Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cpchem.com) announced that it has successfully completed commissioning and begun start-up of its new polyethylene units at Old Ocean, Texas. Each unit will produce up to 500,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr)…
Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) will increase fluoropolymer (Kynar PVDF) capacity at its Calvert City, Kentucky plant in the United States by some 20%. The expansion is fueled by strong demand in the new energies and water management markets as well…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Solvay SA (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) have signed an agreement related to the sale of Solvay’s integrated polyamide business to BASF. The purchase price on a cash and debt-free basis would be €1.6 billion. According…
Sinar Mas Cepsa, a wholly-owned joint venture (JV) between Compañía Española de Petróleos S.A.U. (Cepsa; Madrid, Spain; www.cepsa.com) and vertically integrated palm-oil company Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), inaugurated its first oleochemicals plant in Indonesia (photo), which represents an investment of €300…
Kaneka Eurogentec S.A., a Belgium-based subsidiary of Kaneka Corp. (Osaka, Japan; www.kaneka.co.jp), has approved the construction of a new state of-the-art GMP facility adjacent to its current facility in Seraing, Belgium that will be equipped with a 2,200-L fermenter. The expansion…
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; www.sabic.com) announced the inauguration of a new polypropylene (PP) pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, and a new investment in a state-of-the-art PP extrusion facility to be built at the same location.…
AkzoNobel N.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) has officially opened what is said to be the world’s most advanced and sustainable paint plant in Ashington, in the U.K. The hi-tech facility – which cost more than €100 million to build –…
Hexcel Corp. (Stamford, Conn.; www.hexcel.com) has announced that it will be launching a new U.K. Government-backed £7.4 million research and development project, MAXIM, and expanding its manufacturing facility in Leicester. The four-year Multi AXial Infused Materials (MAXIM) project, backed by…
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) will begin producing high-performance polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) polymers in the United States early next year, to support its composite materials business in meeting growing aerospace demand. “Solvay further affirms its unique position in lightweighting materials by…
The specialist valve company SED Flow Control GmbH (Bad Rappenau, Germany) has been acquired by Samson AG (Frankfurt am Main, Germany; www.samson.de). With this acquisition, SAMSON adds valves for the pharmaceuticals and biotech, as well as the food and beverages,…