Latest News: Business
A new piperazine flaker for BASF in Antwerp
In the first quarter of 2009 BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) will start up a new plant for the production of up to 3,500 metric tons of piperazine chips per year at its integrated Antwerp Verbund site. This will significantly…
Siemens’ acquisition of innotec approved
Following the completion of antitrust proceedings by end of September, the EU Commission has approved the acquisition of innotec GmbH (Schwelm, Germany) by Siemens AG (Munich, Germany; www.siemens.com) without imposing any conditions. This international vendor of digital engineering software and…
Bayer builds new chlorine recycling plant in Shanghai
Bayer MaterialScience (Leverkusen, Germany; www.bayermaterialscience.com) plans to build another chlorine recycling plant at the Bayer Integrated Site Shanghai (BISS). The process for this new unit is based on the catalytic oxidation of hydrogen chloride using oxygen. The new technology has…
Production starts at China’s largest integrated silicone site
Today, Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; www.wacker.com) and Dow Corning Corp. (Midland, Mich.; www.dowcorning.com) officially started production in the first stage of their new pyrogenic silica and siloxane plants in Zhangjiagang, China. The new plants are key facilities of an…
AkzoNobel doubles MCA production in China
AkzoNobel (Amersfoort, Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) is to increase monochloroacetic acid (MCA) production capacity at its Taixing site in China to 60,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr). “Our investment demonstrates our strong commitment to serving the growing Chinese market,” said Lars Andersson,…
DuPont opens new facility to serve growing titanium metals industry
Yesterday, DuPont announced that a new titanium tetrachloride purification unit has begun operations at the New Johnsonville, Tenn., titanium dioxide site. Most of the production of the high purity chemical will be used in the growing titanium metal manufacturing industry.…
BASF and Gazprom boost natural gas production in Siberia
Today BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Russia’s OAO Gazprom (www.gazprom.com) officially launched natural gas production at the joint venture ZAO Achimgaz in Siberia. The German-Russian joint venture produces natural gas and condensate from the Achimov Formation, from which it…
Rain CII Carbon reduces turnaround time by 25% using CCPM
To illustrate the advantages of its project management solutions, Satyam Computer Services Ltd., (www.satyam.com), a consulting and information technology company, is drawing attention to Rain CII Carbon (Gramercy, La.; www.ciicarbon.com), a leading global producer of calcined petroleum coke, which recently reduced…
Global chemicals-industry M&A activity surges despite volatile economy
Today, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, (PwC) released its quarterly report Chemical Compounds: Global Chemicals Mergers & Acquisitions Analysis – Third Quarter 2008, which provides details on deal transactions and reveals trends in the chemical industry. Chemical Compounds reported 27 deals, valued at over $50 million,…
Edwards receives largest order in company’s history
Edwards (Crawley, U.K.; www.edwardsvacuum.com) today announced one of the largest orders in the company’s history—the sale of approximately 100 iXH harsh process vacuum pumps to a major flat panel manufacturer. The pumps are intended for a manufacturing facility producing 50+-inch…