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Chemical Activity Barometer shows gain in April, ACC says

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), rose 0.5 percent in April on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis, the second monthly gain after several weak months. On…

U.S. specialty chemical markets down in March, ACC says

The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes eased 0.2 percent in March, after flat activity in February and a 0.3 percent gain in January. All changes in the data are reported on…

2019 CEPCI Updates: February (prelim.) and January (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) for February 2019 decreased from the previous month's value. In addition, the final value for the January 2019 CEPCI was downwardly revised by a modest amount…

Kurita Water Industries completes acquisition of U.S. Water Services

U.S. Water Services, Inc. (St. Michael, Minn.; www.uswaterservices.com) today announced that is has joined the Kurita Water Industries Ltd. companies (www.kurita.co.jp) a leading international water management company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The acquisition was announced in early February 2019 and…

Chemical Activity Barometer rose 0.1% in March, ACC says

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), rose 0.1 percent in March on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis, the first gain in five months. On a year-over-year…

Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index: 2018 Annual Value

Each month, Chemical Engineering publishes the latest values for the Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) — a widely used resource for plant construction costs. The CEPCI is calculated using various data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Once a year,…

Global chemicals production rose 0.1 in January, ACC says

Data collected and tabulated by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) show that global chemicals production rose 0.1 percent in January. This follows a 0.3 percent gain in December, stable activity in November and a 0.1 percent gain…

Chemical Engineering Bookshelf: CPI Booklist for March 2019

The following recently published titles are relevant to various parts of the chemical process industries (CPI). Fluid Mechanics of Control Valves: How Valves Control Your Process. By Hans D. Baumann, International Society of Automation (ISA), 2019, 125 pages, $99.00. A…

CAB Flat in February, ACC says

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), posted a 0.0 percent change in February on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. On a year-over-year (Y/Y) basis, the barometer…

2018 CEPCI updates: December (preliminary) and November (final)

The preliminary value for the December 2018 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; most recent available) decreased from the previous month’s value. This small decline follows an unchanged CEPCI value from November. The Equipment, Buildings and Engineering & Supervision subindexes all…