Business & Economics
Business News: August 2023
Plant Watch UBE to expand silicon nitride plant July 13, 2023 — UBE Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.ube.com) plans to expand the silicon nitride production facility at its chemical complex in Ube, Japan. The facility is scheduled to go online in…
Thyssenkrupp Uhde Oleochemicals Thailand wins contract for alkoxylation reactor unit
Thyssenkrupp Uhde Thailand has been awarded a contract by BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) for engineering services and proprietary equipment supply for its new non-ionic surfactant (NIS) plant at its Zhanjiang Verbund Site Project, Guangdong Province, China. The plant will employ…
Business News: July 2023
Plant Watch ALPLA to construct PET recycling plant in South Africa June 13, 2023 — Alpla Group (Hard, Austria; www.alpla.com) is building a new recycling plant in Ballito, South Africa. The plant, with an output of 35,000 metric tons per…
Changes to Calculation Inputs for CEPCI Due to Discontinued Data Series
Discontinued series IDs associated with producer prices for storage tanks requires a modification to the CEPCI The Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) is a widely used tool for comparing plant construction costs in the chemical process industries (CPI) between…
ACC chemical industry outlook shows slowing production and regulatory challenges
Following a strong year, U.S. production has slowed going into the second half of this year as demand for chemicals softens and a risk of recession remains high, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) Economic Mid-Year…
2023 CEPCI updates: April (prelim.) and March (final)
The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) for April 2023 (most recent available) rose compared to the previous month’s value, the second consecutive monthly rise. The April values saw small increases in all four subindices (Equipment; Buildings;…
Recently Published Books for the CPI: July 2023
The following is a list of recently published books that may be relevant to professionals in the chemical process industries (CPI). Turquoise Hydrogen: An Effective Pathway to Decarbonization and Value Added Carbon Materials. Edited by Matteo Pelucchi and Matteo Maestri,…
Business News: June 2023
Plant Watch Trinseo inaugurates new PC dissolution pilot facility in the Netherlands May 15, 2023 — Trinseo LLC (Berwyn, Pa.; www.trinseo.com) inaugurated its polycarbonate (PC) dissolution pilot facility in Terneuzen, the Netherlands. Dissolution recycling is a type of physical recycling…
Open Process Automation Offers Business Benefits
The Open Process Automation Standard (O-PAS) Business Guide makes the business case for the O-PAS. An example from the biopharmaceutical industry illustrates the benefits of interoperability and open process automation architecture Normally, technical standards focus purely on technology. However, while…
Global and U.S. chemical production trended higher in April, ACC says
Marking another month of incremental gains, global and U.S. chemical production rose in April. According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), the Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) rose by 0.4% in April following a revised…