Norsk Hydro ASA (Hydro; Oslo, Norway; www.hydro.com) announced earlier this week that it was the victim of an extensive cyber-attack, which impacted operations in several of the company's business areas. IT systems in most business areas were impacted. Hydro isolated…
Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; www.wacker.com) has opened a new laboratory for food applications in Shanghai. This specialized laboratory will enable Wacker to provide its customers in Asia with even better support in developing innovative, customized products in the fast-growing…
The Lubrizol Corp. (Cleveland, Ohio; www.lubrizol.com) announced that another new thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) production line in its Songjiang (Shanghai) China plant is going into production this month, the second expansion in a year aimed at continuous growth in Asia. This…
McDermott International, Inc. (Houston; www.mcdermott.com) announced that it has been awarded a large technology contract for the basic engineering and licensing of Irkutsk Oil Company's (IOC) ethylene plant in Russia, plus the detailed engineering and material supply of six SRT…
LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) announced that Lianyungang Petrochemical Co., Ltd (a company of Zhejiang Satellite) has selected Hostalen Advanced Cascade Process (Hostalen ACP) technology from LyondellBasell to produce 400,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) at…
Each month, Chemical Engineering publishes the latest values for the Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) — a widely used resource for plant construction costs. The CEPCI is calculated using various data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Once a year,…
INEOS Enterprises (London; www.ineos.com) has signed an agreement to acquire the North American business of National Titanium Dioxide Company Limited (Cristal) from Tronox Ltd. (Stamford, Conn.; www.tronox.com) for $700 million. Cristal’s North American business includes two plants located at the…
Frames Group B.V. (Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands; www.frames-group.com) has been awarded a contract to supply two desalters (electrostatic coalescers) to leading Hungarian oil and gas company MOL Group for the Duna Refinery at Százhalombatta near Budapest. The Frames…
Kraton Corp. (Houston; www.kraton.com) has approved the construction of a semi works latex unit in Paulinia, Brazil. Construction is scheduled to complete by the first quarter of 2020 and ready for commissioning during the second quarter of 2020. "The new…
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) is merging its specialty methacrylate monomers - the Applications Monomers Product Line - with its current oil additives business to become the new Oil Additives business line within the Resource Efficiency segment. Application Monomers…