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Evonik invests in new research center at Rheinfelden site  

Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) is making an investment in the double-digit-million euro range in a new research center at the Rheinfelden, Germany site. Starting at the beginning of 2016, research into silanes will be carried out in modern…

Current Economic Trends

The preliminary value for the April CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) rose 0.4% from the final March value, after dropping the previous month. The gain was mostly due to a rise in the Equipment subindex. The…

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Ineos to acquire BASF’s share in Styrolution  

Ineos (www.ineos.com) will acquire BASF SE’s (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) 50% share in Styrolution, a joint venture between the companies. The purchase price to be paid by Ineos amounts to €1.1 billion. A call option in favor of Ineos to buy…

Kuraray to expand U.S. facilities for polyvinyl alcohol production

Kuraray Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.kuraray.co.jp/en) has decided to expand its production facilities in the U.S. at its wholly owned subsidiary MonoSol, LLC, headquartered in Merrillville, Ind. Kuraray will establish a new factory, to be located in Portage, Ind., including new…

Evonik expands polyamide-12 capacity and develops bio-based production process

Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has expanded its polyamide-12 production capacity at the Marl Chemical Site by 5,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr), thereby increasing the supply security of its Vestamid high-performance polymer material. In addition, preparations have begun…

Altana acquires stake in Landa Corp., invests in digital printing technology

The specialty chemicals group Altana (Wesel, Germany; www.altana.com) and Landa Corp. have concluded an equity financing agreement under which Altana will invest €100 million (~US$135 million) for a minority stake in Landa Digital Printing. Both companies see the agreement not…

Topsøe to establish catalyst manufacturing facility in Brazil

Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) is currently in the process of establishing a production facility in Brazil. The facility will focus on manufacturing catalysts that can remove dangerous nitrogen oxides (NOx) as well as particulate matter and hydrocarbons from…

U.S. specialty chemical market volumes rose in May, ACC report says

Specialty chemical market volumes in the U.S. rose 0.6% in May, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The May gain follows a 0.1% rise in April and a…

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Solvay and Ineos to create chlorovinyls producer, Inovyn  

Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) has signed a definitive agreement with Ineos to create a strong player in chlorovinyls, to be named Inovyn. The joint venture (JV) is expected to be effective by year-end following the divestments required by the…

H.B. Fuller to acquire Tonsan Adhesive for $230 million

H.B. Fuller Co. (St. Paul, Minn.; www.hbfuller.com) has announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase Tonsan Adhesive, Inc. With this acquisition, H.B. Fuller will add strong customer relationships in the engineering adhesives markets, manufacturing facilities, and product and…