BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) has announced the inauguration of its Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) plant at the Zhanjiang Verbund site. The new plant is the largest single TPU production line for BASF globally. The smart factory is built with advanced technologies – including automated guided vehicles and advanced automation systems – that translate into efficiency improvements.  MORE

Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany) has manufactured the first product from its industrial-scale facility for sustainable biosurfactants that has been completed ahead of schedule at its site in Slovakia. The new plant is the first worldwide to produce sustainable rhamnolipid biosurfactants.  MORE

Metso Corp. (Espoo, Finland) is expanding its testing capabilities by investing €8 million to build a state-of-the-art DRI (direct reduced iron) Smelting Furnace pilot facility. The pilot plant will be constructed in Pori, Finland, where Metso has one of its major R&D Centers serving the minerals and metals industry. The new facility will allow customer-specific pilot-scale testing.  MORE
 

Fujifilm Corp. (Tokyo) announced a capital investment of approximately 6 billion yen in its Kumamoto site to further expand its Electronic Materials business. FUJIFILM Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. (Yokohama City), the core company that leads Fujifilm’s Electronic Materials business, will install a production facility for color filter materials used in image sensors at the Kyushu site of its manufacturing subsidiary, FFMT Kyushu. MORE

SABIC (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) announced the final investment decision (FID) for the SABIC Fujian Petrochemical Complex (Sino-Saudi Gulei Ethylene Complex Project) in China’s Fujian province.  SABIC FUJIAN Petrochemicals Co. Ltd, a 51:49 joint venture between SABIC Industrial Investment Company (wholly owned by SABIC) and Fujian Fuhua Gulei Petrochemical Co., Ltd.  MORE

Umicore N.V. (Brussels, Belgium) has entered into an agreement with Microsoft to use artificial intelligence (AI) as a means to facilitate and accelerate its research in battery material technologies for electric vehicles, a key growth area for the Group. It will make Umicore a first-mover in applying an AI-based approach to support battery scientists in developing new battery materials. MORE