American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washgton, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) President and CEO Cal Dooley joined U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Craig Morrison, President and CEO of Momentive Performance Materials Holdings LLC and Chairman of the ACC Board of Directors, and John Paro,…
An official ceremony took place today with Giovanni Azzone, rector of Politecnico di Milano (www.polimi.it), and Fabrizio Di Amato, CEO and chairman of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (www.mairetecnimont.com) for the signature of a framework agreement for a scientific collaboration between Maire…
Teijin Chemicals Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; www.teijin.co.jp), the core company of the Teijin Group’s resin and plastic processing business, announced an agreement with SK Chemicals, a South Korean chemical producer, on a business collaboration, including the establishment of a joint venture…
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) has entered into an agreement to acquire NuCO2 INC. from Aurora Capital Group, a Los Angeles, California based private equity firm, for $1.1 billion in cash. The transaction is subject to customary conditions to closing,…
Samsung Engineering Co. (Seoul, South Korea; www.samsungengineering.co.kr) has officially announced its contract award from Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of Gazprom, one of Russia’s largest oil and gas companies. The $879-million contract covers engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for the gas…
These simple strategies can be used to speed up and increase the success rates of R&D projects Research and development (R&D) projects usually require significant time, effort and manpower to become successful. Despite the significant resources spent on R&D projects,…
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…