Latest News: Business
Titan and Isgec form metal-fabrication joint venture
Isgec Heavy Engineering Ltd. (Yamunanagar, Haryana, India) and Titan Metal Fabricators Inc. (Camarillo, Calif.; www.titanmf.com) have announced the establishment of a new joint venture (JV) manufacturing operation: Isgec Titan Metal Fabricators Pvt. Ltd. Combining the heavy-equipment fabrication expertise demonstrated by…
Showa Denko completes expansion for plastic-based ammonia project
Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) has completed the expansion of used-plastic gasification facility at the Kawasaki Plant, and held a ceremony for the completion. As part of its basic chemicals business, SDK is producing ammonia at Kawasaki. SDK…
Umicore and Solvay sell SolviCore JV to Toray
Umicore N.V. (Brussels, Belgium; www.umicore.com) and Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) announced that they have sold their respective 50% stakes in joint venture (JV) SolviCore to Japanese chemical company Toray. Since its inception in 2006, SolviCore has built up a…
BASF to sell stake in SolVin to Solvay
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 announces MTBE expansion project
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 completes coatings expansion in Germany
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…
Lifetime Recognition Award for professor Van den Akken
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 starts up production of C4 products in Antwerp
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 launches operations at Volgograd refining unit
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 to double production capacity for specialty molecular sieves
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…