che_february-2025 - 10

Business News
LINEUP
AGC
ASHLAND
BASF
BAYER
CALGON CARBON
COVESTRO
FUJIFILM
IMERYS
MESSER
MITSUBISHI CHEMICAL
MITSUI CHEMICALS
MOSAIC
PHILLIPS 66
SIEMENS
WOOD
Plant Watch
Messer to construct $70-million
air-separation unit in Arkansas
January 15, 2025 - Messer Group GmbH
(Bad Soden, Germany; www.messergroup.
com) has announced a strategic investment of
over $70 million to construct a state-of-the-art
air separation unit (ASU) in Berryville, Ark. This
new ASU will also complement the company's
existing facility in Lewisville, Ark., enhancing
production capacity for various gases. The
ASU in Berryville is slated for completion in
the second half of 2026.
Mitsui Chemicals to expand production
capacity for ophthalmic lens materials
January 15, 2025 - Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.
(Tokyo; www.mitsuichemicals.com) plans to
boost production capacity for its MR series of
high-refractive-index lens material by building
a second MR plant at its Omuta Works site
in Japan. MR is a thiourethane-based highrefractive-index
lens material that offers a high
Abbe value (minimizing chromatic aberration)
and high refractive index, while being lightweight
and impact-resistant. The new plant is slated
to begin commercial operation in 2028.
AGC invests in a new glass
production line in Lodelinsart, Belgium
January 14, 2025 - AGC Glass Europe, the
European branch of AGC Inc. (Tokyo; www.
agc.com), announced a major investment in
a new insulating vacuum-glass production
line at its Lodelinsart site in Belgium. The new
production line is scheduled to start operations
in 2026.
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies
expands production site in Denmark
January 13, 2025 - Fujifilm Diosynth
Biotechnologies, a group company of Fujifilm
Corp. (Tokyo; www.fujufilm.com), completed
its recent production expansion in Hillerød,
Denmark. This first expansion at the site
increases capacity from six to twelve bioreactors
for mammalian cell culture, making the site
the largest end-to-end biopharmaceutical
manufacturing site in Europe.
Look for more
latest news on
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10
Covestro to expand
polycarbonate production site in Ohio
January 8, 2025 - Covestro AG (Leverkusen,
Germany; www.covestro.com) plans to
expand its site in Hebron, Ohio, where it will
construct multiple new production lines and
infrastructure to manufacture customized
polycarbonate compounds and blends.
This project will significantly expand the
capacity of Covestro's Solutions & Specialties
business for the U.S. market. Construction
of the new production lines is scheduled to
begin in 2025, with operations starting by
the end of 2026.
Messer Group starts up
" green " CO2 plant
January 2, 2025 - Messer Group has begun
operations at a new plant producing " green "
CO2 at its Vrdy site in the Czech Republic. At
this site, Messer sources the CO2 as raw gas
from a local bioethanol producer, reducing
greenhouse gases emissions and lowering
the dependency on fossil-based sources.
Mitsubishi Chemical targets batteries,
semiconductors with expansion projects
January 2, 2025 - The Mitsubishi Chemical
Group (MCG; Tokyo; www.mcgc.com) has
announced two capacity expansions at
its production sites in Japan. In the first
project, MCG will increase its production
capacity for synthetic silica powder used in
semiconductor manufacturing at its KyushuFukuoka
plant. Operations are scheduled to
start in September 2028, with a 35% increase
over current production capacity. The second
expansion focuses on anode materials for
lithium-ion batteries at MCG's Kagawa Plant,
with the expanded operations scheduled to
start in October 2026. The expansion should
increase production capacity at the site to
11,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr).
Mergers & Acquisitions
Bayer acquires biofuel feedstock
assets from Canadian firm
January 15, 2025 - Bayer AG (Leverkusen,
Germany; www.bayer.com) announced that it
has acquired assets from Canada-based Smart
Earth Camelina Corp. to expand its position
in biomass-based feedstock markets. The
acquired assets include intellectual property
and materials assets related to camelina
germplasm. Camelina is a novel intermediate
oilseed crop with a promising low-carbon
intensity for renewable fuel production. Bayer
also recently announced a partnership with
Neste Corp. (Espoo, Finland; www.neste.com)
to develop canola-based biofuel feedstocks
in the southern U.S.
Mosaic to sell phosphate mining unit
in Brazil to Fosfatados Centro
January 15, 2025 - The Mosaic Co. (Tampa,
Fla.; www.mosaicco.com) and Fosfatados
Centro SPE Ltda. announced that they have
entered into an agreement for the sale of a
phosphate asset owned by Mosaic located in
Patos de Minas, Brazil. Upon the closing of the
transaction, Fosfatados Centro will assume
responsibility for the Patos de Minas mine and
tailings dams, and pay Mosaic $125 million
over six years.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
FEBRUARY 2025
http://www.messergroup.com http://www.mcgc.com http://www.mitsuichemicals.com http://www.agc.com http://www.bayer.com http://www.fujufilm.com http://www.neste.com http://www.mosaicco.com http://www.covestro.com http://www.chemengonline.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
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