Latest News: Business
Wholesale chemical sales up in January for the U.S.
Sales of chemicals at the wholesale level increased in January in the U.S. by 0.8% to $10.4 billion, according to U.S. Census Bureau data that were discussed in the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council…
AkzoNobel Chemical Island starts supply to world’s biggest single line pulp mill
AkzoNobel's (Amsterdam, The Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) new €90-million Jupiá Chemical Island in Brazil is now operational and has started supplying the Eldorado Brasil Celulose pulp mill, which is the biggest in the world. Operated by the company's Pulp and Performance Chemicals…
BASF and Markor plan to establish two JVs for BDO and polyTHF in China
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Xinjiang Markor Chemical Industry Co. (Markor; ) plan to establish two joint ventures (JVs) for the production of butanediol (BDO) and polytetrahydrofuran (PolyTHF; chemical name: polytetramethylene ether glycol) in Korla, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region,…
Lanxess invests €80 million in S-SBR production in Brazil
Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is strengthening its standing as the world’s leading producer of high-performance rubber. Following a feasibility study, the company has decided to convert production of emulsion styrene butadiene rubber (E-SBR) used in standard tires, to solution…
U.S. specialty chemical market volume slips in January, ACC says
The U.S. specialty-chemical market volume slipped by 0.1% in January, following gains the previous two months, according to the most recent Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). Of the 28 market…
Outotec grows its maintenance services by acquiring Scanalyse
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has signed an agreement to acquire Scanalyse Holdings Pty Ltd., an Australian-based software technology company with operations in Australia, Brazil, Chile and the U.S. Scanalyse provides services in process equipment condition and performance monitoring. The…
Caloric awarded contract to build a methanol reformer in Indonesia
Caloric Anlagenbau GmbH (Gräfelfing, Germany; www.caloric.com) has been awarded a contract for the engineering and manufacturing of a new hydrogen generation plant from a major chemical company in Indonesia once again. The plant will be able to produce 700 Nm³/h…
Successful operation of high-pressure, entrained flow gasification
On the way to the production of environment-friendly fuels from biomass residue, the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT; Karlsruhe, Germany; www.edu), in cooperation with the technology partner Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions, has realized another important milestone: the second process…
First field testing on frac-water treatment system from OriginOil
OriginOil, Inc. (Los Angeles, Calif.; www.originoil.com), the developer of a breakthrough energy production process for the oil and algae industries, today announced its CLEAN-FRAC water treatment system for the oil and gas industry successfully completed its first field testing on…
BASF to open R&D technology center for battery materials in Japan
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) will open a new Research and Development Laboratory and an Application Technology Center for Battery Materials in Amagasaki, Japan. The facilities will be fully operational by the end of 2013. The laboratory will focus on…