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KBR awarded catalytic olefins technology contract  

KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) recently won a contract, by Lotte Chemical Titan (M) SDN. BHD., to provide licensing and basic engineering design services to revamp an existing steam-cracker plant in the Asia Pacific Region. Under the terms of the contract,…

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Solvay boosts resin production capacity in India 

Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) is increasing resin production capacity at its plant in Panoli, Gujarat state in India, by 25% to support strong demand for its innovative ultra-high performance polymers KetaSpire and AvaSpire. Solvay's Global Business Unit Specialty Polymers…

Showa Denko and UOP open high-silica zeolite plant in Japan

Union Showa (USKK), a joint venture (JV) between Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) and UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) has completed the construction of a new high-silica zeolite plant within the premises of SDK’s Higashinagahara Plant in…

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BASF launches FCC catalysts testing and research laboratory in Heidelberg  

BASF SE’s (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) Refining Catalysts business today launched a new fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts testing and research laboratory at the hte GmbH (hte) site in Heidelberg, Germany. hte is a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF SE and…

Sasol selects Toyo for Lake Charles LLDPE contract

Toyo Engineering Korea Limited (Toyo-Korea), a subsidiary of Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, www.toyo-eng.co.jp) has been awarded a contract from Sasol Ltd. (Johannesburg, South Africa; www.sasol.co.za) to provide detailed engineering, procurement, module fabrication, and construction support services for a linear…

BioAmber signs exclusive supply agreement with Oleon for biosuccinic acid in lubricants

BioAmber Inc. (Montreal, Canada; www.bio-amber.com), an industrial biotechnology company producing sustainable chemicals, has signed an exclusive supply agreement for bio-based succinic acid with Oleon.  Under the terms of the 5-year contract, which runs from 2014 to the end of 2018,…

Naushad Jamani becomes senior vice president, olefins and feedstock, for Nova Chemicals…

Nova Chemicals Corp. (Calgary, Alta.) names Naushad Jamani senior vice president, olefins and feedstock. He replaces Grant Thomson, who is retiring.   Michael Oxman becomes a partner at Acorn International (Houston), a provider of environmental- and social-risk-management services.   Greene’s…

Tecnimont awarded EPC contract for Illinois fertilizer plant

Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Milan, Italy; www.mairetecnimont.com) has announced that its main subsidiary Tecnimont S.p.A. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Cronus Chemicals,LLC, which will be converted into a contract to build an ammonia and urea plant located in Tuscola,…

Improve Your Contingency Estimates for More Realistic Project Budgets

The average large project in the chemical process industries (CPI) overruns its sanctioned budget, including contingency, by 21%. Even more alarming, 10% of large projects overrun their budget by more than 70%. These are findings based on research by the…

Hexpol acquires U.S. rubber compounder Portage Precision Polymers

Hexpol AB (Malmö, Sweden; www.hexpol.com) has acquired the business of Portage Precision Polymers Inc., a well-known rubber compounder in the U.S. market. Portage Precision Polymers, with two manufacturing facilities in Ohio (Ravenna and Mogadore), had a turnover of $29 million…