Business & Economics
Air Liquide completes upgrade and expansion project in Bayport, Tex.
On Wednesday, April 27, 2016, Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) will host a luncheon and inauguration ceremony to celebrate the upgrade and expansion of its world-scale industrial complex located in the Bayport Industrial District, just east of Houston, Texas. The…
GE to provide wastewater treatment technology for Chinese coal-to-chemicals plant
To help meet new regulations governing wastewater treatment at Chinese coal-to-chemical plants, a facility in Yulin City will install GE’s (Trevose, Pa.; www.ge.com) advanced zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology. GE’s ZLD evaporator and crystallizer system will eliminate liquid discharge of…
CAB accelerated in April, ACC says
The Chemical Activity Barometer, a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), expanded 0.6 percent in April, following a revised 0.1 percent increase in March and 0.2 percent decline in February. All data are…
U.S. CPRI edges higher in March, ACC says
The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) edged higher by 0.3% in March, following a 0.1% gain in February, and a 0.4% gain in January, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council…
Solvay creates part-testing laboratory in China
Solvay Engineering Plastics (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com), a world leader in polyamide-based performance materials, announces the creation of a dedicated part testing laboratory in Shanghai, China, to support the growth of its customers in the Asia region. Starting end of this…
Technip to provide equipment for high-severity FCC unit
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) was awarded a contract by Daelim Industrial Company* to provide proprietary equipment for the world’s first commercial High Severity Fluid Catalytic Cracking (HS-FCC) unit. The HS-FCC cracks heavy hydrocarbons into lighter olefins such as propylene and…
Current economic trends: February CEPCI
The February 2016 preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) was down from the previous month, with all subindices seeing a small decline. Within the Equipment subindex, the process instruments category was the only…
U.S. specialty chemicals market ends Q1 on a soft note, ACC says
The Specialty Chemicals Market Volume Index, a tool created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) ended the first quarter of 2016 on a soft note, slipping 0.1 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis in March…
Solenis to acquire Lostris International and Wester Blend
Specialty chemicals maker Solenis LLC (Wilmington, Del.; www.solenis.com) today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire the shares in Lostris International B.V. and Wester Blend B.V., privately-held companies primarily focused on supplying specialty chemicals to the pulp and…
Industrial production falls in March, but chemical production rises, ACC says
Overall industrial production declined 0.6% in March, but the chemical industry was one of few industry sectors experiencing production growth, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). While the…