BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) is selling its 25% share in the joint venture (JV) SolVin to Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com). The transaction will take place on July 1, 2015. Financial details were not disclosed. In addition, BASF…
Sibur (Moscow, Russia; www.sibur.com) has started the preparatory stage of an investment project to ramp up the production of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a high-octane petrol additive, at its production site in Togliatti. The project will see the construction…
PPG Industries, Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.ppg.com) announced the completion of a $5-million expansion at its coatings manufacturing facility in Wuppertal, Germany. The project added equipment to existing buildings on the campus, supporting up to a 35% increase in annual production…
Harry Van den Akker — Professor of Transport Phenomena at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft; the Netherlands), and the Bernal Professor of Fluid Mechanics at the University of Limerick, Ireland — has been named as the recipient of…
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has strengthened its leading position in C4-based products and has successfully, and on time, put into operation new production plants in Antwerp, Belgium. Also in the Marl Chemical Park (Germany), the C4 capacities…
Lukoil (Moscow; www.lukoil.com) held a ceremony in Volgograd, Russia to celebrate the launch into operation of the new primary oil refining installation (ELOU AVT-1). ELOU AVT-1 is the largest installation among those active at the Volgograd refinery. Its refining capacity…
Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com), through its subsidiary CECA, an adsorption and filtration specialist, announces a project to double production capacity for its specialty molecular sieves. This capacity extension, representing capital expenditure of some €60 million, will take place in France…
The supervisory board of the specialty chemicals company Altana AG (Wesel, Germany; www.altana.com) has appointed Martin Babilas to become the chief executive officer (CEO). On January 1, 2016, he will succeed Dr. Matthias L. Wolfgruber, who will retire. Martin Babilas…
AkzoNobel Performance Coatings (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) is investing around €3 million ($3.4 million) to expand its research and development (R&D) facilities in Houston, Texas. The upgraded facility will support the company’s Protective Coatings, Marine Coatings and Specialty Coatings businesses. Completion is due in early 2016. “The expanded facility will provide a central, state-of-the-art technical resource for our…
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Waltham, Mass.; www.thermofisher.com) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Alfa Aesar, a leading global manufacturer of research chemicals and part of Johnson Matthey Plc (London; www.matthey.com), for £256 million (or approximately $405 million) in cash.…