PRA News

Just how big is plastics pollution?? As big as the Arctic Ocean, according to a research team led by the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO), which has discovered microplastics visible to the naked eye and that may affect marine life even in the remotest parts of…

Russia’s oil/gas company Sibur’s Blagoveshchensk site, in the Republic of Bashkortostan, near the Kazak border, recently held a ceremony to celebrate the US$90 million reconstruction of its terephthalic acid (TPA) production facility, the only one currently in Russia. Currently, consumption of TPA in Russia amounts to around 500 kilotonnes/year and…

Chinese chemicals maker Hengli Group has started up what is said to be the world’s largest on-purpose olefin production plant with a capacity of 1 million tonnes/year. The mixed-feed dehydrogenation plant in Dalian, China, is utilising Swiss chemical firm Clariant’s Catofin catalyst. The new unit combines propane dehydrogenation (PDH) with…

Chinese chemicals maker Wanhua Chemical Group has, through its Hungarian subsidiary, acquired Swedish manufacturer of MDI, TDI, hydrogen peroxide and bioethanol-derived chemicals Chematur Engineering for around EUR120 million. Wanhua acquired a 75% stake in Chematur from Chinese chemical group Jilin Connell Investment. The remaining 25% equity was from Hong Kong-registered…

Altivia Ketones & Additives, an affiliate of Altivia Petrochemicals, is to acquire Dow’s Acetone Derivatives Business and associated chemical manufacturing assets in West Virginia, as well as the Institute Industrial Park. The 460-acre Institute Industrial Park was originally operated by Union Carbide and became an industrial park in the mid-1980s.…

Belgian family-owned nylon integrated producer Domo Chemicals is to acquire the Performance Polyamides Business of Solvay (Brussels) in Europe. The business needed to be divested to a third party as part of the European Commission’s merger control clearance process, towards completing the divestment of Solvay’s remaining polyamides business to Germany-based…

Swiss chemicals maker Clariant’s catalysts business has set up a new services and support office in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Located in the eastern coast of the country, Jubail is the world’s largest industrial city and an important site for the petrochemicals market. Clariant’s new office is thus ideally positioned to…

Styrenics maker Ineos Styrolution held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new 100 kilotonne ASA (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate) plant in Bayport, Texas, recently. The development of the new site is part of a bigger expansion plan for the Americas, which includes increased ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) capacity at the Altamira site…

State owned oil/gas firm Saudi Aramco will buy a 20% stake in the oil-to-chemicals business of India’s Reliance Industries Ltd, in a deal valued at US$15 billion, as the Indian company seeks to cut its massive debt of US$22 billion, and secure an assured supply of crude oil to its…

Malaysia’s Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd (LCT) is to divest 49% of its equity interest in PT Lotte Chemical Indonesia (LCI) to its major shareholder, Lotte Chemical Corporation, Korea (LCC), which is also the parent company, for US$65.4 million cash. Public-listed LCT will still hold a 51% stake in the…