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U.S. chemical production edged down in Sept.; production remains ahead year-over-year

According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), the U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) edged down by 0.4% in September, following a revised 0.2% decline in August. During September, chemical production was lower in all seven…

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Because the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) is calculated using economic data sourced from the U.S. government, the preliminary August 2013 CEPCI numbers have been affected by the shutdown of the U.S. Federal Government that began on October 1. As…

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Clariant opens new innovation center in Frankfurt  

Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) is today officially opening its new €100-million Clariant Innovation Center (CIC) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The company’s new global hub for Research & Development (R&D) is based at the Industriepark Höchst. It will be the…

Chevron Phillips completes sale of polystyrene business

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cpchem.com) has announced that it has finalized the sale to Grand Astor Limited of Chevron Phillips Chemical’s affiliate company Chevron Phillips Chemical (China) Co. Ltd., which owns a polystyrene plant located in…

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Clariant plans to divest Leather Services Business to Stahl  

Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) plans to sell its Leather Services business to Stahl Holdings B.V. (Waalwijk, the Netherlands; www.stahl.com), which is majority-owned by Wendel Group. Stahl is a Dutch company providing high quality chemicals, dyes and coatings for leather and…

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World’s largest SNG plant goes onstream in China  

Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) says that Qinghua, the largest substitute natural gas (SNG) plant ever built in the world was successfully started in the city of Yining, located in Xinjiang, a region in the northwestern part of China.…

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BASF obtains exclusive rights to market magnetocaloric materials  

BASF New Business GmbH (Luswigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has entered into an agreement with the Dutch Technology Foundation (STW; Utrecht; www.stw.nl), Delft University of Technology (www.tudelft.nl) and the University of Amsterdam (www.uva.nl) for licenses on the basic patents for magnetocaloric materials…

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Evonik starts up new production facility in Shanghai  

Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has opened a new production facility for organic specialty surfactants in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) in Shanghai, China. The new facility has an annual capacity of around 80,000 metric tons. The investment…

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Honeywell to build new production facility in China  

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) says it will establish a new manufacturing campus in Zhangjiagang, China, to support growing demand in Asia for energy technology and advanced materials produced by its Performance Materials and Technologies (PMT; Morris Township, N.J.) business. The initial phase…

Ametek acquires Creaform for $120 million

Ametek, Inc. (Berwyn, Pa.; www.ametek.com) has acquired Creaform, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of portable 3-D measurement technologies and a provider of 3-D engineering services for approximately $120 million. Based near Québec City, Canada, the privately held company has annual…