Latest News: Business
Solvay to build large bicarbonate plant in Thailand
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) plans to build South-East Asia's largest sodium bicarbonate plant. Located in Thailand and with a total capacity of 100,000 ton/yr, this new facility will help meet the growing demand for high quality products from the…
Shell Cansolv and Technip to strengthen CO2 capture technology
Shell Cansolv (Montreal, Canada; www.cansolv.com) and Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) have signed an agreement to leverage their respective expertise in marketing an end-to-end solution for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) projects. The agreement enables both Technip and Shell Cansolv to…
Biesterfeld France Produits SpeÌciaux EURL aquires SMPC Production
Biesterfeld France Produits SpeÌciaux EURL (Rueil-Malmaison near Paris, France), the French subsidiary of Biesterfeld Spezialchemie GmbH (Hamburg, Germany; www.biesterfeld-spezialchemie.com), has acquired the French company SMPC Production located in St. Ouen l‘Aumone with effect from April, 2013. Name and headquarters of…
PPG to invest $60 million in new coatings facility in Russia
PPG Industries (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.ppg.com) has announced plans to invest $60 million in a new manufacturing facility and commercial operation for its coatings businesses in the Lipetsk region of Russia. The company anticipates project completion in the second half of…
Economic data suggest improvement in U.S., but concerns remain, ACC says
Economic reports from this week showed mostly positive developments, but concerns remain over a potential debt-ceiling crisis and high oil prices, according to the most recent Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).…
Qinghai Mining selects Unipol polypropylene process technology for new plant
The Dow Chemical Company’s (Midland, Mich, www.dow.com) Unipol Polypropylene (PP) Process Technology from Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology LLC (a wholly owned Subsidiary of Dow) will be licensed by Qinghai Provincial Mining Co., Ltd., (Qinghai Mining) at a new…
Alpek forms joint venture with United Petrochemical for terephthalate chemical plant
Alpek, S.A.B. de C.V. (San Pedro Garza García, Mexico; www.alpek.com) has signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with United Petrochemical Company for the construction of an integrated purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia.…
Chemical Activity Barometer suggests expansion into 2015, ACC say
The U.S. economy continues to improve, with forecasts now suggesting economic expansion into 2015, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) monthly Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), released today. The CAB is a leading economic indicator, shown to…
Safic-Alcan acquires French chemical distributor Laserson
Safic-Alcan Groupe (Puteaux, France; www.safic-alcan.com), an international distribution group of chemical specialties, announces today it has acquired Laserson, a French chemical distributor. With this acquisition, Safic-Alcan has further enhanced its market position in the distribution of cosmetic specialty ingredients. Based…
Global and U.S. chemical production both slip in August, ACC says
The Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) slipped 0.1% in August, the first decline since a soft patch last November, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The U.S. CPRI also edged down, by 0.3% in…