Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany; www.merckgroup.com) Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, Mo.; www.sigma-aldrich.com) have entered into a definitive agreement under which Merck will acquire Sigma-Aldrich for $17.0 billion (€13.1 billion), establishing one of the leading players in the $130 billion global life science…
Siemens AG (Munich, Germany; www.siemens.com) executes on its Vision 2020 with a decisive move to strengthen its core. The company has entered into an agreement with Dresser-Rand (Houston), which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, to acquire all…
Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, Tenn.; www.eastman.com) has completed a previously announced capacity expansion of its Eastman 168 non-phthalate plasticizers at its manufacturing facility in Texas City, Tex. The expansion at the site increased the overall capacity of Eastman 168 by…
Both the U.S. and the Global Chemical Production Regional Index (CPRI) rose in August, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). In the U.S., the CPRI rose 0.5%…
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS; Yokohama, Japan; www.mpshq.com) has received an order from ENEA Wytwarzanie S.A., a power producer in Poland, for two sets of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) deNOx system for installation at Units 1 and 2 of the…
Johnson Matthey (London; www.matthey.com) has completed the purchase of the business and assets of Catacel Corp. (Ravenna, Ohio; www.catacel.com), an innovative supplier of novel technology centered on the use of metal foil-coated catalysts and sorbents to a range of process…
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland, www.fwc.com) has announced that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has entered into a collaboration agreement with ZeoGas LLC (Houston; www.zeogas.com). In the first instance, Foster Wheeler will support ZeoGas’ final site…
AkzoNobel N.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) and cleantech company Photanol (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.photanol.com) will work together on creating sustainable solar-based technology which mimics the way plants use photosynthesis. The aim is to produce "green" chemical building blocks that will…
DuPont’s (Wilmington, Del.; www.dupont.com) packaging division DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers has announced its intent to continue to increase production capacity of its ethylene copolymers assets at its Texas manufacturing facilities to meet growing market demand. 

Plans include a series of…
Specialty chemical maker Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) today announced the inauguration of an important new extension to its production facility in Roha, southeast of Mumbai, India. The expansion doubles its capacity at the facility for pigments and pigment preparations. This…