Tosoh Corp. (Tokyo) has announced its plan to increase the production capacity of its Skyprene chloroprene rubber (CR). The plan will see the company add a second CR production facility at its Nanyo Complex in Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture to meet growing demand for CR worldwide. The new plant will add 22,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of production capacity.  MORE

BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) has announced the successful startup of its new world-scale hexamethylenediamine (HMD) plant in Chalampé, France, construction of which began in 2022. The plant increases BASF’s HMD production capacity to 260,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr). MORE

Kemira Oyj (Helsinki, Finland) has made an investment decision to expand the sodium borohydride (SBH) powder production capacity at its Äetsä site in Finland. The scope of this investment includes a new production line and some additional process safety improvements for the plant. The total value of the investment is under €10 million.  MORE
 

Linde (Dublin, Ireland; www.linde.com) announced it is doubling the capacity of its Freeport, Texas, CO₂ production facility by adding a second CO₂ liquefaction plant. Starting up in 2027, the new plant will liquefy crude CO₂ captured from MEGlobal America Inc.’s Oyster Creek ethylene glycol facility, which Linde also supplies with oxygen from its Freeport air separation plant. MORE

Zeon Corp. (Tokyo) has constructed a new research facility on the premises of Zeon Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd. in Japan to develop production processes for plant‐derived raw materials. This facility will accelerate the development of biotechnology to produce butadiene and isoprene directly, which are key components of synthetic rubber, from plant‐derived materials.  MORE

Sumitomo Chemical Co. (Tokyo, Japan) has successfully established a mass production technology for liquid crystal polymer (LCP) using a monomer derived from biomass-based materials. The company will now accelerate the development of a mass production system for bio-based LCP leveraging this technology, aiming to obtain customer certification by the end of fiscal 2026.  MORE