Driven by continued strong growth in the lithium-ion battery market for electric vehicles, Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) will increase the capacity of its high-performance polymer PVDF (polyvinylidene difluoride) dedicated to this market at its Changshu, China plant by approximately 50%.…
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) is building a new small-scale pilot facility at its Ferrara, Italy site moving another step closer to converting post-consumer plastic waste into new plastics on a commercial scale. The company selected its Ferrara…
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (Houston; www.enterpriseproducts.com) announced it will proceed with an expansion of its Appalachia-to-Texas (ATEX) ethane pipeline, based on customer commitments received during a recent 30-day binding open season. The 1,200-mile ATEX pipeline transports ethane from the Marcellus/Utica…
Braskem (São Paulo, Brazil; www.braskem.com.br) reported continued momentum in the construction of the Company's new Delta polypropylene (PP) production line located in LaPorte, Texas. With $525 million invested to date and mechanical construction now 75% complete Braskem's Delta remains on…
The EQUATE Group (Al Ahmadi, Kuwait; www.equate.com) has announced the official start-up of the MEGlobal (www.meglobal.biz) Oyster Creek Site’s commercial production of fiber-grade, on-spec monoethylene glycol. The plant has a nameplate capacity of 750,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of…
Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) announced the proposed divestment of its Functional Polyolefins business to SK Global Chemical (Seoul, South Korea; eng.skglobalchemical.com), a subsidiary of SK, the major South Korean corporation. With this project, Arkema continues its shift towards specialty chemicals…
Aucotec AG's (Hanover, Germany; www.aucotec.com) Engineering Base (EB) platform will ensure the consistency of the plant and the digital image at Oxea GmbH (Monheim am Rhein, Germany; www.oxea-chemicals.com) in the future. The leading manufacturer of oxo chemicals has decided to…
Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan; www.toray.com) announced that it has received orders for ROMEMBRA reverse osmosis (RO) membranes for the Shoaibah 3 Extension 2 and Shoaibah 4 Desalination Plants in Saudi Arabia, which will make the site the nation’s largest…
AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.amg-nv.com) and Shell Catalysts & Technologies (www.shell.us) have signed an agreement to form a joint venture (JV) which will be called Shell & AMG Recycling B.V. The joint venture will provide a…
Recently, at the production site of Brazilian steel producer ArcelorMittal Monlevade a 130-ton-hot-metal desulfurization station (DeS) and a new dedusting system supplied by Primetals Technologies Ltd. (London, U.K.; www.primetals.com) commenced operation. The desulfurization station represents the first installation of Primetals…