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Umicore selects Poland to build new cathode-materials plant

Further to its announcement earlier this year of a first production plant to manufacture cathode materials for the European automotive market, Umicore N.V. (Brussels, Belgium; www.umicore.com) has now selected a site in Nysa, Poland, for this investment. The plant will…

BASF opens electronic-grade sulfuric acid plant in China

BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) started operations at a new electronic-grade sulfuric acid (H2SO4) plant in Jiaxing, China, to serve the country’s growing semiconductor manufacturing industry. Driven by strong demand from customers, the plant has simultaneously started its expansion phase…

Johnson Matthey to commercialize new battery material

Johnson Matthey (London, U.K.; www.matthey.com) announced details of its business strategy in the battery-materials sector, including the commercialization of the new enhanced lithium nickel oxide (eLNO) battery material. eLNO is an ultra-high energy density material, said to compete with emerging materials…

Arkema plans to double thiochemicals production at Beaumont site

Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) has confirmed a detailed investment review, with its partner Novus International, Inc., to double production capacities at Arkema’s Beaumont Thiochemicals site in the U.S. This project will support the strong global growth in the animal nutrition…

Ascend Performance Materials to expand adiponitrile production capacity

Ascend Performance Materials, LLC (Houston; www.ascendmaterials.com) announced plans for expanding its adiponitrile (ADN) capacity through 2022. In total, Ascend will grow its ADN capacity by 220,000 metric tons (m.t.) by 2022 to meet increasing demand. Ascend completed its first expansion…

Global chemical production starts Q2 on a good note, ACC says

Data collected and tabulated by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) show that the global chemical industry started the second quarter on a good note. ACC’s Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) shows that global chemicals production…

AkzoNobel opens powder coatings plant in Changzhou

Production has started at AkzoNobel’s (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) new powder coatings plant in Changzhou, China. The facility – one of the largest of its kind in the world – is located at an existing site and will help to…

Cepsa to collaborate on drone-based inspection project

A consortium made up of Compañía Española de Petróleos S.A.U. (Cepsa; Madrid, Spain; www.cepsa.com), La Línea Vertical, a specialist engineering company focused on non-destructive testing (NDT) and Dronetool, an expert in drone design and construction, will work to develop a…

Sadara and Veolia sign MOU for sustainable utilities

Sadara Chemical Co. (Jubail, Saudi Arabia; www.sadara.com) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Veolia Middle East SAS (Veolia) to construct a sustainable central utilities facility in PlasChem Park, the unique industrial park adjacent to the Sadara Chemical Complex.…

EuroChem opens fertilizer blending plant in Brazil

EuroChem Group AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.eurochemgroup.com) announced the opening of a new fertilizer blending plant in Brazil as part of the continued expansion of Fertilizantes Tocantins (FTO). EuroChem acquired a controlling interest (50%+1 share) in FTO in 2016 as part…