for Map Ta Phut Olefins Co., Ltd.'s (MOC) petrochemical plant in Rayong Province, Thailand. MOC is a joint venture company of SCG Chemicals Company Limited,…