Avantium Technologies B.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.avantium.com) signed an agreement with Mitsui & Co. (Tokyo; www.mitsui.com), to commercialize 100% bio-based 2,5-furandicarboxyllic acid (FDCA) and polyethylene furanoate (PEF) in Asia. As part of this agreement, Mitsui has been granted a right…
DuPont (Wilmington, Del.; www.dupont.com) and The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) announced that their boards of directors unanimously approved a definitive agreement under which the companies will combine in an all-stock merger of equals. The combined company will be…
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) has announced that the world’s first commercial-scale, solid acid catalyst alkylation unit was started up in August at Zibo Haiyi Fine Chemical Co., a subsidiary of Shandong Wonfull Petrochemical Group Co. Ltd. (Wonfull). The unit…
Royal DSM (Heerlen, the Netherlands; www.dsm.com) announced that its business group DSM Engineering Plastics has opened an office in the San Francisco Bay area to support the consumer electronics business and the rapid growth of this segment. Richard Pieters, President…
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) plans to complete a debottlenecking project at its Freeport, Texas facility to increase capacity for glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) in the second quarter of 2016. The wide use of GMA, a versatile monomer for…
Kuraray Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.kuraray.co.jp/en), along with Kureha Corp., Irochu Corp. and the Innovations Network Corp. of Japan, have agreed to dissolve Kureha Battery Materials Japan Co. (KBMJ), the joint venture for lithium-ion-battery materials. In addition, KBMJ’s operations related to…
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) announced that its joint venture in the Middle East – Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) – has achieved a key milestone of first polyethylene production, meeting previously announced targets to begin production by year-end…
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) has signed an agreement with U.K.-based private equity firm Arle Capital Partners to acquire 100% of Netherlands-based Stork Holding B.V. for an investment of €695 million ($755 million). Stork is a global provider of maintenance,…
Celanese Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.celanese.com) announced that it has successfully concluded the sale of its atmospheric (vinyl and acrylics) emulsions unit in La Canonja (Tarragona), Spain. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. IQOXE, a Tarragona-based petrochemical company specializing…
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC; Tokyo; www.m-kagaku.co.jp) and Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC) announced plans to jointly market a dehydration system using the MCC-developed Zebrex zeolite membranes for bioethanol production processes in the U.S. MCC provides the zeolite membranes and modules…