BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has inaugurated its new production plant for mobile emissions catalysts in Sroda Slaska, a Special Economic Zone near Wroclaw, Poland. The grand-opening event was attended by a number of national and local government officials, including…
AGY (Aiken, S.C.; www.agy.com), a global producer of glass-fiber yarns and glass-fiber reinforcements, has announced the start of production of S-1 HM glass in conjunction with CTG/Taishan Fiberglass. The material was developed by AGY and will be produced by CTG/Taishan…
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) is building a new production plant for polymer dispersants at the Goldschmidtstrasse site in Essen. The specialty chemicals company is thus investing an amount in the double-digit-million-euro range and is tripling its global capacity…
Stepan Co. (Northfield, Ill.; www.stepan.com), through its subsidiary in Brazil, has reported that it has reached an agreement with Procter & Gamble do Brasil S.A. to acquire their sulfonation production facility in Bahia, Brazil subject to approval by the Brazilian…
3M (St. Paul, Minn.; www.3m.com) announced that it will acquire, through Sumitomo 3M, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd.’s 25% percent interest in Sumitomo 3M Ltd. for approximately $885 million. Upon completion of the cash transaction, 3M will own 100% of Sumitomo…
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has closed on an equity investment in Biosynthetic Technologies, LLC (BT; Irvine, Calif.; www.biosynthetic.com), a specialist in biobased lubricants. BT has developed and manufactures a new class of bio-based synthetic oils called estolides that…
Celanese Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.celanese.com) has announced that it will expand its manufacturing capabilities at the company’s Suzano, Brazil, facility to include Celstran long-fiber reinforced thermoplastics (LFRT) production. The Celstran expansion is expected to be operational by mid-2015. This new…
Albemarle Corp. (Baton Rouge, La.; www.albemarle.com) and Rockwood Holdings, Inc. have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Albemarle will acquire all outstanding shares of Rockwood in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $6.2…
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) and Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology Development Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Limited (GCL-Poly), have signed a letter of intent to establish a joint venture for the production of fumed…
EuroChem (Moscow, Russia; www.eurochem.ru) has announced the launch of phosphate ore production at the Kok-Jon phosphate rock deposit in the Jambyl region, Kazakhstan. The EuroChem project in Kazakhstan has already produced around 20,000 metric tons (m.t.) of phosphate ore, which…