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Specialty chemical markets in the U.S. improve in August, ACC says

The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that with the recovery in the U.S. economy slowing, U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes rose by 0.5 percent in August, off from an upwardly-revised 2.2 percent gain in July, a 5.0…

CE Voices: Industry Analysis from Deloitte

Deloitte's oil, gas and chemicals lead Duane Dickson discusses a recent analysis from Deloitte on the current state of the chemical industry.

BASF, Sinopec, Dow and LyondellBasell top list of world’s largest chemical companies in 2019 sales

ICIS (London, U.K.; www.icis.com) has announced its annual ICIS Top 100 Chemical Companies listing of global producers ranked by 2019 sales. This year, Germany’s BASF SE (Ludwigshafen; www.basf.com) regained the lead as the world’s largest chemical company with sales of…

PEMA and Kansas St. University Bulk Solids Innovation Center form partnership

The Process Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (PEMA; Falls Church, Va.; www.pemanet.org) and the Bulk Solids Innovation Center (BSIC; bulk-solids.k-state.edu) at Kansas State University today announced the establishment of a partnership. “PEMA members will have access to unique educational, consulting and testing…

Ascend completes acquisition of Italian firms

Ascend Performance Materials (Houston, Tex.; www.ascendmaterials.com) today announced it has completed its acquisition of Italian firms Poliblend and Esseti Plast. With this purchase, Ascend expands its portfolio into other engineered plastics, recycled resins and masterbatches. “Poliblend and Esseti Plast complement…

Chemical Activity Barometer shows gain in August, 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 by 2.5 percent in August on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis following a 3.0 percent gain in July. On…

U.S. chemical production up in July, ACC says

According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), the U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) rose by 0.8 percent in July following a 1.6 percent decline in June and a 2.0 percent decline in May. During July,…

U.S. specialty chemical markets expand in July, ACC says

The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that with continued recovery in the U.S. economy, U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes rebounded by 1.9 percent in July, off from a strong revised 4.6 percent gain in June, a revised…

CPI Bookshelf: September 2020

The following is a list of recently published books with relevance to the chemical process industries (CPI): Trevor Kletz Compendium: How his Best Process Stories are Still Relevant Today. Andy Brazier, Fiona MacLeod, David Edwards and others, Elsevier Press, 2020,…

CE Podcast: Blockchain

On this edition of the CE Podcast, senior editor Scott Jenkins talks to Hannah Davis, the blockchain project lead at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). She provides an explanation of what blockchain is, and describes use cases that are…