Union Showa (USKK), a joint venture (JV) between Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) and UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) has completed the construction of a new high-silica zeolite plant within the premises of SDK’s Higashinagahara Plant in…
BASF SE’s (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) Refining Catalysts business today launched a new fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts testing and research laboratory at the hte GmbH (hte) site in Heidelberg, Germany. hte is a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF SE and…
Toyo Engineering Korea Limited (Toyo-Korea), a subsidiary of Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, www.toyo-eng.co.jp) has been awarded a contract from Sasol Ltd. (Johannesburg, South Africa; www.sasol.co.za) to provide detailed engineering, procurement, module fabrication, and construction support services for a linear…
BioAmber Inc. (Montreal, Canada; www.bio-amber.com), an industrial biotechnology company producing sustainable chemicals, has signed an exclusive supply agreement for bio-based succinic acid with Oleon. Under the terms of the 5-year contract, which runs from 2014 to the end of 2018,…
The preliminary value for the September CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) rose 0.26% from the final August value, extending the series of monthly increases to six in a row. All four of the major subindices increased…
NORTH AMERICA Europe Asia & Elsewhere 22nd Winter Fluorine Conference. American Chemical Soc., Div. of Fluorine Chemistry (Washington, D.C.). Phone: 800-227-5558; Web: acs.org St. Pete Beach, Fla. January 11–16, 2015 5th Electric Energy Storage Conference. Marcus Evans North America…
Nova Chemicals Corp. (Calgary, Alta.) names Naushad Jamani senior vice president, olefins and feedstock. He replaces Grant Thomson, who is retiring. Michael Oxman becomes a partner at Acorn International (Houston), a provider of environmental- and social-risk-management services. Greene’s…
Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Milan, Italy; www.mairetecnimont.com) has announced that its main subsidiary Tecnimont S.p.A. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Cronus Chemicals,LLC, which will be converted into a contract to build an ammonia and urea plant located in Tuscola,…
The average large project in the chemical process industries (CPI) overruns its sanctioned budget, including contingency, by 21%. Even more alarming, 10% of large projects overrun their budget by more than 70%. These are findings based on research by the…
Hexpol AB (Malmö, Sweden; www.hexpol.com) has acquired the business of Portage Precision Polymers Inc., a well-known rubber compounder in the U.S. market. Portage Precision Polymers, with two manufacturing facilities in Ohio (Ravenna and Mogadore), had a turnover of $29 million…