Latest News: Business
Chemical construction spending up Y/Y, but equities slip in January, ACC reports
Spending on the construction of new chemical manufacturing facilities is up 73.5% year-over-year, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The ACC’s current list of chemical industry projects totals…
Toyo announces appointment of new CEO
The Board of Directors of Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, www.toyo-eng.co.jp) have announced the appointment for the offices of president and chief executive officer (CEO). Effective April 1, 2015, current Director and senior executive officer Kiyoshi Nakao will take the…
Kuraray boosts production capacity for ethylene vinyl alcohol in Belgium
Kuraray Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.kuraray.co.jp/en) will boost the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH resin) production capacity of EVAL Europe N.V., a wholly owned Kuraray subsidiary located in Antwerp, Belgium. The capacity increase will add 11,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr)…
Global Bioenergies achieves milestone in renewable methacrylic acid production
Global Bioenergies (Evry, France; www.global-bioenergies.com) have reached the first milestone of the BioMA+ project, which is financed by the French “Investissements d’ Avenir” State program. The project aims at developing a renewable value chain to methacrylic acid, a key constituent…
Black & Veatch names managing director of water services
Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kan.; www.bv.com) announced that Ann Bui has been named Managing Director for water services in the company's Management Consulting business. She is based in Los Angeles. Bui will guide sales, marketing and performance management. Bui…
DuPont appoints two members to board of directors
DuPont’s (Wilmington, Del.; www.dupont.com) announced that it has appointed Edward D. Breen and James L. Gallogly as independent Directors to its Board, effective immediately. The appointments of Breen and Gallogly have been made in anticipation of two current DuPont directors,…
Thermo Fisher Scientific acquires bioprocessing solutions company ASI
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Waltham, Mass.; www.thermofisher.com), the world leader in serving science, announced that it has acquired Advanced Scientifics, Inc. (ASI), a global provider of single-use technologies for customized bioprocessing solutions, for $300 million in cash. ASI designs, manufactures…
W.R. Grace to split into two separate companies
W.R. Grace & Co. (Columbia, Md.; www.grace.com) has announced that its Board of Directors has approved a plan to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies. The two companies, to be named prior to closing, will be “New Grace,” comprised…
Styrolution opens SBC pilot plant in Antwerp
Styrolution Group GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany; www.styrolution.com) recently launched a pilot styrene-butadiene copolymer (SBC) plant in Antwerp. The new plant will produce all of Styrolution's SBC grades and includes capabilities for the processing of other polymer types. An identical but scaled-down…
PAS signs longterm contract with BP Downstream
PAS, Inc. (Houston; www.pas.com) announced a new multi-year contract with BP Downstream. BP will use PAS inBound to help manage critical operational limits in their refineries and petrochemicals assets. PAS inBound captures, visualizes, analyzes, and alerts operators on boundary data…