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Business News: January 2021

Plant Watch LG Chem to run Wuxi cathode-materials plant on 100% renewable power December 14, 2020 — LG Chem Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea; www.lgchem.com) concluded an agreement related to the supply of 140 GWh of renewable energy for its cathode-materials…

Chemical Activity Barometer climbs in December, ACC says

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), rose 1.1% in December on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis, unchanged from November and October. On a year-over-year (Y/Y) basis,…

U.S. chemical production rises in November, ACC says

The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) rose 0.4% in November following a 1.1% gain in October and a 0.6% gain in September, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). During November, chemical output expanded in…

Chlor-alkali plant commissioned in Bangladesh

International Process Plants and Equipment Corp. (IPP) and Bluestar (Beijing) Chemical Machinery Co. Ltd. (BCMC, a unit of ChemChina), announced today that they have completed commissioning of SR Chemical Group's brand new chlor-alkali production complex, yielding 30,000 tons/yr of 32%…

U.S. specialty chemical markets continue gains in Q4, ACC says

The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes grew 0.4% in November following a revised 1.5% gain in October. Of the 28 specialty chemical segments that ACC monitors, 17 expanded in November, off…

2020 CEPCI Updates: October (prelim.) and Sept. (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) for October 2020 (the most recent data available) increased compared to the previous month’s value, after the final September value was downwardly revised. The October increase continues a period of…

Chemical industry rebound expected for 2021 after recession dip, ACC says

U.S. chemical production is regaining momentum after coping with supply disruptions, falling demand and shrinking revenue linked to the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) Year-End 2020 Chemical Industry Situation and Outlook. With…

Clariant appoints new CEO

Specialty chemicals maker Clariant AG (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) today announced that Conrad Keijzer will become the company's new Chief Executive Officer. The Board of Directors has appointed him in its meeting yesterday evening. Conrad Keijzer will officially join the company…

Standard Lithium completes Li-extraction proof-of-concept at pre-commercial scale

Standard Lithium Ltd. (Vancouver, B.C.; www.standardlithium.com), an innovative technology and lithium project development company, announced yesterday that it has successfully completed the start-to-finish proof of concept of its modern lithium processing technology. Successful operation of the technology at pre-commercial continuous…

CE Podcast: Bentley Systems’ Anne-Marie Walters Discusses Digital Twins

Listen to the latest episode of the Chemical Engineering Podcast, where I interview Anne-Marie Walters, industry marketing director for the process industries at Bentley Systems, about the use and impact of digital twins at chemical process industries (CPI) facilities.  Digital…