Latest News
Asahi Kasei begins trial operation at green hydrogen plant
Asahi Kasei Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.asahi-kasei.co.jp) has begun trial operation of an alkaline water electrolysis plant for the production of green hydrogen using renewable energy jointly with IHI Corp. in Soma, Fukushima, Japan. With large electrodes, maximum electrolytic capacity of 120…
Mitsui Chemicals to establish new production facility for glass-fiber reinforced polypropylene
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (MCI; Tokyo; www.mitsuichem.com) announced that joint venture Prime Polymer Co., owned 65% by Mitsui Chemicals and 35% by Idemitsu Kosan Co., intends to establish new production facilities for its Mostron-L glass-fiber reinforced polypropylene (GFPP). The new facility…
Metso appoints new CEO
The Board of Directors of Metso Corp. (Helsinki, Finland; www.metso.com) has appointed Pekka Vauramo President and CEO of Metso, effective as of November 2018 at the latest. Pekka Vauramo has served as President and CEO of Finnair since 2013, and…
Messer purchases Romanian gas company
Messer (Bad Soden/Frankfurt, Germany; www.messergroup.com) has acquired Romanian company BUSE Gaz S.R.L. As part of this investment, Messer will take on all employees as well as taking over all fixed assets. In about two years’ time, after expansion and modernization,…
Lanxess constructing new prepolymers production plant in Brazil
Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is building a new, state-of-the-art facility for the production of prepolymers at its site in Porto Feliz, Brazil. The Urethane Systems business unit is investing a single-digit million Euro amount to expand its prepolymer production…
Amyris and Chevron to jointly develop renewable base oils
Amyris, Inc. (Emeryville, Calif.; www.amyris.com) and Chevron Products Company, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (San Ramon, Calif.; www.chevron.com), announced that Novvi LLC and Chevron have entered into an agreement to jointly develop and bring to market novel renewable base…
Solenis opens manufacturing site in Guangdong Province
Solenis (Wilmington, Del.; www.solenis.com) opened its new manufacturing site in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, China. With approximately 37,000 square meters of space, Solenis (Zhuhai) Chemicals Company Ltd. will produce various product lines, including functional, water and process chemistries to support…
2018 CEPCI Updates: March (prelim.) and Feb. (final)
The preliminary value for the March 2018 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; most recent available) increased compared to the previous month’s value, continuing a string of monthly increases since the beginning of the year. And for the second consecutive month,…
Emerson to acquire German pneumatics specialist Aventics
Emerson (St. Louis, Mo.; www.emerson.com) announced it has agreed on terms to acquire Aventics from Triton for a cash purchase price of €527 million. Aventics is among the global leaders in smart pneumatics technologies that power machine and factory automation…
Yokogawa launches IIoT services business unit
Yokogawa Electric Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.yokogawa.com) has announced the launch of amnimo Inc., a business unit that will be tasked with identifying, developing, and offering services that can add value by leveraging the industrial IoT (IIoT) architecture currently under development…