Plant Watch
Tosoh to construct new chloroprene rubber plant in Japan
June 13, 2025 — Tosoh Corp. (Tokyo; www.tosoh.com) plans to increase its production capacity for chloroprene rubber (CR) by adding a second CR production facility at its Nanyo Complex in Shunan City, Japan. The new plant will add 22,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of production capacity. The investment in the plant is around ¥75 billion. Construction is slated to begin in spring 2027, with completion expected in 2030.
BASF starts up world-scale hexamethylenediamine plant in France
June 12, 2025 — BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) started up its new hexamethylenediamine (HMD) plant in Chalampé, France, construction of which began in 2022. The plant increases BASF’s HMD production to 260,000 m.t./yr. HMD is a precursor used in the production of certain polyamide polymers and coatings raw materials.
Kemira to expand production capacity for sodium borohydride
June 12, 2025 — Kemira Oyj (Helsinki, Finland; www.kemira.com) is expanding the production capacity for sodium borohydride (SBH) powder at its Äetsä site in Finland. The initiative will support the globally growing pharmaceutical industry in mainland Europe and export markets. The project is in the engineering phase, and the new production line will be fully operational during the fourth quarter of 2026.
Linde expanding CO2 capacity in the U.S. Gulf Coast
June 9, 2025 — Linde plc (Guildford, U.K.; www.linde.com) is doubling the capacity of its Freeport, Tex. CO2 production facility by adding a second CO2 liquefaction plant. Starting up in 2027, the new plant will liquefy crude CO2 captured from MEGlobal America’s Oyster Creek ethylene glycol facility, which Linde also supplies with oxygen from its Freeport air separation plant. The increased capacity will supply diverse applications, including food-and-beverage processing, low-carbon fuels production and chemical synthesis processes.
DuPont expands sterile-packaging manufacturing site in Costa Rica
June 6, 2025 — DuPont (Wilmington, Del.; www.dupont.com) has expanded its sterile processing operations via an addition to its healthcare manufacturing facility in Heredia, Costa Rica, enabling the site to produce sterile packaging for the global medical-device industry, while also increasing the capacity of the site’s existing medical tubing operations.
Stepan increases alpha olefin sulfonates production capacity by 25%
June 3, 2025 — Stepan Co. (Northbrook, Ill.; www.stepan.com) announced a significant increase in its global production capacity for alpha olefin sulfonates (AOS). Through strategic capital investments and process improvements, Stepan has expanded its AOS capacity by 25%. Stepan’s AOS production network in North America includes sites in Millsdale, Ill., Anaheim, Calif. and Winder, Ga.
Ineratec begins production at Europe’s largest e-fuels plant
June 3, 2025 — Ineratec GmbH (Karlsruhe, Germany; www.ineratec.com) inaugurated a power-to-liquids plant for the production of e-fuels and e-chemicals. The plant in Höchst, Germany is the largest of its kind in Europe and can produce up to 2,500 m.t./yr of carbon-neutral e-fuels. This production capacity represents one of the largest power-to-liquids operations globally. The plant uses CO2 from biogenic sources and “green” hydrogen to produce synthetic crude oil, which is then processed into sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF), e-diesel and other products, such as waxes.
Borealis to expand polymer-foam production capacity in Germany
May 27, 2025 — Borealis Group (Vienna, Austria; www.borealisgroup.com) announced that its facility in Burghausen, Germany is significantly expanding production capacity for a fully recyclable polymer-foam product called Daploy High Melt Strength polypropylene (HMS PP). This new production line — with an investment totaling over €100 million — is scheduled to start up in the second half of 2026, and will triple Borealis’ supply capability for HMS PP.
Syensqo expands compounding capacity at Changshu plant
May 27, 2025 — Syensqo S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.syensqo.com) completed a significant compounding capacity expansion at its plant in Changshu, China. This strategic initiative includes compounding lines for several products, including grades of polyphthalamide (PPA), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) and polyarylamide (PARA).
Mergers & Acquisitions
Aditya Birla Group acquires Cargill chemical plant in Georgia
June 5, 2025 — Aditya Birla Group (Mumbai, India; www.adityabirla.com) announced the expansion of its U.S. Advanced Materials business with the acquisition of Cargill Inc.’s (Minneapolis, Minn.; www.cargill.com) specialty-chemical manufacturing facility in Dalton, Ga. Aditya Birla Advanced Materials plans to expand the facility’s current capacity of 16,000 m.t./yr to over 40,000 m.t./yr over the next two years, continuing to produce formulated resins, curing agents, reactive diluents and polyaspartic resins.
LyondellBasell plans sale of selectolefin/polyolefin assets in Europe
June 5, 2025 — LyondellBasell N.V. (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) entered into an agreement and exclusive negotiations with Aequita (Munich, Germany; www.aequita.com) for the sale of select olefins and polyolefins assets and the associated business in Europe. The sites to be sold are located in Berre, France; Münchsmünster, Germany; Carrington, U.K.; and Tarragona, Spain.
Sika and Sulzer to establish plastics recycling JV
June 3, 2025 — Sika AG (Baar, Switzerland; www.sika.com) and Sulzer Ltd. (Winterthur, Switzerland; www.sulzer.com) plan to establish a 50-50 joint venture (JV) to advance plastics recycling in the construction industry by developing a system for the collection, processing and reuse of construction plastics using mechanical and chemical recycling. With headquarters near Zurich, the JV’s operational activities will commence in the second half of 2025 with pilot projects in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Dow to sell interest in DowAksa composites joint venture
June 2, 2025 — Dow (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) announced that it has signed a sale and purchase agreement to sell its 50% interest in JV DowAksa Advanced Composites Holdings BV (DowAksa) to Turkish chemicals firm Aksa Akrilik Kimya Sanayii, the other 50% joint venture partner. Dow’s proceeds from the sale are expected to be $125 million. The DowAksa JV was formed in 2012.
ExxonMobil to sell French subsidiary Esso S.A.F.
May 29, 2025 — ExxonMobil Corp. (Houston, Tex.; www.exxonmobil.com) announced that ExxonMobil France Holding has entered into exclusive negotiations with North Atlantic France S.A.S. for both the proposed sale of its 82.89% majority shareholder interest in Esso Société Anonyme Française SA (Esso S.A.F.), as well as the proposed sale of ExxonMobil Chemical France S.A.S. (EMCF). Completion of the acquisition of the 82.89% interest in Esso S.A.F. and 100% of EMCF is subject to the satisfaction of customary regulatory conditions and is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2025.
BASF takes full ownership of Alsachimie joint venture
May 28, 2025 — BASF SE and DOMO Chemicals GmbH (Leuna, Germany; www.domochemicals.com) signed an agreement for BASF to take over DOMO Chemicals’ 49% share of the Alsachimie JV, in which BASF currently holds 51%. For BASF, the 100% ownership of Alsachimie would complement the company’s footprint at the site in Chalampé, France, its European hub for polyamide 6.6 precursor production. Alsachimie produces precursors for polyamides, including ketone-alcohol oil, adipic acid and HMD adipate. ■
Mary Page Bailey