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German engineering and construction business down, but optimistic
New orders booked in Germany by members of the VDMA Large Industrial Plant Manufacturers ́ Group (Frankfurt am Main, Germany; www.grossanlagenbau.vdma.org) in 2016 totaled €18.9 billion, which was 3% down on the previous year and the lowest level since 2004.…
Total, Borealis and Nova to jointly build new steam cracker and PE plant on U.S. Gulf Coast
Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) is entering a partnership with Borealis AG (Vienna, Austria; www.borealisgroup.com) and Nova Chemicals Corp. (Calgary, Alta.; www.novachem.com) to form a joint venture (JV) with the aim of building an ethane steam cracker and a new…
GFBiochemicals and API to build world-scale biorefinery in the U.S.
GFBiochemicals Ltd. (Milan, Italy; www.gfbiochemicals.com) and American Process Inc. (API), leaders in the global bio-product industry, are pleased to announce that they have entered into a joint development agreement to create the largest integrated cellulosic bio-refinery in the world. The…
Rennovia enters piloting stage of its bio-based 1,6-hexanediol process
Rennovia Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.; www.rennovia.com) has now successfully commissioned, and is operating, all core pilot plant operations for its sugars to 1,6-hexanediol (1,6-HDO) process. 1,6-HDO is a specialty chemical widely used today in a variety of formulated products, including…
Lubrizol begins construction for new polyisobutylene unit in Texas
The Lubrizol Corp. (Wickliffe, Ohio; www.lubrizol.com) announces that in conjunction with its previously announced technology license agreement with Daelim Industrial, it has begun construction of a new polyisobutylene (PIB) unit at its Deer Park, Tex. facility. Construction of this unit…
Henkel appoints chief digital officer
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Düsseldorf, Germany; www.henkel.com) has named Rahmyn Kress as chief digital officer to accelerate Henkel’s digital activities. He will report directly to Henkel CEO Hans Van Bylen. Rahmyn Kress will join Henkel in the second quarter…
Emerson opens additive manufacturing center in Singapore
With the goal of spurring innovation to address customers’ engineering design challenges and accelerating speed to market for new, rigorously-tested products, Emerson (St. Luois, Mo.; www.emerson.com) opened an advanced additive manufacturing center at its Singapore campus. This is Emerson’s second…
BASF expands production capacity for herbicide dicamba in Beaumont
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) opened its expanded production facility for dicamba in Beaumont, Texas. Dicamba is the active ingredient in BASF’s newest herbicide product Engenia, which was granted approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in December 2016.…
Outotec to deliver technologies for zinc plant in Mexico
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has agreed with Peñoles Group to provide zinc production related technologies to the Met-Mex Peñoles' zinc production facility in Torreon, Mexico. The contract, valued at approximately EUR 24 million, has been booked in Outotec's first…
Yokogawa names new CEO for North American division
Yokogawa Corporation of America (Sugar Land, Tex.; www.yokogawa.com/us) announced that Shuji Mori, a company veteran who has been with Yokogawa for nearly three decades, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Yokogawa Corporation of America. In the role of…