Latest News: Business
CB&I awarded contracts for Shintech ethane cracker project
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) has been awarded contracts valued in excess of $640 million by Toyo Engineering Corp. (Chiba, Japan; www.toyo-eng.co.jp) to provide ethylene technology, basic engineering and cracker heater supply, as well as construction services for the…
Showa Denko increases hydrogen bromide production capacity
Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) has expanded its capacity to produce high-purity hydrogen bromide (HBr), which is used in the manufacture of semiconductors, to 600 metric tons per year (m.t./yr), 1.5 times as much as the previous level.…
Jacobs acquires controlling interest in Suzhou Han’s Chemical Engineering Co.
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) announced today that its subsidiary, Jacobs Projects (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., has acquired a controlling interest in Suzhou Han’s Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. (SHCE) in China. The company is now Jacobs Engineering (Suzhou)…
Mitsui breaks ground on new facility for polyurethane and isocyanate production
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (MCI; Tokyo; www.mitsuichem.com) held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant within the Omuta Works site (Omuta City, Kyushu) to manufacture its new and advanced polyurethane elastomer, Fortimo (1,4-Bis (isocyanatomethyl) cyclohexane), and the polyisocyanate (using 1,5-pentamethylene diisocyanate),…
Showa Denko to build hydrogen fluoride production facility in China, boost capacity in Japan
Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) has doubled the capacity of its existing high-purity hydrogen fluoride (HF) production facility in Kawasaki, Japan. SDK has also decided to build a new HF production facility in China. High-purity HF is used…
Total invests in refinery upgrades; will create France’s first biorefinery
Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) has announced investments to upgrade the Donges refinery in western France and transform the La Mède refinery in southern France. Three of Total’s five refineries in France — Gonfreville in Normandy, Grandpuits in the Paris…
Henkel to double detergents production capacity in Mexico
Henkel AG & Co. (Düsseldorf, Germany; www.henkel.com) has announced Project Xina, a €27-million expansion project named for a volcano near its Toluca production site in Mexico. Project Xina will simultaneously double the capacity and reduce the environmental impact of Henkel’s…
CB&I awarded contract for Afipsky Oil Refinery project
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) has been awarded a contract by NefteGazIndustriya, LLC, through project developer MAVEG GmbH, to provide engineering and procurement services for the Afipsky Oil Refinery in Krasnodar, Russia. CB&I's project scope includes early detail engineering…
Air Liquide starts up a large hydrogen production unit in Germany
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) officially started up its new, state-of-the-art steam methane reformer (SMR) unit located in the Chempark Dormagen site near Cologne, Germany. Air Liquide invested around 100 million euros in this highly flexible production unit, which…
U.S. CPRI declines for the first time in over a year, ACC says
The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) decreased by 0.3% in March, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report. The decline in March follows flat growth for February and is…