The preliminary value for the December 2018 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; most recent available) decreased from the previous month’s value. This small decline follows an unchanged CEPCI value from November. The Equipment, Buildings and Engineering & Supervision subindexes all…
Invista (Wichita, Kan.; www.invista.com) says engineering for a 400,000-ton adiponitrile (ADN) plant in Shanghai, China is underway. The company's estimated investment will be in excess of $1 billion (7 billion RMB). With support of the local authorities, we expect construction…
Last month, almost 30 global companies announced the formation of an alliance to address the impact that plastic waste is having on our environment, with particular focus on our oceans. The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW; www.endplasticwaste.org) has committed…
Plant Watch Lotte BP Chemical to expand petrochemicals production in Ulsan January 14, 2019 — BP plc (London; www.bp.com) and Lotte Chemical Corp. (Seoul, South Korea; www.lottechem.com) have agreed to significantly expand production capacity at their joint venture (JV), Lotte…
This column is based on “Oxygen Production – Cost Analysis,” a report published by Intratec. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/oxygen-production-cost. Oxygen is a nonmetallic element and one of the most abundant elements on Earth’s surface. Under standard pressure and…
According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), the U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) rose by 0.6 percent in December, following a 0.3 percent gain in November and a 0.4 percent decline in October. During December,…
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), posted a 0.3 percent decline in January on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This marks the barometer's third consecutive month-over-month…
The preliminary value for the November 2018 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; most recent available) remained the same as the previous month’s value, although the final value for October was downwardly revised by a tenth of a point. The Equipment,…
Azerbaijan´s state energy company SOCAR recently held an opening ceremony for its new Biturox plant in the Heydar Aliyev Refinery near Baku, Azerbaijan. EPCM-Engineering Partner Pörner and SOCAR announced a successful commissioning as first part of the refinery reconstruction. SOCAR…
Shell Chemical LP (Houston, Tex.; www.shell.us) today announced the start of production of the fourth alpha-olefins (AO) unit at its Geismar, La. chemical manufacturing site. The 425,000-ton/yr capacity expansion brings total AO production at Geismar to more than 1.3 million…