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Current economic trends

Capital equipment prices, as reflected in the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI), decreased 0.34% from November to December. Decreases are typical during the third quarter. Annual CEPCI data will be released in the April 2012 issue, when the December 2011…

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Successful commissioning of a polyamide 6.6 plant at Huafon Group in Ruian,  China  

The engineering company Uhde Inventa-Fischer (Berlin, Germany and Domat/Ems, Switzerland; www.uhde-inventa-fischer.com) has successfully commissioned a plant for the production of polyamide 6.6 for its Chinese customer Huafon Group. The production plant has an annual capacity of 40,000 metric tons and…

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WorleyParsons awarded Evonik contract  

Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has awarded WorleyParsons Ltd. (North Sydney, Australia; www.worleyparsons.com) a contract for the detailed engineering, procurement support and construction management on the building of world-scale plants for the production of isophorone and isophorone diamine. The…

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Far East Petrochemical selects Axens’ butene and hexene technologies   

ZAO “Far East Petrochemical Co.” (FEPCO), which is implementing the project of OJSC “NK Rosneft” for the construction of petrochemical complex to be located in Primorsk region of Russia, has selected Axens’ (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net) AlphaButol and AlphaHexol technologies for…

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Jacobs selected for Solvay’s specialty-polymers project in China  

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) has been awarded a contract from Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) for a major, specialty-polymers production plant to be built at Solvay's industrial site in Changshu, which is located in the province of…

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Elevance Renewable Sciences and Arkema to develop and produce renewable polymers  

Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. (Woodridge, Ill.; www.elevance.com) and Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) have formed a global partnership for the development and production of renewable specialty polymers. Elevance is providing novel, differentiated, functionalized renewable starting materials including the company’s 9-decenoic methyl…

John Steitz to become president and CEO of Albemarle

Albemarle Corp. (Baton Rouge, La.; www.albemarle.com) has announced that John Steitz has been elected president and CEO of the company, effective March 1, 2012. In this role, Steitz will oversee all aspects of the company's operations, including global responsibility for…

Global CPRI rose in January, ACC report says

The Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) rose 0.3% in January, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).   In the latest ACC Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report, ACC points out that chemical production gains in…

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Lanxess to invest €40 million at Newcastle site in South Africa  

Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is investing €40 million to build a CO2 concentration unit at its South African site in Newcastle. At this site, the group operates a highly modern plant, that mainly produces sodium dichromate, which is further processed…

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Two contracts for Tecnimont  

Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Rome, Italy; www.mairetecnimont.it) says that its subsidiaries, Tecnimont S.p.A. and Tecnimont do Brasil Ltda, have been awarded two contracts in Saudi Arabia and Brazil, respectively, for an overall value of $145 million. In the Kingdom of Saudi…