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Current Economic Trends: May CEPCI

The preliminary value for the May 2015 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) continued the trend of small monthly declines since the beginning of the year. The May CEPCI is 2.4% lower than the corresponding value from…

OECD CLI shows gains in 16 of 33 major countries, ACC report says

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD; Paris; www.oecd.org) recently released its composite leading indicator (CLI) for May, and it shows that 16 of the 33 major nations experienced a gain in their CLI, according to the latest Weekly…

Recently Published Books for the CPI: July 2015

Chemical Engineering Booklist for July 2015 Solid-Liquid Filtration: Practical Guides in Chemical Engineering, by Barry Perlmutter, Elsevier, 2015, 136 pages, $33.96. Batch and Semi-batch Reactors: Practical Guides in Chemical Engineering, by Jonathan Worstell, Elsevier, 2015, 108 pages. $33.96. An Applied…

Leading economic indicator points to acceleration, ACC says

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), increased by 0.7 percent in June, followed by a similar gain in May, and an upwardly revised 0.5 percent gain in…

Huntsman Acquires Polyurethane Elastomer Manufacturer Tecnoelastomeri

Huntsman Corporation (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.huntsman.com) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Tecnoelastomeri, a manufacturer and marketer of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) based hot-cast elastomer systems and processing machines, based in Modena, Italy.  2014 sales revenue for…

Specialty-chemical volumes fall again in May, ACC report says

Specialty chemical market volumes in the U.S. fell by 0.8% in May, continuing a series of declines since December of last year, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com).…

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Current Economic Trends: April

The preliminary value for the April 2015 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) continued the trend of small monthly declines since the beginning of the year. The April CEPCI is 1.8% lower than the corresponding value from…

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Tips for the Multitasking Engineer

These tips, based on experience, can help engineers keep on top of their many tasks It is not uncommon for engineers to be working on multiple projects at the same time. Have you been in a situation where project priorities…

U.S. chemical production flat in April, specialties down, ACC report says

The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) was flat in April, following upwardly revised flat growth in March and a 0.2% gain in February, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC;…

Current Economic Trends

The preliminary value for the March 2015 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) once again declined from the previous month's value, and remains 0.5% lower than the corresponding value from a year ago at the same time.…