Plant Watch
Dow technology selected for new MEGlobal production facility
July 11, 2016 — MEGlobal, a wholly owned subsidiary of Equate Petrochemical Co., has selected process technology from the Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) for its monoethylene glycol (MEG) production facility in Freeport, Tex. The new MEG production facility has a capacity of 700,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr), and is expected to come online in mid-2019.
BASF and Markor start up polytetrahydrofuran plant in China
July 8, 2016 — BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Xinjiang Markor Chemical Industry Co. inaugurated a new polytetrahydrofuran plant in northwest China. The plant, with an annual capacity of 50,000 m.t. of polytetrahydrofuran, is operated by a joint venture between BASF and Markor.
Ineos to expand ethyl acetate production capacity at Hull facility
July 7, 2016 — Ineos (Rolle, Switzerland; www.ineos.com) is embarking on a multi-million-pound expansion of its Hull, U.K. manufacturing facility to increase production of ethyl acetate by 100,000 m.t./yr. It is expected that the additional capacity will be available by the end of next year.
Covestro opens new world-scale plant for precursor HDI in Shanghai
July 7, 2016 — Covestro AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.covestro.com) has inaugurated a new world-scale plant in Shanghai to produce the precursor hexamethylene dissocyanate (HDI). The new plant can produce up to 50,000 m.t./yr of HDI, and is part of an investment program for the site worth more than €3 billion.
Solvay to build integrated hydrogen peroxide unit at pulp-mill site in Brazil
July 6, 2016 — Solvay SA (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) and its affiliate Peroxidos do Brasil have agreed with Suzano Papel e Celulose to build a dedicated hydrogen peroxide production unit using Solvay’s myH2O2 technology, at Suzano’s pulp-mill site in Imperatriz, Maranhão, Brazil. This is the first agreement that Solvay has signed for its myH2O2 peroxide technology.
Mitsui to expand production capacity of high-performance nonwoven materials
July 5, 2016 — Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (Tokyo; www.mitsuichem.com) will expand the Yokkaichi, Japan production facilities of wholly owned subsidiary Sunrex Industry Co. to produce premium high-performance nonwoven materials with elasticity and expandability. The augmentation of Sunrex facilities, when completed in November 2017, represents a capacity increase of 6,000 m.t./yr.
Clariant boosts capacity for water-based pigments in Mexico
June 23, 2016 — Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) inaugurated its new plant for water-based pigment preparations in Santa Clara, Mexico. The new plant doubles Clariant’s annual production capacity for water-based pigment preparations in Mexico. To complement this capacity increase, Clariant is also scheduled to start up a new plant for solvent-based pigment preparations at the same site in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Wacker expands production capacity for silicones in South Korea
June 22, 2016 — Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; www.wacker.com) is expanding its silicone-elastomer production capacity in Jincheon, South Korea. The new facilities will include production plants for silicone sealants, specialty silicones and liquid silicone rubber. Investments for the expansion will total around €16 million. Production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2018.
Jacobs wins detailed engineering contract for PVC plant expansion in Egypt
June 20, 2016 — Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) received a contract to provide detailed engineering and procurement assistance services to TCI Sanmar Chemical S.A.E. for its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant expansion project in Port Said, Egypt. When complete, the facility’s production capacity is expected to be 200,000 m.t./yr.
Honeywell UOP opens new catalyst production line in Shreveport
June 20, 2016 — Honeywell UOP (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) opened a new production line at its catalyst manufacturing facility in Shreveport, La. The $150-million investment will enable the company to produce a new range of catalysts for the petroleum-refining industry at the facility.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Ineos completes acquisition of Inovyn joint venture
July 8, 2016 — Ineos has completed its acquisition of the full shareholding stake in Inovyn, which Ineos and Solvay formed as a 50-50 joint venture in July 2015. Solvay received a final exit payment of €335 million. Solvay’s exit of the joint venture originally was planned for July 2018, but in March it announced its intent to exit early.
Lubrizol acquires U.K.-based Diamond Dispersions
July 5, 2016 — The Lubrizol Corp. (Wickliffe, Ohio; www.lubrizol.com) announced that it has acquired Diamond Dispersions Ltd. (Sheffield, U.K.), a company exclusively focused on the production of water-based dye and pigment dispersions for inks used in digital printing. Diamond Dispersions is now part of Lubrizol Advanced Materials, reporting into Lubrizol’s Performance Coatings business.
Grace completes purchase of BASF Polyolefin Catalysts business
July 5, 2016 — W.R. Grace & Co. (Columbia, Md.; www.grace.com) completed the acquisition of the assets of the BASF Polyolefin Catalysts business. The acquisition includes LYNX high-activity polyethylene (PE) catalyst technologies that are used commercially in slurry processes for the production of high-density PE resins such as bimodal film and pipe. Grace acquired technologies, patents, trademarks and production plants in Pasadena, Tex. and Tarragona, Spain.
Veolia acquires plasticrecycling assets in London
July 5, 2016 — Veolia (Paris; www.veolia.com) has acquired manufacturing assets in East London that will allow the company to collect raw feedstock and produce around 10,000 m.t. of high-quality food-grade HDPE pellets annually from recycled consumer plastics.
Tesoro acquires refining business in North Dakota
June 28, 2016 — Tesoro Corp. (San Antonio, Tex.; www.tsocorp.com) has acquired Dakota Prairie Refining, LLC (DPR), which owns a petroleum refinery near Dickinson, N.D. DPR’s refinery has a crude-oil capacity of 20,000 barrels per day (bbl/d), and produces ultra-low sulfur diesel, naphtha and resid.
Wacker Chemie forms strategic partnership for solar industry
Silicon wafer manufacturer 1366 Technologies, Inc. (Bedford, Ma.; www.1366tech.com) and Wacker Chemie have formed a longterm partnership to accelerate both companies’ growth in the solar industry. Under the terms of the partnership, Wacker will provide 1366 with polysilicon for a planned commercial manufacturing plant.
Technip acquires ethanol dehydration technology from BP
June 22, 2016 — Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) has completed the acquisition of Hummingbird ethanol-to-ethylene technology from BP Chemicals Ltd. (London, U.K.; www.bp.com). The process uses a wide range of ethanol feedstocks and can be integrated into existing ethylene facilities.
PPG sells European fiber-glass operations to Nippon Electric Glass
June 20, 2016 — PPG Industries, Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.ppg.com) has signed an agreement for the sale of its European fiber-glass operations to glass manufacturer Nippon Electric Glass Co. (NEG). PPG and NEG expect to close the transaction in the second half of 2016. ■