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Recently Published CPI-Related Books

Industrial Security: Managing Security in the 21st Century. By Pieter Arlow and David Russell. John Wiley & Sons, 2015, $89.95. 224 pages. Industrial Applications of High-Performance Computing: Best Global Practices. Edited by Anwar Osseyran and Merle Giles. Chapman and Hall/…

Hydrogen Production from Natural Gas

Hydrogen (H2) is an important chemical feedstock, mainly applied in the manufacture of ammonia and methanol, and for hydroprocessing operations in petroleum refineries. Also, since H2 is an energy carrier, it has been considered for stationary power and transportation applications.…

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Managing Large Chemical Plant Startups

Prudent planning and scheduling during a project’s front end can lead to more expedient commissioning and startup activities The cost of starting up large new facilities in the chemical process industries (CPI; Figure 1) is a significant element in a…

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U.S. Petroleum Refining: Snapshot 2015

Developments from the 2015 AFPM annual meeting frame a picture of the current state of the U.S. petroleum refining industry On a broad level, the outlook for the U.S. petroleum-refining industry remains bright, despite a recent decline in crude oil…

Global CPRI stable, while CAB sees small gain, ACC says

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), the leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), showed a 0.1% gain in April, while, the Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) remained stable through March. Both pieces…

U.S. CPRI declines for the first time in over a year, ACC says

The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) decreased by 0.3% in March, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report. The decline in March follows flat growth for February and is…

Huntsman increases specialty amine capacity

The Performance Products division of Huntsman Corp. (The Woodlands, Texas; www.huntsman.com) today announced plans to expand capacity of specialty amines at its manufacturing facilities in Petfurdo, Hungary and Conroe, Tex. The new multipurpose unit at Petfurdo extends the Huntsman manufacturing…

Current economic trends

The preliminary value for the February 2015 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; most recent available) declined from the previous month’s value and now stands at 0.7% lower than the corresponding value from a year ago. The  Equipment, Construction Labor and…

OECD CLI suggests strengthening growth in Europe, ACC says

The composite leading indicator (CLI) for February from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD; Paris; www.oecd.org) suggests “strengthening growth momentum in the Euro area,” according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council…

Chemical equities dip in March, ACC says

The S&P Index for chemical companies fell by 4.6% in March, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economics Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The decline in chemical equities is larger than the dip in…