The Coating Resins business of Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) has expanded acrylic resin manufacturing capacity in Araçariguama, Brazil by 60%. The new reactor will enable manufacturing of Arkema’s product chemistries previously unavailable in the region. With the startup of the…
Siemens AG (Munich, Germany; www.siemens.com) has selected Molycorp Inc. (Greenwood Village, Colo.; www.molycorp.com) to supply rare-earth materials over the next 10 years from its Mountain Pass, Calif. facility for incorporation into Siemens' high-efficiency, direct drive wind turbine generators. Molycorp will…
Plant engineering and construction specialist ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions AG (Essen, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com) has been awarded a contract for the basic engineering package and license for a hard-paraffin production facility in Czechowice-Dziedzice, Poland, located about 80 km south of Katowice. The…
Messer Group (Bad Soden/Frankfurt, Germany; www.messergroup.com) is investing €15 million in a modern air-separation unit (ASU) in Škofja Loka, Slovenia, which will also make a contribution to protecting the environment. Ground is to be broken at the start of 2016,…
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.shinetsu.co.jp) will establish a new plant in Taiwan, aiming for the expansion of its photoresists-related business. Presently, Shin-Etsu is applying to the Taiwan authorities for a construction permit, and the construction work will be started…
Yara International ASA (Oslo, Norway; www.yara.com) has appointed Terje Knutsen as head of Downstream. He succeeds Egil Hogna, who has submitted his resignation. Knutsen will assume his new position on 1 May 2015. Yara's Downstream business unit manages the company's…
Roquette Freres (Lestrem, France; www.roquette.com) announces the launch of a new industrial unit for the production of isosorbide at its site in Lestrem, Pas-de-Calais, France. A global player in the processing of plant-based raw materials, Roquette confirms its ambition to…
Kuraray Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.kuraray.co.jp/en) announces an expansion into bio-based barrier materials through the acquisition of Plantic, an Australia-based global leader in bio-based barrier materials. The acquisition of Plantic enables Kuraray to provide barrier materials that meet the increasing global…
Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) has successfully started its new ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM) plant in Changzhou (Jiangsu Province), China. With the gradual ramp-up of the new plant, Lanxess completes its global EPDM asset base. Over the next few…
A. Schulman, Inc. (Akron, Ohio; www.aschulman.com) has announced plans to establish a new Masterbatch production plant in Turkey. This new facility will produce, when fully operational, approximately 40 million pounds of the Company's premium additive, white, and breathable masterbatches for…