Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (MCI; Tokyo; www.mitsuichem.com) held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant within the Omuta Works site (Omuta City, Kyushu) to manufacture its new and advanced polyurethane elastomer, Fortimo (1,4-Bis (isocyanatomethyl) cyclohexane), and the polyisocyanate (using 1,5-pentamethylene diisocyanate),…
Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) has doubled the capacity of its existing high-purity hydrogen fluoride (HF) production facility in Kawasaki, Japan. SDK has also decided to build a new HF production facility in China. High-purity HF is used…
Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) has announced investments to upgrade the Donges refinery in western France and transform the La Mède refinery in southern France. Three of Total’s five refineries in France — Gonfreville in Normandy, Grandpuits in the Paris…
Henkel AG & Co. (Düsseldorf, Germany; www.henkel.com) has announced Project Xina, a €27-million expansion project named for a volcano near its Toluca production site in Mexico. Project Xina will simultaneously double the capacity and reduce the environmental impact of Henkel’s…
At a press conference at the Hanover Messe 2015 event, ABB (Zurich, Switzerland; www.abb.com) announced its latest acquisition to expand its technological leadership in collaborative robotics. Germany’s Gomtec GmbH, based near Munich, brings with it 25 employees whose expertise, in…
The Lubrizol Corp.’s (Wickliffe, Ohio; www.lubrizol.com) Performance Coatings business announced the addition of new hyperdispersant capacity at its Huddersfield, U.K. facility. The new capacity will be used for the manufacture of Solsperse hyperdispersants, additives that improve pigment dispersion in demanding…
Henkel AG & Co. (Düsseldorf, Germany; www.henkel.com) signed an agreement to acquire Novamelt GmbH, a privately owned company based in Wehr, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With this transaction Henkel will further enhance its competence in the area of hotmelt adhesives. In fiscal…
Celanese Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.celanese.com) and Mitsui & Co. entered into an exclusive arrangement to explore a joint venture (JV) for methanol production at Celanese’s integrated chemical plant in Bishop, Tex. The potential methanol unit at Bishop is expected to…
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…