Norsk Hydro ASA (Oslo, Norway; www.hydro.com) has made a binding offer to acquire Rio Tinto’s 100% share in Icelandic aluminum plant ISAL. The offer also includes the Dutch anode facility Aluchemie and Swedish aluminum fluoride plant Alufluor. The transaction includes…
Primetals Technologies, Ltd. (London, U.K.; www.primetals.com) has received an order from Japanese steel producer JFE Steel Co. (JFE Steel) to supply a Meros (maximized emission reduction of sintering) off-gas cleaning system for its new sinter plant for the Fukuyama, Japan…
The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported today that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes gained 0.1 percent in January, following a 0.8 percent gain in December. All changes in the data are reported on a three-month moving average…
Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) will expand the capacity for Macrolex dyes at its Leverkusen site. With an investment volume of more than €5 million, the current production capacity is to be increased by 25%, which will be available from…
LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) announced that Dongming Hengchang Petrochemical Co. has selected LyondellBasell Spheripol polypropylene technology for a plant in Heze City, Shandong Province, China with a capacity of 200,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr). Polypropylene grades produced with the Spheripol process are…
The Lubrizol Corp. (Wickliffe, Ohio; www.lubrizol.com) announces updates to its global expansion program supporting the company's Engineered Polymers thermoplastics polyurethane (TPU) business and growing global demand for its Estane TPU, Pearlthane TPU, Pearlbond TPU and other product lines. "Ongoing investments…
Westlake Chemical Corp. (Houston; www.westlake.com) announced that it will expand capacities for the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) at three of its chemical facilities. Two of the plants are located in Germany (Burghausen, Gendorf) and…
Celanese Corp. (Dallas, Tex.; www.celanese.com) announced that chief financial officer, Chris Jensen, has tendered his resignation after a successful 12 years with the vcompany to spend time with his family and commence the next chapter of his career. He will…
The preliminary value for the December CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; most recent available) decreased compared to the previous month’s value for the second consecutive month. Decreases in the Equipment and Buildings subindices for December 2017 offset small increases in…
Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com), Borealis AG (Vienna, Austria.com; www.borealisgroup.com) and NOVA Chemicals Corp. (Calgary, Alberta, Canada; www.novachem.com) today announced that affiliates of the three companies have signed definitive agreements to form a joint venture (JV) in petrochemicals on the…