Plant Watch Lonza to expand ADC manufacturing capacity January 8,2013 —Lonza (Basel, Switzerland; www.lonza.com) plans to invest 14 million Swiss francs (CHF; about $15 million) to expand antibody drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing capacity in Visp, Switzerland. Oncology therapeutics including ADCs…
The renewable chemicals and fuels company Amyris, Inc. (Emeryville, Calif.; www.amyris.com) announced today the first commercial shipment from its new plant in Brazil. Amyris's first purpose-built industrial fermentation facility produces Biofene, the company's brand of renewable farnesene. The product is…
The market volume for specialty chemicals in the U.S. rose by 0.7% in December 2012, according to the American Chemistry Council (Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The December expansion follows a 0.5% gain in November and offsets some softness experienced in this…
Preliminary data from the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; top) for November 2012 (the most recent available) indicate that capital equipment prices dropped 0.79% from October to November. The current-year plant cost index is 3.4% lower than it was in…
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has agreed with a major cellulosic ethanol producer on the design and delivery of a renewable energy solution for a bio-ethanol facility in Iowa. The order has been included in Outotec's Q4 2012 order intake…
Shell US Gas & Power LLC (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, and Southern Liquefaction Company, LLC, a Kinder Morgan company and unit of El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P., announced their intent to form a limited liability company…
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, announced today that its UOP Oleflex process technology has been selected by China’s Longgang Chemical Co. (Qingdao Province, China) to produce key ingredients for fuels and synthetic rubber. The C4 Oleflex…
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) was awarded a contract by Williams to provide preliminary engineering services for a proposed propane dehydrogenation (PDH) project near Redwater, Alberta, Canada. Fluor booked the contract in the fourth quarter of 2012 for an undisclosed…
Bandirma Gübre Fabrikaları A.Åž. (BAGFAS; Bandirma, Turkey) has awarded ThyssenKrupp Uhde (Uhde; Dortmund, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-uhde.de) a contract to supply a plant for the production of calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) fertilizer in 2012. The new plant will be integrated into the existing…
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) says it was awarded a contract from Rio Tinto Minerals (RTM) to provide engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for its plant expansion project in Boron, Calif. Officials are currently estimating the…