Plant Expansions

ndia’s gas/petrochemical firm Gail India says it successfully produced metallocene linear-low density polyethylene (mLLDPE) on its world-class 400,000-tonne/year Unipol PE Reactor line located in Pata, Uttar Pradesh, early this year. B.C Tripathi, Chairman/Managing Director of Gail commented that demand for metallocene PE resins provides significant growth opportunities within the Indian…

Chemical firm LyondellBasell and Helsinki-headquartered Neste, the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel from waste and residues, have announced the first parallel production of bio-based PP and bio-based low-density PE at a commercial scale. The joint project used Neste’s renewable hydrocarbons derived from sustainable bio-based raw materials, such as waste…

BASF has tied up with Sichuan Lutianhua Co., Ltd.(Lutianhua) to co-develop a pilot production plant, that will reduce carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency in producing dimethyl ether (DME) from syngas compared to the traditional process. DME is a methanol equivalent and can be used as an intermediate to produce lower olefins…

German chemicals giant BASF and Russian petchem company Sibur are collaborating to develop polymer solutions using BASF’s additives at Sibur’s PolyLab R&D centre located in Moscow, Russia. Both companies say they will work together to leverage on the digital technologies in production and R&D, and to develop a range of…

China-headquartered Yanfeng Automotive Interiors (YFAI) and Prisma Renewable Composites say that the companies have entered into an agreement giving YFAI exclusive use of Prisma’s lignin-based material in the development of automotive interiors. Yan Feng/Prisma collaborate on plant-based lignin for vehicle interiors Prisma’s BioLAN material is produced using lignin, a natural…

US packaging maker Tekni-Plex has completed the acquisition of three manufacturing facilities from Amcor Flexible Packaging that serve medical device OEMs. Located in Madison and Milwaukee, WI, and Ashland, MA, the facilities provide a broad portfolio of sterilisable medical device packaging substrates, including coated and uncoated Tyvek, heat-seal and cold-seal…

German materials firm Covestro is to sell its European Systems Houses business to US investment firm HIG Capital. The sales proceeds amount to a high-double-digit Euro million sum. Covestro says the decision to sell the systems houses was taken as part of its ongoing portfolio optimisation process that includes the…

Russian petchem firm Sibur recently commissioned a newly built eco-friendly dioctyl terephthalate plasticiser (DOTP) facility in the Perm region, with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes/year. It will not only cover the needs of the domestic market (estimated at 60,000 tonnes/year) but also will contribute to the non-commodity non-energy exports to Europe and…

US chemical firm ExxonMobil and Riyadh-headquartered Sabic have received final environmental regulatory approval to proceed with the construction of their 50:50 joint venture project in San Patricio County, Texas. Known as the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures, the US$20 billion project will include one of the world’s largest ethane crackers, designed…

German chemicals maker Wacker has inaugurated a new production line for silicone elastomers at its Zhangjiagang site in China. With an annual capacity of several thousand tonnes, the facility will help support Wacker’s future growth path in China and improve the availability of high consistency silicone rubber (HCR) in the…