Latest News
KBR wins LBED contract for ammonia plant revamp in Russia
KBR, Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a contract by Dorogobuzh JSC (owned by JSC ACRON) to provide licensing and basic engineering design (LBED) to revamp an ammonia plant — originally built by KBR — located in the Dorogobuzh, Smolensk…
Evonik expands fumed silica capacities in Antwerp
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) is investing an amount in the upper double-digit million euro range in the expansion of its fumed silica capacities in Antwerp, Belgium. The production complex is scheduled to become operational in the summer of…
Topsoe to help HMEL meet BS-VI fuel specification on fast track
Indian refinery company HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd. (HMEL) has chosen Haldor Topsoe A/S’s (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) diesel hydrotreater unit and hydrogen generation facilities to meet their upgrading requirements. The revamped refinery in Bathinda, Punjab will meet the BS VI (equivalent to…
Indorama completes PTA expansion in Rotterdam
Indorama Ventures Public Ltd. (IVL; Bangkok, Thailand; www.indorama.net) announced the completion of the brownfield expansion of its Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) plant, resulting in the total PTA capacity of 700,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) at Rotterdam, and totally over…
Mitsui Chemicals increases global PP processing capabilities
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan; www.mitsuichem.com) and Prime Polymer Co., Ltd., a joint venture (JV) in which Mitsui Chemicals holds 65% and Idemitsu Kosan 35%, announced that production augmentation has been completed and started up to strengthen the group’s position…
Global chemical production expands in June, ACC says
The American Chemistry Council’s (Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) shows that global chemicals production rose 0.4 percent in June. This matches the pace in May, as measured on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. During…
Praj and Gevo begin commercially licensing bio-isobutanol technology
At the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology taking place in Montreal, Canada, Praj Industries Ltd. (Pune, India; www.praj.net) and Gevo, Inc. (Englewood, Colo.; www.gevo.com) jointly announced that Gevo’s proprietary isobutanol technology will now be available for licensing to processors…
Linde invests €30 million in Malaysia capacity expansion
Linde Malaysia, a member of The Linde Group (Munich, Germany; www.the-linde-group.com), will invest €30 million to expand its gas and liquid production capacities to meet growing customer demands in central Malaysia. Linde’s announcement is the latest in a series of…
Asahi Kasei to increase S-SBR capacity in Singapore
Asahi Kasei Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.asahi-kasei.co.jp) has decided to increase the production capacity of its plant in Singapore for solution-polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR) in response for rapid growth in demand for tires that provide enhanced fuel-efficiency as tire production in…
Showa Denko establishes U.S. subsidiary to sell high-purity gases
Showa Denko (SDK; Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) has established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Showa Chemicals of America Inc. (SCA), in Austin, Texas, aiming to strengthen its sale of high-purity gases for electronics in the U.S. American semiconductor manufacturers have 15% of the…