In The News
Grundfos Group acquires Peerless Pump Co.
Effective December 1 2007, the Grundfos Group (www.grundfos.com; Denmark) has acquired Peerless Pump Co. Peerless is a U.S.-based manufacturer of pumps and fire protection systems with facilities in Indianapolis, Ind. and five other North American locations. The collection of more…
Lonza inaugurates Shawinigan Facility
Yesterday, Lonza AG (Basel, Switzerland; www.lonza.com) formally launched its newly acquired plant in Shawinigan, Canada. The facility is dedicated to the production of Pro-KTM — a new addition to Lonza's nutrition portfolio. The plant recently passed its ISO-9001-2000 and FAMI-QS…
SGL Group strengthens carbon-fiber activities in the U.S.
Yesterday, SGL Group (www.sglcarbon.com) — The Carbon Company — signed definitive agreements to acquire Aldila Inc.’s interest in Carbon Fiber Technology LLC (CFT; Evanston, Wyoming), a joint venture (JV) between SGL and Aldila. Since 1999, SGL Group and Aldila —…
LP OxoSM Technology Licensed to PetroChina Sichuan Petrochemical Co.
PetroChina Sichuan Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (PetroChina) has chosen LP Oxo SM SELECTORSM 10 Technology for its new facility in Chengdu, capital city of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province. LP Oxo Technology is cooperatively offered by Dow Technology Licensing, a business unit…
First hydrogen refueling station opens in Shanghai
The Chinese government today officially opened the first hydrogen service station in Shanghai. The Shanghai Anting Hydrogen Refuelling Station was built by The Linde Group (www.linde.com), Tongji University (Shanghai, China) and Shell Hydrogen (www.shell.com/hydrogen). The station is part of the…
November Plant Watch & Mergers
Plant Watch BASF inaugurates two new plants in Texas October 8, 2007 — BASF inaugurated two new manufacturing plants at its site in Freeport, Tex. The polyamide production line, which replaces a facility in Enka, N.C., has a capacity of…
Dow to exit hydroxyalkyl acrylates market
The Dow Chemical Co. (www.dow.com) announced today its intent to stop producing and marketing hydroxyalkyl acrylates (HAA) by the end of 2007. The HAA product line includes hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and hydroxypropyl acrylate (HPA). These products are sold largely to…
New study: Volume of 2007 chemical business deals likely to surpass 2006 levels
Total chemical-deal value for the first three quarters of 2007 exceeded total deal value for all of 2006 ($88 billion versus $51 billion, respectively), says a recent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers entitled Chemical Compounds. The quarterly report on the state of…
Plans for biodiesel plant in Argentina
Integrated Biodiesel Industries, Ltd (IBI; Sao Paulo) has signed a Letter of Intent with port operator Terminal Puerto Rosario S.A. (TPR) to build a 60,000-m.t./yr biodiesel plant inside its facilities in the city of Rosario, Argentina. TPR will offer existent…
PetroChina selects Basell’s technology for two plants in China
PetroChina Company Ltd. has selected Basell's Hostalen technology for two new high density polyethylene (HDPE) plants; a 300,000 ton/yr plant in Chengdu, Sichuan province, and a 350,000 ton/yr plant in Fushun, Liaoning province, China. Startup for both plants is expected…