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2025 CEPCI updates: May (prelim.) and April (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) for May 2025 (most recent available) rose compared to the previous month’s value. The May value is the highest in the past two years. The jump in the May CEPCI…

Air Liquide to invest 250 million euros to support Europe’s semiconductor industry

Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) has been awarded a long-term contract to build new state-of-the-art industrial gas production units in the heart of “Silicon Saxony” in Dresden, Germany. Under this new long-term contract, Air Liquide will supply large volumes of…

India caustic-soda manufacturer selects thyssenkrupp nucera for new expansion

Indian caustic soda major TGV SRAAC Ltd. (formerly Sree Rayalaseema Alkalies and Allied Chemicals Ltd.; Kurnool, India; www.tgvgroup.com), has commissioned thyssenkrupp nucera (Dortmund, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-nucera.com) to expand its chlor-alkali plants in Kurnool in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The…

Shell Catalysts & Technologies and Technip Energies sign agreement to deliver carbon-capture solution

Shell Catalysts & Technologies (Houston, Tex.; www.shell.com) and Technip Energies (Paris, France; www.ten.com) have signed their global alliance agreement to work exclusively together to deliver a post-combustion amine-based carbon capture solution using Shell’s CANSOLV* CO₂ Capture System.  The alliance combines…

Evonik now using green electricity for polybutadiene production in Germany

Since July 1, 2025, Evonik’s Coating & Adhesive Resins business line (Marl, Germany; coating-adhesive-resin.evonik.com) has been using green electricity for its polybutadiene production in Marl, Germany. This initiative is part of Evonik’s sustainability strategy aimed at achieving its environmental goals…

Black & Veatch completes FEED study for green hydrogen project in U.K.

Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kan.; www.bv.com) has completed execution of a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for the Whitelee Green Hydrogen Project, a proposed development by owner ScottishPower Energy Retail Limited (Glasgow, U.K.; www.scottishpower.com). The contract was awarded to…

Sustainability aids business success

Last month, this column discussed the continuing momentum of sustainability projects in industry, citing a couple of reports that showed sustainability to be valuable to business. More recent findings support those conclusions. Research by Aras (www.aras.com), a product lifecyle-management provider,…

Business News: July 2025

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…

Saipem awarded FEED contract by Sonatrach for fertilizer project in Algeria

Saipem SpA (Milan, Italy; www.saipem.com) has been awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by Sonatrach Petroleum (London, U.K.; www.sonatrach.co.uk), related to the phosphate integrated project for fertilizer production in Algeria. The contract was awarded through a competitive dual FEED…

Wood awarded contract for refinery upgrades in Colombia

Wood plc (Aberdeen, U.K.; www.woodplc.com) has been awarded a contract by Colombia's majority state-owned oil company, Ecopetrol, to deliver the detailed engineering design for upgrades at its Barrancabermeja refinery in Colombia. The project, known as Línea Base de Calidad de…