The U.S. economy continues to improve, with forecasts now suggesting economic expansion into 2015, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) monthly Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), released today. The CAB is a leading economic indicator, shown to…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com)says that its U.S. affiliate, BASF Corp., has entered into an agreement to commence a cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of common stock of the biotechnology company Verenium Corp. (San Diego, Calif.)…
Kemira Oyj (Helsinki, Finland; www.kemira.com) has signed an agreement to acquire Soto Industries Inc, a privately owned company, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Soto is a specialty chemicals and services supplier to the pulp and paper industry. Soto supplies a broad…
Atlas Copco AB (Stockholm, Sweden; www.atlascopco.com), a provider of sustainable productivity solutions, has agreed to acquire Synatec GmbH, which provides quality-improvement solutions mainly to the automotive industry. Synatec, based near Stuttgart, Germany, provides products and solutions to improve flexibility and…
Safic-Alcan Groupe (Puteaux, France; www.safic-alcan.com), an international distribution group of chemical specialties, announces today it has acquired Laserson, a French chemical distributor. With this acquisition, Safic-Alcan has further enhanced its market position in the distribution of cosmetic specialty ingredients. Based…
The Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) slipped 0.1% in August, the first decline since a soft patch last November, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The U.S. CPRI also edged down, by 0.3% in…
SNC-Lavalin Inc. (Montreal, Quebec, Canada; www.snclavalin.com) says that Phase II of the Emirates Aluminum Smelter Complex (EMAL II) project in Abu Dhabi has achieved first hot metal nearly three months ahead of schedule. SNC-Lavalin has been contracted to provide engineering,…
Fauske & Associates, LLC (FAI; Burr Ridge, Ill.; www.fauske.com), a leader in nuclear, industrial and chemical process safety, becomes one of the most comprehensive, state-of-the-art combustible dust hazards testing laboratories and education centers in the world. With regard to industrial and…
Henkel AG & Co. (Düsseldorf, Germany; www.henkel.com) has inaugurated the world’s largest adhesives factory in Shanghai. With this new production facility the company is expanding its production capacity in a major emerging market and will deliver its innovative adhesive technologies…
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, has announced that its technology has been selected to produce key ingredients for fuels and synthetic rubber in China. China’s Panjin Heyun New Material Co. will use Honeywell’s UOP C4 Oleflex…