Latest News: Business
BASF to sell fertilizer activities
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) plans to sell major parts of its fertilizers activities. This comprises production plants in Antwerp, Belgium and BASF’s 50% share of the joint venture PEC-Rhin in Ottmarsheim, France. The activities have a total annual capacity…
NREL’s Biorefinery Research Facility Phase two construction underway
The Dept. of Energy's (Washington, D.C.; www.energy.gov) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL; Golden, Colo.; www.nrel.gov) has completed construction on phase one and entered phase two of an Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility (IBRF) — a place for NREL and industry to…
U.S. EPA extends greenhouse gas reporting deadline
The U.S. EPA (Washington, D.C.; www.epa.gov) announced today in a statement that it is announcing its intention to extend this year’s reporting deadline — originally March 31 — and plans to have the final uploading tool available this summer, with…
Dow: $100 million to reduce energy use
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) says it will accelerate energy efficiency and conservation improvements within its operations through an investment of $100 million in projects that will reduce energy usage and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The $100 million…
B&W: Renewable energy contract in Finland
The Babcock & Wilcox Co.'s (B&W; Charlotte, N.C.; www.babcock.com) Denmark-based subsidiary, Babcock & Wilcox Vølund A/S (B&W Vølund), has been awarded a $35-million contract with Finland-based EkoKem OY to supply key equipment for a 36-MW waste-to-energy, combined heat-and-power plant in…
Invista: New nylon 6,6 intermediates and polymer plant in Shanghai
Invista (Wichita, Kan.; www.invista.com) is moving forward on its plans to construct a manufacturing facility at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in China to meet the region’s demand for nylon 6,6 intermediates and polymer. The company is currently engaged in…
U.S. chemical production up in all regions in January, ACC report says
Total production of chemicals in January rose in all geographic regions of the U.S., according to the U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (CPRI). Assembled by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com ) and discussed in the latest ACC…
BMS inaugurates new polyisocyanates unit in India
Bayer MaterialScience (BMS; Leverkusen, Germany; www.bayerbms.com) has inaugurated a manufacturing facility for polyisocyanates at Ankleshwar, in the state of Gujarat, India. Polyisocyanates are used as raw materials for the production of polyurethane coatings and adhesives. With the investment of approximately…
Oxea extends specialty ester capacity
Oxea GmbH (Oberhausen, Germany; www.oxea-chemicals.com) announces significant capacity expansion for specialty esters to keep up with growing demand. The capacity of the existing Ester unit in Oberhausen will be extended by 40%, effective second half 2011. Additionally, Oxea plans to build…
Micronics: Contract for extracting & dewatering tailings at North American gold mine
Micronics, Inc. (Portsmouth, N.H.; www.micronicsinc.com), manufacturers of filter presses, filter plates, and filter cloths used for gold, silver, and mineral processing in the mining industry, has been awarded a $14-million contract to provide Lasta MC Filter Presses to a north…