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Survey finds process safety stuck in status quo, Sphera says

Companies responding to the 2019 Operational Risk and Process Safety Management Survey* conducted by Sphera (Chicago, Ill.; www.sphera.com), the largest global provider of integrated risk management software and information services, say safety is an executive level priority for their organizations, but…

ACC publishes 2019 edition of “Guide to the Business of Chemistry” report

The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) this week issued its 2019 edition of the Guide to the Business of Chemistry, a detailed economic profile of the chemistry industry and its contributions to the U.S. and global economies. American…

SNF is investing $1.2 billion over three years to increase polyacrylamide production

In the last two years, SNF Group (Andrezieux, France; www.snf.com) has added 75,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of powder-grade polyacrylamide (PAM) production capacity globally to match the increased demand for EOR (enhanced oil recovery) applications.  By the end of…

2019 CEPCI Updates: June (prelim.) and May (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) for June 2019 decreased from the previous month’s value. The decline is the fourth within the last five months. Decreases in the Equipment, Buildings and Engineering…

DOMO Chemicals to acquire Solvay’s performance polyamides business in Europe

DOMO Chemicals (Ghent, Belgium; www.domochemicals.com) and Solvay (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) have signed today an agreement for DOMO to acquire Solvay’s Performance Polyamides Business in Europe. This includes Engineering Plastics operations in France and Poland; High-Performance Fibers in France; Polymer and…

ACC and NAMUR sign cooperative agreement on automation and instrumentation

Recently, the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) on behalf of its Process Automation Users Group (PAUG) and NAMUR (Leverkusen, Germany; www.namur.net), the association of process industry end users of automation technology, have signed an agreement to cooperate on…

U.S. chemical production rose in June, 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 0.2 percent in June, following a 0.4 percent gain in May and a 0.3 percent gain in April. During June,…

U.S. specialty chemical markets end 2nd quarter on positive note, ACC says

The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes rose 0.3 percent in June after rising only 0.1 percent in May, falling 0.3 percent in April and showing a weak first quarter. In June,…

Leading economic indicator, the CAB, fell in July, ACC says

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), eased 0.2 percent in July on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis following three months of gains in March-May and weak…

2019 CEPCI Updates: May (prelim.) and April (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) for May 2019 decreased from the previous month’s value. The decline is the third within the last four months. The lower value for the overall CEPCI…