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Economic Indicators

Preliminary data for the July 2013 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) indicate that the composite index decreased by 0.1% from the final June value. The value for the Equipment subindex fell, while those for the Construction…

The Owner Role in Capital Projects

Avoid delays, cost overruns and more with significant owner involvement   It is well known that the oil-and-gas, chemical and petrochemical industries are capital intensive. They require sophisticated facilities (plants), the installation of which are typically handled via capital projects…

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Clariant acquires organic pigment business, invests in new plant in China  

Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) today announced that it has acquired the Organic Pigment business of Jiangsu Multicolor Fine Chemical Co., Ltd (JMC; Jiangsu Province, China). JMC is a leading supplier of several types of high performance pigments and pigment preparations…

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Malvern Instruments acquires NanoSight

Malvern Instruments Ltd. (Malvern, U.K.; www.malvernpanalytical.com/en), a leading global provider of instrumentation and expertise for materials and biophysical characterization, has acquired nanoparticle characterization company NanoSight Ltd. (Amesbury, UK; www.malvernpanalytical.com/en/products/product-range/nanosight-range/nanosight-pro). The acquisition was completed on Friday 27 September 2013. NanoSight has…

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Solvay to build large bicarbonate plant in Thailand  

Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) plans to build South-East Asia's largest sodium bicarbonate plant. Located in Thailand and with a total capacity of 100,000 ton/yr, this new facility will help meet the growing demand for high quality products from the…

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Shell Cansolv and Technip to strengthen CO2 capture technology  

Shell Cansolv (Montreal, Canada; www.cansolv.com) and Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) have signed an agreement to leverage their respective expertise in marketing an end-to-end solution for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) projects. The agreement enables both Technip and Shell Cansolv to…

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Biesterfeld France Produits Spéciaux EURL aquires SMPC Production  

Biesterfeld France Produits Spéciaux EURL (Rueil-Malmaison near Paris, France), the French subsidiary of Biesterfeld Spezialchemie GmbH (Hamburg, Germany; www.biesterfeld-spezialchemie.com), has acquired the French company SMPC Production located in St. Ouen l‘Aumone with effect from April, 2013. Name and headquarters of…

PPG to invest $60 million in new coatings facility in Russia

PPG Industries (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.ppg.com) has announced plans to invest $60 million in a new manufacturing facility and commercial operation for its coatings businesses in the Lipetsk region of Russia. The company anticipates project completion in the second half of…

Five companies are honored for achievements in chemical engineering

Chemical Engineering announced this year’s four honorees and the winner of the 2013 Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award at an award banquet held at ChemInnovations last week in Galveston, Tex. This biennial prize that the magazine has bestowed since the…

Economic data suggest improvement in U.S., but concerns remain, ACC says

Economic reports from this week showed mostly positive developments, but concerns remain over a potential debt-ceiling crisis and high oil prices, according to the most recent Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).…