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North America (9880) South America (625) Western Europe (5455) Eastern Europe (920) Middle East (1167) Africa (268) Southeast Asia (977) North Asia (1651) China (1889) India/Pakistan (1075) Australia/New Zealand (244)
NORTH AMERICA Reports: Croda acquires Arizona Chemical's specialty products business
Croda International (Goole, UK) has completed the acquisition of Arizona Chemical's (Jacksonville, FL) specialty products business, according to local media reports. The deal does not include any production sites. The acquired technologies and products are... BASF to expand production capacity for water-based polymers in US; to close Delaware site
BASF says it plans to expand manufacturing capacity for products marketed under the Joncryl trade name at plants located at Wyandotte, MI, and Monaca, PA, to support customer growth in the printing, packaging, and industrial coating markets. BASF’s... Lautenberg, Vitter announce bipartisan bill for TSCA modernization (UPDATED)
Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and David Vitter (R-LA) today announced the introduction of the Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013—a bipartisan effort to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that has the endorsement of both... Air Liquide names Dow executive as head of US industrial gas business
Air Liquide has realigned its executive management team in the US, including the recent hire of former Dow Chemical executive Jeff Buckley to lead the company's US industrial gas business. Michael Graff remains chairman and CEO of American Air Liquide, and... BASF-Total Port Arthur steam cracker to process ethane
Since early April, the BASF-Total steam cracker has been able to produce up to 40% of its ethylene from ethane and another 40% from butane and propane.... More Stories » SOUTH AMERICA Report: Braskem still planning $3.5-billion petrochemical complex in Peru
Braskem (Sao Paolo) is still planning to build a previously reported $3.5-billion petrochemical complex in Peru, in alliance with the country's state-run energy company PetroPeru (Lima), according to a report from Reuters. Braskem and PetroPeru signed a... Braskem launches biobased LDPE line
Braskem (São Paulo) has launched its line of biobased low-density polyethylene (LDPE) derived from sugarcane ethanol, the company has announced. Annual production of biobased LDPE will amount to approximately 30,000 m.t./year, and the product will be... EU to impose dumping duties on biodiesel from Argentina, Indonesia
The European Union will impose provisional antidumping duties on biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia, according to various media reports. Argentinean biodiesel will face a provisional tariff of 7–11%, and Indonesian biodiesel will face a... Lanxess opens production facility for curing bladders
Lanxess says its Rhein Chemie (Mannheim, Germany) subsidiary has opened a previously announced new facility for high-performance curing bladders, which are used in the production of tires, at the company’s site at Porto Feliz, Brazil. The plant has a... Evonik starts engineering for silica plant in Brazil
Evonik Industries has started basic engineering for a precipitated silica plant in Brazil and expects to complete the plant by 2015, subject to approval from the relevant bodies and authorities. The planned facility, located at Americana, in the state of... More Stories » WESTERN EUROPE Reports: Croda acquires Arizona Chemical's specialty products business
Croda International (Goole, UK) has completed the acquisition of Arizona Chemical's (Jacksonville, FL) specialty products business, according to local media reports. The deal does not include any production sites. The acquired technologies and products are... Air Liquide and CNRS renew cooperation and research agreement
Air Liquide says it has renewed its framework agreement with the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS; Paris), for cooperation and research, for a period of five years. The new agreement extends and strengthens the partnership agreement signed... Dow Corning and Univar extend distribution agreement in Europe
Dow Corning says it has extended its distribution agreement with Univar to serve the needs of the pressure sensitive industry in Europe. Univar, as a result, will extend the geographic scope of its distribution of Dow Corning’s product range for the... Tanker operator Eitzen posts big increase in Ebitda
Tanker operator Eitzen Chemical (Oslo) says its Ebitda more than doubled in the first quarter of 2013 compared with the fourth quarter of 2012, to $10.5 million. Revenue was not disclosed. The result reflects an improvement in the chemical shipping market... ECHA calls for new round of comments on reproductive toxicity and carcinogenicity of etridiazole
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA; Helsinki) has invited additional comments on proposals for harmonized classification and labeling (CLH) for etridiazole, used as a fungicide to control soil and root fungi in the treatment of substrate-grown crops. The CLH... More Stories » EASTERN EUROPE Russian president attends Sibur's commissioning of TPE unit at Voronezh
Vladimir Putin at Voronezh. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the commissioning ceremony of Sibur’s styrene butadiene styrene thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) unit at Voronezh on Thursday. The 50,000 m.t./year unit is based on technology licensed... ECHA calls for new round of comments on reproductive toxicity and carcinogenicity of etridiazole
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA; Helsinki) has invited additional comments on proposals for harmonized classification and labeling (CLH) for etridiazole, used as a fungicide to control soil and root fungi in the treatment of substrate-grown crops. The CLH... Global PS demand expected to be lower in 2013 because of high feedstock costs, product substitution
