The U.S. economy continues its slow growth, according to the American Chemistry Council's (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) monthly Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) released today. The economic indicator, shown to lead U.S. business cycles by an average of eight months at…
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; www.mhi.co.jp) and Sojitz Corp. (both Tokyo, Japan; www.sojitz.com) have received an order from PhosAgro-Cherepovets, a subsidiary of the Russian fertilizer producer PhosAgro, for a project to construct the largest ammonia plant in the Russian Federation.…
The Board of Directors of CP Kelco (Atlanta, Ga.; www.cpkelco.com) approved the first phase in a series of projects to expand its Brazilian pectin operation by 30%. The expansion project will significantly increase the facility’s capacity to produce grades of…
Established in December 2012, The Saudi Butanol Co. (SaBuCo) was registered by the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry, receiving approval for its previously announced butanol plant, which will be the world’s largest. SaBuCo’s board recently held its first meeting…
Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) and its project partners (Andritz Carbona, Gas Technology Institute, Phillips 66 Company and UPM-Kymmene) have successfully completed the first production of gasoline from woody biomass in an integrated 20-bbl/d demonstration plant located near Chicago.…
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) says it will build its second air separation plant and extend its pipeline system in the Port of Antwerp, the second largest petrochemical enclave in the world after Houston. The new 1,300-ton/d plant will increase…
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) has been awarded two contracts with a combined value in excess of $40 million for an air-quality-control program for five existing coal-fired units. The units represent more than 4,000 MW of electric generating capacity. CB&I…
SGL Group (Wiesbaden, Germany; www.sglgroup.com) and Samsung have established a strategic partnership for carbon fiber composite materials with the foundation of a marketing and sales joint venture (JV). The JV partners, Samsung Petrochemical and SGL Group, will each hold a…
Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich., www.dow.com), has signed a license agreement with Qatar Petroleum/Qatar Petrochemical Company (QP/QAPCO), for Unipol Polypropylene Process Technology. Unipol technology will be licensed…
The International Energy Agency (IEA; Paris, France; www.iea.org), the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA; Brussels, Belgium; www.icca-chem.org) and Dechema e V. (Frankfurt am Main, Germany; www.dechema.de) jointly released today their new roadmap that explores how the chemical industry can…