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Business News: November 2022

Plant Watch Covestro breaks ground in Antwerp for new aniline plant October 12, 2022 — Covestro AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.covestro.com) broke ground in Antwerp, Belgium for a new world-scale production facility for the manufacture of aniline. Covestro is investing more…

2022 CEPCI updates: August (prelim.) and July (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) for August 2022 (most recent available) declined from the previous month — the second straight monthly decline after a long string of increases between November 2020 and June 2022. For…

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Facts At Your Fingertips: Lifecycle Cost Analysis Basics

When evaluating capital projects in the chemical process industries (CPI), there are many scenarios in which there are important differences between the alternatives in terms of capital, operations and maintenance and decommissioning costs. In these cases, decisions must be made…

2022 CEPCI updates: July (prelim.) and June (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) for July 2022 (most recent available) fell slightly from the previous month's final value, which was downwardly revised by a small amount. The month-to-month decrease is the first in the…

U.S. chemical production was flat in August, ACC says

The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) was flat in August following a 0.2% gain in July and a 0.1% decline in June, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). Chemical output was higher in all…

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Business News: September 2022

Plant Watch Evonik’s Coating Additives business expands production capacity in Taiwan August 16, 2022 — The Coating Additives business line of Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) is expanding production capacity for precipitated matting agents at its manufacturing facility in…

A chemical industry profile

Last month, the American Chemistry Council (ACC; www.acc.org) released its 2022 edition of the “Guide to the Business of Chemistry [1],” which profiles the U.S. chemical industry, including markets, developments, contributions to both domestic and global economies and more. The…

LG Chem to build fourth carbon nanotube plant

LG Chem (Seoul, South Korea) is expanding its investment in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with the construction of the world’s largest single-line CNT manufacturing plant. The new plant is part of LG Chem’s initiative to gain a more competitive edge in…

U.S. chemical production rose in July, ACC says

The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) rose by 0.2% in July, following a 0.1% decline in June and a 0.4% gain in May, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). Chemical output was mixed across…

BASF and Sulzer Chemtech to collaborate on sustainable technologies

BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) and Sulzer Chemtech (GTC Technology; Winterthur, Switzerland) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to advance technologies for renewable fuels and chemically recycled plastics that will further expand the partners’ portfolio of sustainable solutions. The companies…