Chemical

US speciality chemicals firm Eastman Chemical is expanding its capabilities for the production of hydrogenated and non-hydrogenated hydrocarbon resins at both its Middelburg, the Netherlands, and Jefferson, Pennsylvania, manufacturing sites. Additional investments will also be made in the production of polyolefin polymers at the Longview, Texas, manufacturing site. It will expand capacity…

Riyadh-headquartered polymer/chemical firm Sabic says it is making significant investments in expanding the capacity of its Ultem and Extem high heat resin, with a new production plant in Singapore due to come on-stream in the first half of 2021. It did not outline the capacity, but said In total, it is expanding…

German specialty chemicals company Lanxess says it has completed the expansion of its Macrolex dyes production plant at the Chempark Leverkusen. With an investment of more than EUR5 million, the capacity was increased by around 25%. The expanded plant was officially put into operation at the beginning of May. “By…

Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation is to increase the production capacity of SoarnoL ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) resin by 3000 tonnes/year to 41 000 tonnes/year at its consolidated subsidiary Noltex LLC’s facility located in La Porte, Texas, in the US. The production increase is slated to take effect in the…

French chemical firm Arkema says it has chosen the location of Jurong Island in Singapore to build its new world-scale plant dedicated to the manufacture of the amino 11 monomer and its flagship Rilsan polyamide 11 resins. With this 50% increase in its global capacities announced in July 2017, it…

US petrochemicals major ExxonMobil plans to invest an additional US$2 billion to expand its Baytown, Texas, chemical plant. The expansion, expected to start up in 2022, includes a new Vistamaxx performance polymer unit that will produce about 400,000 tonnes/year of polymers. The project will also enable ExxonMobil to enter the…

To minimise the consumption of fossil resources and to reduce the carbon footprint, the demand for sustainable, renewable, bio-based or “green” products is constantly increasing. Emery Oleochemicals is a leading global producer of natural-based chemicals made predominantly from natural oils and fats that are readily available to meet this demand.…

PetroChina to use LyondellBasell tech for HDPE plant in China In other news, LyondellBasell says that PetroChina will use its Hostalen Advanced Cascade Process technology for a 1,100 kilotonne HDPE plant. Licensor selection has been done by China HuanQiu Contracting & Engineering Co., Ltd. (HQC) a wholly owned subsidiary of…

In what it says is the company’s efforts to reduce post-consumer styrenic waste, styrenics maker Ineos Styrolution has produced its first production of virgin polystyrene (PS) from only depolymerised material. Ineos says that a lab-scale quantity of general purpose PS produced from 100% recycled styrene monomer in Antwerp signals a…

In what is said to be one of the largest deals in the chemical industry, the world’s largest oil/petrochemical firm Saudi Aramco is to acquire a 70% stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) for US$69.1 billion, from its owner, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. The remaining…