The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), started the year on a strong note, posting a monthly gain of 0.4 percent in January. This follows a 0.3 percent…
The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes rose 0.3 percent in December. This follows an upwardly revised 0.5 percent gain in November. Volumes have generally been moving up since May. All changes…
The preliminary value for the November CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) experienced a jump from the previous month’s value, due largely to fresh data on carbon-steel plates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that pushed the…
LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) announced that PRPC Polymers Sdn Bhd (PRPC Polymers), a wholly owned subsidiary of Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG), has selected the LyondellBasell Hostalen “Advanced Cascade Process” (Hostalen ACP) technology. The polyethylene process technology will be…
The following is a list of recently published books relevant to professionals in the chemical process industries (CPI). The Science of Ethanol, By Walter E. Goldstein, CRC Press, 2016, 294 pages, $129.95. Design and Processing of Particulate Products, By Jim…
The American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) shows that headline global production was flat during November on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This follows two months of decline and fairly good…
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator developed by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), ended the year on a strong note, posting a monthly gain of 0.3% and a year-over-year gain of 4.4%. This represents…
The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes rose 0.4 percent in November. This follows a revised 0.1 percent gain in October and a 0.2 percent gain in September. Volumes have generally been…
The preliminary value for the October CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) edged slightly higher than the previous month’s value, reversing the small decline since July. The Equipment, Construction Labor and Engineering & Supervision subindices all ticked…
The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) announced today that it will invest in a new, state-of-the-art innovation center in Midland, Michigan. The innovation center will support approximately 200 research and development jobs in Michigan, including 100 newly created jobs…