Page 16 - Chemicals

Givaudan invests CHF 5 mn to expand flavour unit in Singapore

Expansion in Singapore follows Givaudan recent investment in high growth markets, such as Nantong (China) and Pune (India)

Stahl acquires flame retardant products maker Eagle Performance

The addition of water-based flame retardants opens up new opportunities for Dutch chemicals company Stahl in areas of technical textiles and leather products

Showa Denko acquires non-stick coatings maker GMM Group

GMM, which has production units in China and India, makes non-stick coating chemicals, which are used in consumer goods such as cookware, bakeware, etc

Sasol increases polypropylene production capacity by 103,000 TPA

The company has invested more than Rand 1 bn (about $ 70 mn) in the expansion project which is located at its Secunda Chemicals Operations

Auto and FMCG sectors driving demand for propylene in India

While polypropylene dominates the Indian market of propylene in 2015, propylene oxide is the second major application area for this petrochemical

Koch Industries acquires Guardian Industries

The acquired company will become standalone subsidiary of Koch Industries

Evonik to expand performance foams capacity in Germany

The company will raise the production capacity of Rohacell foam products, which are used as a core material in the construction of sandwich composites

Edgewater Capital buys BASF's inorganic specialties business

Inorganic specialties includes the Evans City (Pennsylvania, USA) production site and the specialty alcoholates, boranes and alkali metals product lines

Toyobo terminates textile operations in Brazil

The Japanese company, however, will continue production and sales of bio?products and engineering plastic materials, etc in the country

BASF to double MDI production capacity in US

The company will increase the capacity of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) at its Geismar site from 300,000 MTPA to 600,000 MTPA

Danish firm Novozymes plans Rs 300-cr enzymes facility near Mumbai

The company's new enzyme production and supply chain facility, which is expected to be ready for operation in 2018, will cater to the growing India and South-East Asia markets

Jacobs bags contract for MEGlobal's $ 1-bn MEG facility in Texas

The completion of this complex project will help MEGlobal establish a US Gulf Coast presence and expand its position in the monoethylene glycol (MEG) market

Material innovation to bring long-lasting solar panels in market

Biggest growth opportunities in solar often lie in emerging markets located in harsh climates, so technologies to make modules more durable are growing in demand, says Lux Research

Evonik plans to buy Metabolic Explorer's methionine technology

The company has submitted a binding offer to takeover Metex's entire methionine technology platform including patents, essential bacteria strains and the inoLa brand

Natural flavours & fragrances demand in food to reach $ 960 mn in 2020

Demand for natural flavours that can compensate for reduced sodium, sugar, and fat in foods will continue to be strong, says Freedonia Group report

Gujarat Alkalies to invest Rs 683 cr for setting up chloromethanes plant

The company has also revised the project cost for its JV, GACL-Nalco Alkalies (formed to set up a caustic soda plant along with power plant at Dahej), to about Rs 2000 crores

Bayer to set up active ingredients plant for agrochemicals in Vapi

The German company will invest Euro 30 million for the new plant in Vapi, where it recently opened a global formulation technology laboratory

Reliance receives first ethane carrier from Samsung

RIL has given an order for construction of six such vessels, which will be used by the company for transporting ethane from the US to India for the production of petrochemicals

Air purification market pushes demand for activated carbon in US

Gains resulted from the phase-in of the EPA's Mercury & Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which had a final implementation deadline in early 2016, says a Freedonia Group's report

Fertiliser council ICFNR to adopt international best practices in research

It is of prime importance to have an indigenous research environment in India to achieve food security, according to Ananth Kumar