SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall AB have now produced the world’s first hydrogen-reduced sponge iron at a pilot scale. The technological breakthrough in the HYBRIT initiative captures around 90% of emissions in conjunction with steelmaking and is a decisive step on…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) announced that its Ultramid Ccycled polymers, manufactured in Freeport, Texas, have received validation by Underwriters Laboratories (UL). Under UL 2809, Environmental Claim Validation Procedure (ECVP), Ultramid Ccycled grades, using multiple pre- and post-consumer waste streams, are…
Indorama Ventures Ltd. (IVL; Bangkok, Thailand) has announced that it is in an exclusive negotiation with Ultrapar Participações S.A. for the possible purchase of the business of Ultrapar’s subsidiary Oxiteno S.A. Indústria e Comércio in Brazil. IVL would like to…
U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes rose 0.7% in May and are now above the pre-winter storm levels of January, according to data from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). Activity remains off from pre-pandemic levels, ACC said. Of…
Lukoil (Moscow, Russia) recently commenced commissioning of the PENEX isomerisation unit at the Nizhny Novgorod refinery, in the city of Kstovo. The unit will allow to apply low-temperature isomerisation to light naphtha in order to produce high-octane blending fuel. The…
Following announcement of a joint development agreement in June 2020, Dow, Inc. (Midland, Mich.) and Shell Chemicals (London, U.K.) now report progress on their technology program to electrically heat steam cracker furnaces. This new route has the potential to significantly…
PPG (Pittsburgh, Pa.) announced an expansion of its coatings manufacturing capacity in Europe for packaging applications. The investments at sites in The Netherlands and Poland will support growing customer demand in the region for the latest generation of coatings for…
Diab Group (Helsingborg, Sweden) has agreed to acquire the ULTEM foam-production line from SABIC (Jubail, Saudi Arabia). Diab will incorporate the ULTEM resin-based foam into its current portfolio under the name Divinycell U. Diab will further the development of ULTEM…
Covenant Energy Ltd. (Saskatchewan, Canada) has chosen Haldor Topsoe’s HydroFlex renewable fuel technology to produce clean diesel from vegetable oil. The 6,500 barrels-per-day renewable diesel unit will be built in Saskatchewan, Canada, and is scheduled to go into operation early in…
Yokogawa Bio Frontier, Inc., a subsidiary of Yokogawa Electric Corp. (Tokyo), announced that it has commenced sales of 100% plant-derived sulfated cellulose nanofiber (S-CNF). The company is initially providing samples to prospective customers, and will subsequently scale up production in…