Polystyrene (PS) demand is expected to be lower worldwide this year compared with last year, according to the latest IHS Chemical Market Advisory Service: Global Plastics & Polymers report. PS is under pressure because high feedstock and conversion... PPG starts production of protective and marine coatings at Poland facility
PPG Industries says it has started manufacturing protective and marine coatings (PMC) at the company’s facility at Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland. The facility became a part of PPG through the acquisition of Dyrup (Copenhagen), which was completed... Rosneft and Mitsui sign MOU to develop Russian petchem site
Rosneft (Moscow) and Mitsui & Co. have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop jointly Rosneft’s previously announced Far East Petrochemical Co. (Fepco) project near Nakhodka, in Russia’s far east. The world-scale petrochemical complex, in its first stage, will be able to process 3.4 million m.t./year of feedstock, predominantly naphtha.... More Stories » MIDDLE EAST Report: Sabic opens compounding facilities at Al Jubail
Sabic has opened its first engineering plastics compounding facility as well as a new polypropylene (PP) compounding plant, at its manufacturing affiliate, Saudi Specialty Chemicals Co. (Al Jubail), according to a report from Saudi Gazette. "Both the... Global PS demand expected to be lower in 2013 because of high feedstock costs, product substitution
Polystyrene (PS) demand is expected to be lower worldwide this year compared with last year, according to the latest IHS Chemical Market Advisory Service: Global Plastics & Polymers report. PS is under pressure because high feedstock and conversion... Oman plans cracker and polyethylene plant at Suhār
Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Co. (Orpic; Muscat) plans to build an olefins complex and a polyethylene plant at the port of Suhār, Oman, at a cost of about $3 billion. The project, together with previously announced investments—including... Muntajat: a new gateway to Qatar’s chemicals Output will more than double by 2020
Qatar Chemical and Petrochemical Marketing and Distribution Co. (Muntajat; Doha) will, by mid-2013, take over the marketing and distribution of all chemicals and petrochemicals produced in Qatar.... Odfjell and Saudi Arabia’s NCC to discontinue tanker pool
Odfjell Tankers and National Chemical Carriers (NCC; Riyadh) have agreed to dissolve their pool of 40,000–45,000 deadweight (dwt) m.t. coated chemical tankers, effective 1 June.... More Stories » AFRICA Global PS demand expected to be lower in 2013 because of high feedstock costs, product substitution
Polystyrene (PS) demand is expected to be lower worldwide this year compared with last year, according to the latest IHS Chemical Market Advisory Service: Global Plastics & Polymers report. PS is under pressure because high feedstock and conversion... Lanxess's chrome mine in South Africa hit by strike
Miners at the Rustenburg, South Africa, chrome mine owned by Lanxess went on an strike on Thursday and are still striking today. A spokesperson for Lanxess told CW that the miners are demanding an annual performance payment (APP) in addition to the... Iran, Egypt, Turkey agree to form petrochemical industry association for developing countries
Iran, Egypt, and Turkey have agreed to form the core of a new industry association, the International Petrochemical Association, an OPEC-like body that will enable cooperation among stakeholders in the Developing 8 (D-8) countries, according to various... Report: Stockholm Convention agrees on phaseout of HBCD
The sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention has agreed to begin phasing out the use of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) in little more than a year, according to a report from Agence France-Presse. HBCD is used in furniture... Sasol to defend propylene and PP pricing policies before competition tribunal
The Competition Tribunal (Pretoria) is set to hear next week the case brought against Sasol by the Competition Commission (Pretoria), under which Sasol was accused of charging excessive prices for propylene and polypropylene (PP) in the South African market... More Stories » SOUTHEAST ASIA Shin-Etsu buys General Electric out of silicones joint venture in Thailand
Shin-Etsu Chemical has acquired the 50% it did not already own in Asia Silicones Monomer (ASM; Rayong, Thailand) from General Electric Co.(GE) for 15 billion Japanese yen ($147.4 million), the company announced on Thursday. ASM was jointly managed by the two... Global PS demand expected to be lower in 2013 because of high feedstock costs, product substitution
Polystyrene (PS) demand is expected to be lower worldwide this year compared with last year, according to the latest IHS Chemical Market Advisory Service: Global Plastics & Polymers report. PS is under pressure because high feedstock and conversion... BASF, Petronas to build aroma ingredients facility in Malaysia
BASF and Petronas Chemicals say they will invest a total of $500 million in an integrated aroma ingredients project at the companies’ BASF Petronas Chemicals joint venture site in the Gebeng Industrial Zone at Kuantan, Malaysia.... Clariant invests in pigments in Indonesia, China, and India
Clariant will build a pigment preparations plant at Tangerang, Indonesia, as part of a series of investments to strengthen support for customers in China, India, and Indonesia. The project is another step in Clariant’s commitment to support customers in... EU to impose dumping duties on biodiesel from Argentina, Indonesia
The European Union will impose provisional antidumping duties on biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia, according to various media reports. Argentinean biodiesel will face a provisional tariff of 7–11%, and Indonesian biodiesel will face a... More Stories » NORTH ASIA Songwon reports huge rise in quarterly profits
Songwon Industrial (Ulsan, South Korea) reports a more than 7-fold increase in net profits for the first quarter compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, to 7.72 billion South Korean won ($6.85 million). First-quarter sales decreased 0.2%... Global PS demand expected to be lower in 2013 because of high feedstock costs, product substitution
