Ashland Inc. (Columbus, Ohio; www.ashland.com) recently completed a capacity expansion for hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC), marketed under the brand Natrosol, in Nanjing, China. This expansion increased the manufacturing capacity of the site by nearly 30%. Key markets for HEC include coatings, personal…
Total Corbion PLA, a 50/50 joint venture between Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) and Corbion (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.corbion.com), announced the startup of its 75,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) PLA (Poly-Lactic Acid) bioplastics plant in Rayong, Thailand. The plant…
Hexcel Corp. (Stamford, Conn.; www.hexcel.com) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ARC Technologies, Inc., a leading supplier of custom RF / EMI and microwave-absorbing composite materials for military, aerospace and industrial applications. The acquisition strengthens Hexcel’s existing advanced…
Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) announced that it will relocate its global corporate headquarters to Charlotte, North Carolina, a city close to several of Honeywell's businesses in the Southeast United States. Honeywell also announced it will relocate the headquarters of its Safety and…
Kemira Oyj (Helsinki, Finland; www.kemira.com) has formed a joint venture with a producer of alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) wax in China. With this agreement, Kemira forms a joint venture – Kemira TC Wanfeng Chemicals Yanzhou (NewCo) – with Shandong Tiancheng…
DuPont Water Solutions (www.dupont.com/water), a part of the DuPont Safety & Construction business, opened its new reverse osmosis (RO) production line in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Located in Jubail Industrial City II, the facility will manufacture membrane technology and…
Aker Solutions (Fornebu, Norway; www.akersolutions.com) and Siemens AG (Munich and Berlin, Germany; www.siemens.com) have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to further develop digital offerings in engineering, operations and services. The collaboration focuses on the creation of software applications and joint…
Hanwha Total Petrochemical (www.hanwha-total.com), a 50/50 joint venture between Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) and Hanwha Group (Seoul, South Korea; www.hanwha.com), will invest nearly $500 million to further expand its Daesan integrated refining and petrochemical complex in South Korea. The…
Last month, news broadcasts announced that an artificial intelligence (AI) news anchor, said to be the world’s first ever, had gone live in China. 1 The AI anchor was modeled after a real-life news presenter, and is said to be…
The increased demand for lithium in recent years — driven mainly by battery manufacturing — has broadened the scope of lithium-processing technologies. Typically, lithium is mined from spodumene ore or sourced from brine deposits, but a new process enables lithium’s…