Plant Watch Unipetrol breaks ground on Czech Republic’s largest petrochemical project June 10, 2016 — Unipetrol a.s. (Prague, Czech Republic; www.unipetrol.cz) has officially broken ground for the construction of a new polyethylene unit, said to be the largest investment in…
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Hummingbird ethanol-to-ethylene technology from BP Chemicals Ltd. (London, U.K.; www.bp.com). Utilizing a proprietary catalyst operating under mild operating conditions, the technology converts ethanol to ethylene through…
LACC LLC, the joint-venture company formed by Axiall Corp. (Atlanta, Ga.; www.axiall.com) and Lotte Chemical Corp. (Seoul, South Korea; www.lottechem.com), today held a groundbreaking ceremony at its Calcasieu Parish, La. construction site. This follows a Dec. 17, 2015 announcement that…
International technology and manufacturing company Invista (Wichita, Kansas; www.invista.com) recently resolved another intellectual property (IP) arbitration against a Chinese company for misuse of Invista’s confidential and proprietary purified terephthalic acid (PTA) technology.“The resolution is encouraging because protecting our intellectual property…
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), expanded 0.8 percent in June following a revised 0.9 percent increase in May and 0.7 percent increase in April. All data…
The April 2016 preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) rose from the previous month, with all four major subindices experiencing increases. The March final values were upwardly revised from the values reported last…
The Specialty Chemicals Market Volume Index, a tool created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) continued the second quarter of 2016 on a soft note, slipping 0.3 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis in May.…
PPG Industries, Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.ppg.com) today held a ceremony marking the completion of a new $10 million coatings center of excellence at its existing complex in Tianjin, China. The new facility will serve regional customers in the automotive plastics…
The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) successfully completed a critical debottlenecking project at its Freeport, Texas facility that increased capacity for glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) by 30% annually. The project, which was announced in December 2015, was launched to provide…
Effective June 3, 2016, Solenis (Wilmington, Del.; www.solenis.com), through its Australia subsidiary Solenis Australia Pty Ltd., completed the acquisition of the business assets of Nuplex Pulp & Paper from Nuplex Industries Australia Pty Ltd., an exclusive distributor and technology licensee…