Plant Watch
Wacker commissions new ultra-pure polysilicon plant in Burghausen, Germany
July 17, 2025 — Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; www.wacker.com) commissioned its new production line for the manufacture of ultra-pure semiconductor-grade polysilicon at its Burghausen production site in Germany. With a total expenditure of over €300 million, this new unit is currently Wacker’s largest investment project.
Mosaic opens new fertilizer processing facility in Brazil
July 17, 2025 — The Mosaic Co. (Tampa, Fla.; www.mosaicco.com) announced that its new fertilizer blending, storage and distribution plant in Palmeirante, Brazil began operations. With a capacity to process 1 million metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of fertilizer, the company invested $84 million in the Palmeirante facility. The site includes warehouse capacity, automated blending and bagging and a direct rail connection to the port of Itaqui.
CF Industries starts up CO2 sequestration unit in Louisiana
July 14, 2025 — CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (Deerfield, Ill.; www.cfindustries.com) started up the CO2 dehydration and compression facility at its Donaldsonville Complex in Louisiana. The facility will enable the transportation and permanent geological sequestration of up to 2 million m.t./yr of CO2. As a part of its Donaldsonville project, CF Industries expects to produce approximately 1.9 million m.t./yr of low-carbon ammonia.
Arkema to triple its global production capacity for transparent polyamide
July 14, 2025 — Arkema S.A. (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) announced the construction of a new transparent polyamide unit at its Singapore site. The new capacity represents an investment of around $20 million and is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2026. This investment will triple Arkema’s global production capacity of Rilsan Clear transparent polyamides.
Air Liquide announces $200-million investment in Gulf Coast ASU network
July 7, 2025 — Air Liquide S.A. (Paris; www.airliquide.com) will invest up to $200 million in Louisiana to modernize and connect an air separation unit (ASU) to its existing network. This investment also includes the expansion of pipeline infrastructure by an additional 30 miles along the Gulf Coast. The construction is expected to be complete in early 2027. These enhancements support a long-term contract with Dow (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com).
Sekisui Chemical to construct new injection-molding plant in Pune, India
June 30, 2025 — Sekisui Chemical Co. Ltd. (Tokyo; www.sekisuichemical.com) has decided to establish its sixth injection-molding plant in Pune, Maharashtra in western India. The investment for building the new injection-molding plant is approximately $3 million, and it is expected to go into operation in January 2026. With this investment, production capacity in India will increase by approximately 15%.
Kuraray to expand production capacity for optical films in Japan
June 27, 2025 — Kuraray Co. (Tokyo; www.kuraray.co.jp) announced plans to expand production facilities for optical-use poval film, a base material for polarizing films used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs), at its plant located in Saijo City, Japan. With this expansion, the current annual film production capacity of 296 million m2 will increase to 334 million m2. The start of operations at the expanded site is expected in December 2027.
Evonik expands production capacity of polybutadiene products in Shanghai
June 27, 2025 — Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) is localizing the final production step of its polybutadiene products in Shanghai, China and increasing the production capacity of silane-functionalized polybutadienes. The expansion is expected to be fully operational later in 2025.
Versalis unveils demonstration plant for chemical recycling
June 24, 2025 — Versalis S.p.A. (Milan, Italy; www.versalis.eni.com) has launched a demonstration plant based on Hoop, the company’s proprietary technology for the chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste, at its Mantua, Italy site. The plant is capable of processing 6,000 m.t./yr of secondary raw materials into new plastic feedstocks for numerous applications, including food-contact and pharmaceutical packaging, validating the Hoop technology on an industrial scale.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Tokuyama and OCI form JV for polycrystalline silicon products
July 17, 2025 — Tokuyama Corp. (Tokyo; www.tokuyama.co.jp) announced the establishment of a joint venture (JV) company with OCI TerraSus, a Malaysian subsidiary of the OCI Group (Seoul, South Korea; www.oci.co.kr), for the production and sale of semiconductor-grade polycrystalline silicon semi-finished products in Malaysia. The new JV is called OCI Tokuyama Semiconductor Materials Sdn. Bhd. (OTSM).
Thermo Fisher Scientific to acquire Sanofi plant in New Jersey
July 16, 2025 —Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Waltham, Mass.; www.thermofisher.com) will acquire a manufacturing site in Ridgefield, N.J. from Sanofi S.A. (Paris, France; www.sanofi.com). In addition, Thermo Fisher will expand use of the site to meet growing demand from U.S. pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers. The Ridgefield site provides sterile fill-finish and packaging services. The acquired facility will become part of Thermo Fisher’s pharma services business within its Laboratory Products and Biopharma Services segment.
Akzo Nobel to sell Akzo Nobel India to JSW Group
July 1, 2025 — Akzo Nobel N.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) agreed to sell its shareholding in Akzo Nobel India Ltd. (ANIL) to the JSW Group, one of India’s leading diversified conglomerates. The transaction is based on a total enterprise value of around €1.4 billion and includes AkzoNobel’s liquid paints and coatings business in India.
Sika acquires construction chemicals company in Qatar
June 27, 2025 — Sika AG (Baar, Switzerland; www.sika.com) has acquired Gulf Additive Factory (GAF) LLC, a manufacturer of construction-chemical products located in Qatar. GAF produces an extensive product range, including concrete admixtures, mortars, flooring, waterproofing and facade systems, all manufactured in a facility near Doha.
LG Energy Solution and Toyota Tsusho form battery recycling JV
June 26, 2025 — LG Energy Solution (Seoul, South Korea; www.lgensol.com) and Toyota Tsusho Corp. (Nagoya, Japan; www.toyota-tsusho.com😉 established Green Metals Battery Innovations, LLC, a JV company focused on battery recycling. Under the agreement, the two partners plan to construct and operate a pre-processing plant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The new plant will handle pre-processing operations to extract black mass, which contains raw metals such as nickel, cobalt and lithium, by dismantling and shredding battery production scrap.
Solenis and NCH Corp. announce merger
June 26, 2025 — Solenis Corp. (Wilmington, Del.; www.solenis.com) and NCH Corp. (Irving, Tex.) have entered into a definitive agreement to merge the NCH business with Solenis. Under the terms of the agreement, Solenis will acquire 100% of NCH stock, creating a more diversified provider of water and hygiene solutions. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2025.
Covestro acquires adhesive manufacturer in Switzerland
June 24, 2025 — Covestro AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.covestro.com) will acquire Pontacol, a Swiss manufacturer of multilayer adhesive films. Through the acquisition, Covestro complements its film business with highly specialized flat and blown films. Covestro is also acquiring two specialized film-production sites located in Switzerland and Germany.