Polystyrene (PS) demand is expected to be lower worldwide this year compared with last year, according to the latest IHS Chemical Market Advisory Service: Global Plastics & Polymers report. PS is under pressure because high feedstock and conversion... Siam Cement’s chemicals unit reports huge rise in profits
SCG Chemicals, the chemical subsidiary of Siam Cement Group (SCG; Bangkok), reports a more than doubling in profits for the first quarter of 2013 compared with the year-ago quarter, to 2.63 billion baht ($91 million), mainly because of better margins, SCG... Korean companies report mixed results for the first quarter
Leading Korean chemical companies report mixed financial results for the first quarter of 2013. LG Chem posted a 10.6% decline in net profits for the first quarter compared with the year-ago period, to 340.4 billion South Korean won ($308 million)... DuPont inks MCC deal
DuPont is expanding its microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) product lines through an extended agreement with Mingtai Chemical (Bade City, Taiwan), a leading manufacturer of MCC. The agreement includes development, production, distribution, marketing, and sale of... More Stories » CHINA Air Liquide to supply industrial gases to caprolactam project in China
Air Liquide says it has signed a long-term contract with Fujian Shenyuan New Materials Co. to supply industrial gases for its caprolactam production project at the Lianjiang Kemen Economic & Development Zone in Fujian Province, China. Air Liquide, under... BASF to build crop protection products facility in China
BASF says that it will build a new formulation and packaging plant for crop protection products at Rudong, China. The plant, which will have a production capacity of 10,000 m.t./year, is expected to be fully operational in 2014 and will employ over 100... Ineos Nitriles and Tianjin Bohai to form acrylonitrile joint venture
Ineos Nitriles has signed a heads of terms agreement with Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industry Group to create an equally owned joint venture to produce acrylonitrile, the company announced today. The new partnership will build and operate a 260,000-m.t./year... DSM buys stake in pectins maker
DSM says that it has signed agreements to acquire a 19% equity interest in Yantai Andre Pectin (Yantai, China), a producer of texturing ingredients. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. The two... Bayer MaterialScience opens innovation hub at Shanghai
Bayer says that its Bayer MaterialScience subsidiary has opened a previously announced new regional innovation hub for Asia/Pacific at Shanghai. More than 200 experts will develop ideas for the use of high-performance plastics, foams, and coatings in key... More Stories » INDIA/PAKISTAN Jubilant and Syngenta Sign Pyridines Supply Deal
Jubilant Organosys has signed a multimillion-dollar, long-term agreement to supply pyridines to Syngenta.... India outlines API export norms, to comply with new EU regulations
India’s Ministry of Commerce & Industry (New Delhi) says that it is taking action in order to ensure that active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) exported from India into the European Union (EU) meet the new EU standards and regulations, which will... Water shortage prevents re-start of Zuari's fertilizer complex in Goa
Zuari Agro Chemicals (Goa) has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it is unable to re-start its ammonia and urea facility following completion of a maintenance turnaround due to water shortage. The plant was taken offline on 25 March 2013 for an annual... Report: EU lets antidumping duties lapse on PET from 5 Asian countries, renews antisubsidy duty on PET from India
The European Union decided during a plenary session at Strasbourg, France, to let lapse a set of antidumping duties on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), imposed in 2000 on product imported from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand, according to a... Kingfa to buy majority stake in Indian auto-compounds maker Hydro S&S
Kingfa Sci & Tech (Guangzhou, China) has entered into an agreement to buy a majority stake in Hydro S&S Industries (Chennai, India), the companies tell the Bombay Stock Exchange. The acquisition of a 66.5% stake will cost 106.4 million Indian rupees... More Stories » AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND Orica and PhosAgro sign 10-year mining services supply contract
Orica (Melbourne) says it has signed a 10-year contract with Apatit (Kirovsk, Russia), a subsidiary of fertilizer company PhosAgro (Moscow), to supply explosives and blasting services to Apatit’s mining facilities at Kirovsk situated in the Murmansk... Air Liquide acquires home health-care firm in Australia
Air Liquide says it has acquired a 73.3% stake in Healthy Sleep Solutions (Sydney), a leading player in the field of diagnosis and treatment for patients with sleep disorders, notably sleep apnea. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed. Healthy... Brenntag acquires AdBlue distributor in Australia
Brenntag says it has signed a purchase agreement to acquire the distribution business of Blue Sky Environment (Brisbane, Australia). Blue Sky is a distributor of AdBlue with a national storage and dispensing network across Australia. AdBlue is a non-toxic and... Orica reports rise in profits and sales
Orica (Melbourne) reports a 5.3% rise in net profits for the fiscal first half, ended 31 March, compared with the year-ago period, to A$266.8 million ($271.8 million). First-half sales increased 1.2%, to A$3.33 billion. The half-year result reflects the early... Australia's Potash Minerals awarded exploration permit for Utah project
Potash Minerals (West Perth, Australia) has been awarded a potash exploration permit for its K2O Utah Hatch Point exploration project by the US Bureau of Land Management (Washington), Potash Minerals announced today. It is the first exploration permit awarded... More Stories »
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