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Air Liquide to build large ASU at Sasol’s Secunda site

Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) and Sasol Ltd. (Johannesburg, South Africa; www.sasol.co.za) have signed a longterm agreement for the supply of large quantities of industrial gases to Sasol’s Secunda site (around 140 km East of Johannesburg, South Africa). Air Liquide will invest…

Jacobs awarded contract from Bristol-Myers Squibb

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) has received a contract from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. to provide architectural and engineering services for a new large-scale biologics manufacturing facility in Cruiserath, County Dublin, Ireland. The facility is being designed to produce…

Solvay to build specialty polymers PEEK-production unit in U.S.

Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) is building a new specialty polymers resin unit in the U.S., significantly expanding its production capacity of PEEK (polyether etherketone) and solidifying itself as a leader in the industry with a unique site presence in…

Polypore acquired by Asahi Kasei, following sale of separations-media segment to 3M

Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.asahi-kasei.co.jp) has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Polypore International, Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.; www.polypore.net), a manufacturer of microporous membranes, which currently has two business segments: Energy Storage and Separations Media. In conjunction…

ThyssenKrupp wins order for Hungarian nitric-acid plant

ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions AG (Essen, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com) has won a followup order from the Hungarian fertilizer manufacturer Nitrogénmüvek Zrt. to expand its production capacity. A 1,150 metric ton per day (m.t./d) nitric acid plant is to be built at Pétfürdö,…

Specialty chemicals start 2015 on soft note, ACC says

Specialty chemical market volumes in the U.S. fell 0.5% in January, beginning the year on a soft note, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The drop in January…

Technip awarded EPC contract for ammonia plant in Slovakia

Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) has been awarded a substantial (in the €250- to €500-million range) lump-sum, turnkey contract by Duslo a.s. to develop the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a new ammonia production unit in the existing fertilizer complex…

KBR and Showa Denko sign acetyls licensing agreement

KBR, Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has signed an agreement with Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) to license acetyls technologies globally. The demand for acetic acid products derived including plastic bottles (polyethylene terephthalate; PET), paints, adhesives, coatings, textiles and safety…

Yara and BASF to build ammonia plant in Freeport

Yara International (Oslo, Norway; www.yara.com) and BASF Group have agreed to build a world scale ammonia plant at BASF’s site in Freeport, Tex. The plant will use hydrogen as raw material, reducing capital expenditures (capex), maintenance and carbon dioxide emissions…

Matheson acquires California-based industrial-gas supplier Sims

Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. (www.mathesongas.com) has continued its strategic expansion with the acquisition of Sims Welding Supply in Southern California. Sims Welding Supply is a supplier of industrial, specialty and bulk gases, plus welding hard goods, equipment and supplies. Headquartered in…