In The News
ABB to acquire Baldor Electric
ABB (Zurich, Switzerland; www.abb.com) and Baldor Electric Co. (Fort Smith, Ark.) have agreed that ABB will acquire Baldor in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $4.2 billion, including $1.1 billion of net debt. Under the terms of the definitive agreement,…
Lummus lands contracts in China
Lummus Technology (The Woodlands, Tex.), a CB&I company (www.cbi.com), has been awarded a contract by Liaoning Tongyi Petrochemical Co. for the license and engineering design of grassroots OCT olefins-conversion units and Catofin dehydrogenation units at several of its sites in…
Dow increases PG capacity at Stade plant
The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) has increased its monopropylene glycol (MPG) capacity by 15%, an additional 35,000 ton/yr, in the Stade, Germany plant after completion of an advanced energy improvement and technology optimization project. “The investment in our…
BASF & Ineos JV: Styrolution
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Ineos Industries Holdings Limited (Lyndhurst, U.K.; www.ineos.com) have announced their intention to combine their global business activities in styrene monomers (SM), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), styrene-butadiene block copolymers (SBC) and other styrene-based…
BASF to acquire CRI/Criterion’s global styrene catalysts business
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has signed a purchase agreement to acquire the styrene catalysts business of CRI/Criterion (Houston; www.cricatalyst.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell. Financial details of the transaction are not being disclosed. CRI/Criterion is a leading global…
Making suberabsorbents from CO2
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; Bonn, Germany) has pledged €2.2 million in funds for a project by the BASF-supported Catalysis Research Laboratory (CaRLa; www.carla-hd.de) and hte AG (both Heidelberg, Germany; www.hte-company.de), a company in which BASF SE…
Air Liquide invests in ASU in China
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) has signed a long-term contract with Tongmei Guangfa Chemical Industry Co., whose major shareholder is Datong Coal Mine Group Co. Under the terms of the agreement, Air Liquide will invest around €60 million in a…
SNC-Lavalin: Copper contract in Saudi Arabia
SNC-Lavalin Inc. (Montreal; Canada; www.snclavalin.com) has been awarded a contract by Bariq Mining to provide engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for the Jabal Sayid copper-concentrator project located in Saudi Arabia. The project has an estimated pre-production capital cost…
Outotec technology for Outokumpu’s ferrochrome plant
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) will deliver sintering and ferrochrome smelting technology for the expansion of Outokumpu’s ferrochrome plant in Tornio, Finland. The new sintering plant and smelter will double Outokumpu’s ferrochrome production capacity. The contract value is approximately €45…
Praxair starts up large H2 facility in Indiana
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) has begun supplying BP’s petroleum-refinery complex in Whiting, Indiana, with hydrogen from its new, state-of-the-art hydrogen facility. The two steam-methane reformers have a total capacity of 200 million standard cubic feet per day. BP uses…