Latest News: Business
Kuraray dissolves lithium-ion-battery materials joint venture
Kuraray Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.kuraray.co.jp/en), along with Kureha Corp., Irochu Corp. and the Innovations Network Corp. of Japan, have agreed to dissolve Kureha Battery Materials Japan Co. (KBMJ), the joint venture for lithium-ion-battery materials. In addition, KBMJ’s operations related to…
Sadara joint venture begins polyethylene production
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) announced that its joint venture in the Middle East – Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) – has achieved a key milestone of first polyethylene production, meeting previously announced targets to begin production by year-end…
Fluor acquires Netherlands-based Stork Holding for $755 million
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) has signed an agreement with U.K.-based private equity firm Arle Capital Partners to acquire 100% of Netherlands-based Stork Holding B.V. for an investment of €695 million ($755 million). Stork is a global provider of maintenance,…
Celanese divests vinyls and acrylics emulsions unit in Spain
Celanese Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.celanese.com) announced that it has successfully concluded the sale of its atmospheric (vinyl and acrylics) emulsions unit in La Canonja (Tarragona), Spain. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. IQOXE, a Tarragona-based petrochemical company specializing…
Global CPRI rose for October, ACC report says
The American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) rose for October by 0.4% on a three-month-moving-average basis, according to the ACC’s latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report. The data show the 4th quarter…
Axens selected as licensor for clean-fuel technologies for SOCAR petroleum refinery
Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net) has been selected for the modernization project of the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery that will enable the refinery, located at Baku, to increase its annual processing capacity, from 6.0 to 7.5 million ton/yr, and produce…
Mitsubishi Chemical and Taiyo Nippon Sanso to collaborate on U.S. marketing of membranes for bioethanol processes
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC; Tokyo; www.m-kagaku.co.jp) and Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC) announced plans to jointly market a dehydration system using the MCC-developed Zebrex zeolite membranes for bioethanol production processes in the U.S. MCC provides the zeolite membranes and modules…
Wood Group to acquire industrial contractor Infinity for $150 million
Wood Group (Houston; www.woodgroup.com) has agreed to acquire The Infinity Group, a family-owned Texas Gulf Coast industrial construction and maintenance contractor serving the petrochemical, refining and gas processing sectors, for an initial consideration of $150 million. Established in 1952, Infinity…
Fluor completes work on BASF-Sinopec isononanol plant
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) has completed a world-scale isononanol (INA) plant for BASF and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) in the Maoming Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, Maoming, China. The plant, which is a first-of-its-kind in China, was recently…
Jacobs receives EPCM contract for paints plant in India
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) has received a contract from Asian Paints Limited (APL) to provide engineering services for a greenfield paint plant in India. Under the terms of the contract, Jacobs is providing detailed engineering and…