Uhdenora S.p.A. (Milan, Italy; www.uhdenora.com) and Befar Group Co. have signed a contract for the construction of an 80,000 metric ton (m.t.) per year caustic soda plant at Binzhou City, Province of Shandong, China. The plant will be the world’s…
Sapphire Energy, Inc. (San Diego, Calif.; www.sapphireenergy.com) has commissioned what is being called the world’s first commercial algae-to-biofuels demonstration plant, to be located in New Mexico. Spread out over 300 acres, when fully operational, the biofuels plant will be able…
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) was awarded, by Open Joint Stock Company (OJSC) Kazanorgsintez, a contract to provide technology and services for a grassroots furnace at Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.The project consists of the engineering and procurement of an SMK…
Kaneka Corp. (Osaka, Japan; www.kaneka.com) will establish a new manufacturing facility for acrylic fibers Kanekalon and Kanecaron in the premises of Kaneka (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (Pahang State, Malaysia) with a production capacity of 12,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) and…
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) has announced that Foster Wheeler USA Corp., a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group, has signed a collaboration agreement with Tecnimont USA Inc., a subsidiary of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Rome, Italy; www.mairetecnimont.it),…
Styron Europe GmbH (Horgen, Switzerland; www.styron.com), a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, has announced that it will be doubling its Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SSBR) production capacity, after reaching an agreement with material supplier JSR,…
Ashland Inc. (Covington, Ky.; www.ashland.com) has announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell Ashland Water Technologies to a fund managed by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in a transaction valued at approximately $1.8 billion. The transaction is expected to…
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) has recently signed contracts with more than 20 recycled-copper manufacturers in China to provide its oxy-fuel solution, and about half of them are already onstream and running. The solution helps to improve productivity and…
U.S. exports of chemicals grew 0.4% in 2013, while chemical imports declined by 1.0%, expanding the trade surplus in the U.S. chemical industry to $3.4 billion, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The value of the…
Ineos Technologies’ (Rolle, Switzerland; www.ineos.com) Ineos Oxide has expanded its ethylidene norbornene (ENB) plant at its Antwerp facility, increasing its capacity to 28,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr), making it the single largest ENB plant in the world, according to…