thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG’s (Essen, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com) subsidiary Uhde Inventa-Fischer is to build a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant for SASA Polyester Sanayi A.Ş in Adana, Turkey. The contract was signed in July 2016 and came into effect in December. With…
Praxair Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) has signed a longterm contract to supply hydrogen to Marathon Petroleum Corp.’s refinery in Garyville, Louisiana. The company will use the hydrogen to support an ultra-low-sulfur diesel project planned for 2018. Marathon Petroleum is the…
The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes rose 0.3 percent in December. This follows an upwardly revised 0.5 percent gain in November. Volumes have generally been moving up since May. All changes…
Solvay SA (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) announced the creation of a joint venture (JV) with Marubeni Europe plc, a division of Japan-based Marubeni Corp., and turbine supplier Ansaldo Energia to invest in an energy-efficiency project at Solvay’s facility in Rosignano, Italy.…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has completed a capacity increase of its methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) production facilities at the company´s Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The capacity increase brings the annual production of MDI in Antwerp from 560,000 to…
Shell (The Hague, the Netherlands; www.shell.com) and Sabic (Riyadh, Saudia Arabia; www.sabic.com) have signed an agreement whereby Sabic will acquire Shell’s 50% share in the petrochemicals Sadaf joint venture (JV), located in Jubail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for $820 million.…
The preliminary value for the November CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) experienced a jump from the previous month’s value, due largely to fresh data on carbon-steel plates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that pushed the…
LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) announced completion of the 800 million pounds-per-year ethylene expansion project at the company's Corpus Christi, Texas, site. The project increases ethylene capacity at the facility by 50%, from 1.7 billion pounds-per-year to 2.5 billion pounds-per-year,…
PPG Industries, Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.ppg.com) announced that its board of directors has elected Vincent J. Morales to serve as senior vice president and chief financial officer (CFO), effective March 1. Morales is replacing Frank S. Sklarsky as CFO, who…
Schneider Electric SE (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.schneider-electric.com) announced the acquisition of Renewable Choice Energy, a leader in helping commercial, industrial and institutional clients navigate their clean energy purchasing options. Schneider Electric’s acquisition further enhances its existing position in the rapidly growing renewables…