Latest News: Business
GTL joint venture
Velocys plc (Plain City, Ohio; www.velocys.com) has entered a joint venture (JV) with Waste Management (www.wm.com), NRG Energy (NRG; www.nrgenergy.com), and Ventech Engineers International (Ventech; www.ventech-eng.com) to develop gas-to-liquids (GTL) plants in the U.S. and other select geographies. The JV…
German Engineering & Construction: staying competitive in a volatile environment
The member companies of the Large Industrial Plant Manufacturers Ì Group (AGAB) at the German Engineering Federation (VDMA; Frankfurt am Main, Germany; www.vdma.org) booked orders worth €21.2 billion in 2013, a 3% increase year-on-year (2012: €20.5 billion). The industry is…
Oxea to increase plasticizer capacity in Europe
Oxea GmbH (Oberhausen, Germany; www.oxea-chemicals.com) is planning to increase its European capacity for Oxsoft GPO (Dioctyl Terephthalate - DOTP) by 50,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) by the fourth quarter of 2015. To this end, Oxea has signed a memorandum…
Chevron Phillips licenses metallocene-based PE process technology to Repsol
Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cpchem.com) and the chemicals division of Repsol S.A. (Madrid, Spain; www.repsol.com) have announced that Repsol has entered into an agreement to license Chevron Phillips Chemical’s proprietary technology for production of metallocene-based polyethylene (PE)…
BASF TOTAL Petrochemicals announces startup of tenth furnace at Texas steam cracker
The joint venture BASF TOTAL Petrochemicals LLC (Port Arthur, Texas; www.basf.us and www.totalpetrochemicals) today announced the startup of a tenth furnace at its steam cracker facility in Port Arthur, Texas. The additional furnace improves feedstock flexibility, enhances plant reliability and…
U.S. chemical production expanded in February, ACC says
According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), the U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) grew 0.3% in February. Following flat growth in January due to harsh winter weather, February’s CPRI showed growth in six out of…
Oxea begins basic engineering work on new units in Bay City
Oxea GmbH (Oberhausen, Germany; www.oxea-chemicals.com) has started basic engineering for a 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) and a propanol unit at its world-scale production plant in Bay City, Tex. Both units are scheduled to come onstream in late 2016. Key elements of the…
Air Products to deliver gas-supply systems to Samsung
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) has announced it has been awarded a major contract by Samsung Electronics Co. to supply complete bulk specialty-gas and chemical delivery systems in support of its fab in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, western China. The…
Addivant expands antioxidant capacity in Saudi Arabia
Addivant (Middlebury, Conn.; www.addivant.com) has announced the completion of the first phase of capacity expansions at Gulf Stabilizers Industries (GSI), the company’s joint venture in Al Jubaïl, Saudi Arabia. Once completed, the production capacity of hindered phenolic antioxidants, ANOX 20…
Foster Wheeler acquires Siemens Environmental Systems
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) has announced that a subsidiary of its Global Power Group has signed an asset purchase agreement with Siemens Energy, Inc. to acquire the Siemens Environmental Systems and Services business that supplies and services clean…