Mobile Navigation

Latest News

U.S. chemical production rises in November, ACC says

The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) rose 0.4% in November following a 1.1% gain in October and a 0.6% gain in September, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). During November, chemical output expanded in…

Chlor-alkali plant commissioned in Bangladesh

International Process Plants and Equipment Corp. (IPP) and Bluestar (Beijing) Chemical Machinery Co. Ltd. (BCMC, a unit of ChemChina), announced today that they have completed commissioning of SR Chemical Group's brand new chlor-alkali production complex, yielding 30,000 tons/yr of 32%…

U.S. specialty chemical markets continue gains in Q4, ACC says

The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes grew 0.4% in November following a revised 1.5% gain in October. Of the 28 specialty chemical segments that ACC monitors, 17 expanded in November, off…

Large-scale renewable hydrogen project to launch in Oman

DEME International NV (Zwijndrecht, Belgium)  and OQ Alternative Energy (OQ; Muscat, Oman) announced the start of a joint project to develop a world leading, green hydrogen plant in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm, Oman in cooperation with The Public…

BASF agrees to divest manufacturing site in Kankakee, Ill.

BASF SE (Ludwigshafen Germany) has reached an agreement to sell its manufacturing site in Kankakee, Illinois and the associated businesses of vegetable-oil-based raw material sterols and natural vitamin E, anionic surfactants and esters produced there to an affiliate of One…

DuPont and Kemira to collaborate on bio-based materials development

DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences (Wilmington, Del.) and Kemira Oyj (Helsinki, Finland) announced an exclusive partnership for the development and commercialization of DuPont’s enzymatic polymerization-based polysaccharide platform technology for certain applications. The collaboration will bring new, biobased and inherently biodegradable product…

Metso Outotec to modernize Norilsk Nickel smelting line in Russia

Metso Outotec Oy (Helsinki, Finland) has been awarded a landmark contract by PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel to modernize one of the company’s two existing smelting lines at their Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant in Norilsk, Russia. The contract value is approximately EUR…

Sibur selects LyondellBasell technology for its Amur Gas Chemical Complex

LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) announced that the Amur Gas Chemical Complex project, being implemented by Sibur Holding PJSC (Moscow, Russia), the largest integrated petrochemicals company in Russia, has selected LyondellBasell’s Spheripol technology for a new facility. The process technology will…

Orion Engineered Carbons completes upgrade at Qingdao facility

Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. (Luxembourg) announced that it has completed a multi-year upgrade to its Qingdao, China facility. A new, state-of-the-art, cogeneration unit was installed, which boosts the site’s sustainability by recovering more energy from the facility.  “This is an…

2020 CEPCI Updates: October (prelim.) and Sept. (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) for October 2020 (the most recent data available) increased compared to the previous month’s value, after the final September value was downwardly revised. The October increase continues a period of…