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SABIC inaugurates new research center in the Netherlands

On May 19, 2016 SABIC (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; www.sabic.com) inaugurated a new research facility at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, the Netherlands. The official opening was done by the Governor of the Limburg Province Theo Bovens and Peter Borman,…

U.S. specialty chemicals index slips entering second quarter, ACC says

The Specialty Chemicals Market Volume Index, a tool created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) entered the second quarter of 2016 on a soft note, slipping 0.3 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis in April.…

Technip and FMC Technologies to combine, creating $13-billion firm

Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) and FMC Technologies, Inc. (Houston; www.fmctechnologies.com) announced that the companies will combine to create a global company, which will be called TechnipFMC, with an equity value of $13 billion based on pre-announcement share prices. The companies…

Economic trends

The March 2016 preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) stayed even with the value from the previous month, with the Construction Labor, Buildings and Engineering & Supervision subindices all rising, while the Equipment…

Sumitomo Chemical to build new methionine production line in Japan

Sumitomo Chemical Co. (Tokyo; www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp) has decided to expand its production capacity for the feed additive methionine by adding a new production line in its Ehime Works in Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan, to meet the active demand in the…

Gevo and Clariant to develop catalysts for ethanol-based chemicals production

Gevo, Inc. (Englewood, Colo.; www.gevo.com) has entered into an agreement with Clariant (Muttent, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) to develop catalysts to enable Gevo’s ETO technology. As previously disclosed, Gevo’s ETO technology, which uses ethanol as a feedstock, produces tailored mixes of propylene,…

Reverdia announces joint-development program for bio-based polybutylene succinate

A joint development program focused on bio-based PBS (polybutylene succinate) compounds for injection molding has been launched by Reverdia (www.reverdia.com), a joint venture (JV) between Royal DSM N.V. (Heerlen, the Netherlands; www.dsm.com) and starch-derivatives maker Roquette (Lestrem, France; www.roquette.com), and…

Polynt and Reichold Group to merge

Polynt Group (Bergamo, Italy; www.polynt.it) and Reichhold Group (Durham, N.C.; www.reichhold.com) announced a definitive agreement to effect the combination of the two businesses. The business combination is expected to create a leading global, vertically-integrated manufacturer of resins for composites and…

Albemarle announces new executive VP and chief administrative officer

Albemarle Corp. (Baton Rouge, La.; www.albemarle.com) announced that current Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate & Government Affairs and Corporate Secretary Karen G. Narwold has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the company, effective immediately. …

Shandong Luqing Petrochemical commissions China’s first C4 Oleflex unit

Honeywell UOP (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) says that Shandong Luqing Petrochemical Co. accepted performance of China’s first standalone Honeywell UOP C4 Oleflex process unit, producing 170,000 metric tons per year of isobutylene. The unit, located in Shandong Province on China’s…