Plant Watch Inovyn starts up KOH plant in Belgium October 13, 2017 — Inovyn (London, U.K.; www.inovyn.com) announced the completion of its new potassium hydroxide (KOH) production facility at its Antwerp/Lillo site in Belgium. The new plant uses membrane technology…
Plant Watch AkzoNobel opens paint manufacturing facility in the U.K. September 12, 2017 — Akzo Nobel N.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) has opened its €100-million paints production plant in Ashington, U.K. The factory will be capable of doubling AkzoNobel’scurrent U.K.…
Plant Watch $8-billion phosphate megaproject starts up in Saudi Arabia August 11, 2017 — Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) announced that the Ma’aden Wa’ad Al-Shamal Phosphate Co.’s Umm Wu’al Phosphate Project in Saudi Arabia has started production. Fluor is providing…
Plant Watch Arkema invests in capacity expansion for biosourced polyamide 11 July 12, 2017 — Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) plans to invest around €300 million over five years in the biosourced polyamide 11 chain, building a new production plant in…
Plant Watch Ineos announces plans to build new PDH plant, increase ethylene capacity June 12, 2017 — Ineos (Rolle, Switzerland; www.ineos.com) announced plans to construct a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Europe. The plant will produce 750,000 metric tons per…
Plant Watch Dow plans for significant U.S. growth with five-year investment strategy May 11, 2017 — The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) announced a five-year investment plan that includes expansion of Dow’s new TX-9 ethylene cracker through the addition…
Plant Watch LyondellBasell announces HDPE technology license in Dalian April 12, 2017 — LyondellBasell’s (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) Hostalen ACP process technology was selected by Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Chemical Co. for a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) unit to be built in…
Plant Watch SNC-Lavalin wins EPC contract for ammonia plant in Oman March 9, 2017 — SNC-Lavalin (Montreal, Que., Canada; www.snclavalin.com) has been awarded a contract by Salalah Methanol Co. LLC (SMC) for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of an…
Plant Watch AkzoNobel announces startup of bio-steam facility at Delfzijl plant February 13, 2017 — AkzoNobel N.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) and utility company Eneco announced the startup of a bio-steam facility at AkzoNobel’s Delfzijl site in the Netherlands. Eneco…
Plant Watch Arkema plans $90-million upgrade at Clear Lake acrylic acid plant January 11, 2017 — Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) is investing $90 million at its Clear Lake, Tex. site to replace two acrylic-acid reactors, each with a capacity of…