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2024 CEPCI updates: July (prelim.) and June (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) for July 2024 (most recent available) was slightly lower, but almost unchanged, compared to the previous month’s value. The final value for June 2024 was downwardly revised by a small…

BASF inaugurates new plant for alkyl ethanolamines at its Antwerp Verbund site

  BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has inaugurated a new world-scale production plant for alkyl ethanolamines at its Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. This new investment will increase the company’s global annual production capacity for alkyl ethanolamines, including dimethyl ethanolamine…

Methanex to acquire international methanol business from OCI Global

Methanex Corp. (Vancouver, B.C., Canada; www.methanex.com) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire OCI Global’s (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.oci-global.com) international methanol business for $2.05 billion. The transaction includes OCI’s interest in two world-scale methanol facilities in…

Evonik opens new plant for sustainable emollients at its Steinau, Germany site

Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has officially inaugurated its new production plant for cosmetic emollients at its site in Steinau, Germany. These esters are manufactured using an enzymatic process. The double-digit million-euro plant will significantly increase Evonik’s production capacity…

Eni and Snam launch Italy’s first carbon-capture and storage project

Eni S.p.A. (Rome, Italy; www.eni.com) and Snam S.p.A. (Milan, Italy; www.snam.it), within the framework of the equal Joint Venture set up for the purpose, announced the commencement of CO2 injection activities in the reservoir for Phase 1 of Ravenna CCS.…

LanzaTech signs master license agreement with Sekisui for waste-to-EtOH platform in Japan

LanzaTech Global, Inc. (Chicago, Ill.; www.lanzatech.com), the carbon recycling company transforming waste carbon into sustainable fuels, chemicals, and materials, has signed a Master License Agreement with Sekisui Chemical Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; www.sekisuichemical.com) to deploy, at commercial scale, a jointly…

Evonik upgrades to renewable energy for production of high-performance foam

Specialty chemical maker Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has upgraded the production of the high-performance foam ROHACELL® at its main site in Darmstadt, Germany, to use only electricity from renewable energy sources. As a result, Evonik’s High Performance Polymers…

Executive Interview: Covestro LLC

In this exclusive interview, Samir Hifri, Covestro's chairman and president, offers his perspective on the goals, challenges and accomplishments of the company, as well as the challenges faced by the chemical process industries Samir Hifri joined Bayer, the predecessor to…

Business News: September 2024

Plant Watch Sika more than doubles capacity at its largest manufacturing plant in Indonesia August 13, 2024 — Sika AG (Baar, Switzerland; www.sika.com) has more than doubled the production capacity at the Bekasi plant, its largest manufacturing facility in Indonesia.…

Asian and North American industrial valve markets increase, German industry group says

The industrial valves industry can look back on a successful first half of 2024, exceeding expectations. Despite a decline in domestic [German] sales, overall growth of 5% in nominal terms was achieved as a result of a strong expansion of…