Market volumes for U.S. specialty chemicals were flat in April, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The flat result in April followed a 1.3% gain in March and…
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug; Switzerland; www.fwc.com) says that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract by Marubeni Corp. for the engineering and material supply of a new Terrace Wall steam reformer heater, including…
Ineos Technologies (Rolle, Switzerland; www.ineos.com) has announced that it has licensed its INEOS EPS process technology for the manufacture of regular and flame-retardant expandable polystyrene (EPS) to EPS Qatar at a new complex to be built in the Doha region,…
Solazyme, Inc. (South San Francisco, Calif.; www.solazyme.com), a renewable oil and bioproducts company, today announced that its joint venture with Bunge Global Innovation LLC (“Bunge”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bunge Ltd. (White Plains, N.Y.; www.bunge.com), has successfully produced its first…
The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) has awarded Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for its reverse osmosis (RO) manufacturing facility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Located in Jubail Industrial City II…
Westlake Chemical Corp. (Houston; www.westlake.com) has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Germany-based Vinnolit Holdings GmbH and its subsidiary companies from Advent International, a private equity firm. Vinnolit is an integrated global leader in specialty polyvinyl…
Clariant AG (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) has announced that it has signed an agreement with Siemens Fuel Gasification Technology to cooperate in the commercialization of a new, jointly developed sour-gas shift (SGS) technology for coal gasification. The agreement appoints Clariant as…
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), has reached its highest peak since February 2008, while also posting its highest year-over-year gain since September 2010. Measured on a…
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; www.sabic.com) and the Korean petrochemical company, SK Global Chemical, have signed a 50-50 joint venture agreement in Seoul, South Korea for a total investment of $595 million to manufacture a range of…
Ineos Technologies (Rolle, Switzerland; www.ineos.com) has announced that it is supplying four BICHLOR bipolar electrolyzers to HF Chlor-Alkali’s new plant located in Eddyville, Iowa. The new plant will supply caustic soda, muriatic acid and bleach to an adjacent food-processing facility,…