Latest News: Business
Indorama acquires PET producer in Thailand
Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd. (IVL; Bangkok, Thailand; www.indorama.net) announced that its subsidiary, Indorama Petrochem Ltd., Thailand, has signed a definitive share-purchase agreement with Bangkok Cable Co., to acquire a 94.91% equity stake in Bangkok Polyester Public Co. (BPC). BPC…
Fluor awarded contract for megaproject in Azerbaijan
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has awarded Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) a contract to provide project-management contractor services for its new oil-and-gas processing and petrochemical complex (OGPC) in Azerbaijan. Fluor will book the contract for an…
First propane-dehydrogenation application for Clariant catalyst material goes online in China
Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) has announced that its Heat Generating Material (HGM) for the Catofin process technology for producing propylene from propane demonstrated excellent performance at the propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant of Ningbo Haiyue New Material Co. Limited in Ningbo…
BASF signs sublicense agreement with ExxonMobil for H2S-removal technology
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co. (EMRE) have concluded an agreement on EMRE’s Flexsorb technology. The agreement provides BASF with the right to sublicense the technology and supply the related solvent to third parties. The…
Lanxess names new CFO
The Supervisory Board of Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) has resolved to appoint Michael Pontzen as a member of the board of management, effective April 1, 2015. He will assume the role of chief financial officer (CFO) at the specialty…
Synthomer expands styrene butadiene plant in Malaysia
Synthomer plc (Essex, U.K.; www.synthomer.com; ), a producer of carboxylated styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) for carpet, paper and speciality applications, has announced an expansion of its Kluang plant in Johor State, Malaysia to produce a range of specialty SBR to…
A. Schulman acquires Citadel Plastics
A. Schulman, Inc. (Akron, Ohio; www.aschulman.com) has executed a definitive agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of privately held Citadel Plastics Holdings, Inc., a portfolio company of private equity firms HGGC and Charlesbank Capital Partners,…
OECD CLI predicts growth in most major economies, ACC report says
Data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s latest composite leading indicator (CLI) indicate stable growth momentum for the most of the world’s major economies, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry…
Kirkpatrick Award Nominations: Deadline extended
The deadline for accepting nominations for the 2015 Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award has been extended to March 23. For more details on how to submit your nomination, see the January 2015 Editor's Page, which can be found here: www.chemengonline.com/kirkpatrick-award-call-nominations.
Solvay to acquire alkoxylation plant in the Netherlands
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) has agreed with Emery Oleochemicals and ERCA Group to buy their jointly-owned new alkoxylation facility, ERCA Emery Surfactant B.V., in the Moerdijk integrated industrial park in the Netherlands. As an on-pipe facility, commissioned in 2014,…