Latest News: Business
Platform Specialty Products closes Alent acquisition; announces launch of MacDermid Performance Solutions
Platform Specialty Products Corp. (West Palm Beach, Fla.; www.platformspecialtyproducts.com), a global diversified specialty chemicals company, announced that the scheme of arrangement with Alent plc (Woking, U.K.; www.alent.com), dated August 17, 2015, including the terms and conditions of Platform's previously-announced recommended…
UOP to provide methanol-to-olefins technology to Chinese company LUXI
LUXI Chemical Group Co., Ltd. will use Honeywell UOP’s (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) Advanced Methanol-to-Olefins (MTO) process to convert methanol derived from gasified coal into 293,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of ethylene and propylene at its facility in Liaocheng,…
Invista and LanzaTech announce breakthrough for bio-based butadiene production
Invista (Wichita, Kan.; www.invista.com) and LanzaTech (Skokie, Ill.; www.lanzatech.com) have developed a metabolic ‘toolkit’ that has been successfully applied to generate novel metabolic pathways to bio-derived butadiene and key precursors, such as 1,3 butanediol and 2,3 butanediol, resulting in new…
LyondellBasell to acquire PP compounding assets of Indian company Zylog
LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the polypropylene (PP) compounding assets of Zylog Plastalloys Ltd. (Zylog) of India. Upon completion of the acquisition, LyondellBasell will double its automotive customer base…
Indorama acquires Indian PET producer MicroPet
Indorama Ventures Public Ltd. (IVL; Bangkok, Thailand; www.indorama.net) announced the acquisition of Indian polyethylene terephthalate (PET) manufacturer Micro Polypet Private Limited (MicroPet), subject to necessary legal approvals. Situated in Panipat district, Haryana state, India, the plant is 90 km north…
Linde to build liquid-producing ASU in Bangladesh
The Linde Group’s (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com) subsidiary Linde Bangladesh Ltd. announced an investment of BDT 1.2 billion (€14.6 million) in Rupganj to build an air separation unit (ASU) producing approximately 100 metric tons per day (m.t./d) of liquefied gases, making…
Shell invests in alpha-olefins capacity expansion at Geismar site
Shell Chemical LP (Houston; www.shell.com/chemicals) has announced the final investment decision to increase alpha olefins (AO) production at its chemical manufacturing site in Geismar, La., making the site the largest AO producer in the world. Shell will construct a fourth…
Velocys completes GTL pilot-plant tests
Velocys plc (Plain City, Ohio; www.velocys.com) has announced the successful completion of gas-to-liquids (GTL) pilot-plant tests that demonstrate significant process intensification, increasing capacity and productivity and improving commercial plant economics. The tests demonstrate that continuous improvements over the last 18…
BASF to expand compounding capacities for engineering plastics in Europe
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) is expanding the compounding capacities for engineering plastics in Europe. Presumably from 2017 it will be possible to additionally produce up to 70,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of Ultramid (PA: polyamide) and Ultradur (PBT:…
SNC-Lavalin awarded wastewater treatment project for Qatargas Laffan Refinery 2
SNC-Lavalin (Montreal, Canada; www.snclavalin.com) has been awarded a contract by Qatargas for a water-recycling facility at its Laffan Refinery 2 plant in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. SNC-Lavalin is providing engineering, procurement, supply, construction and commissioning services for the recycling…