Chemical Engineering March 2023 - 10

Business News
LINEUP
AGC
ALPLA
ARLANXEO
ASAHI KASEI
EASTMAN
ELKEM
EVONIK
INDORAMA
JOHNSON MATTHEY
KEMIRA
KURARAY
LINDE
MERCK
MITSUI CHEMICALS
PLUG POWER
REPSOL
SAINT-GOBAIN
SUMITOMO CHEMICAL
TORAY
Plant Watch
Arlanxeo starts up new polybutadiene
production line in Brazil
February 14, 2023 - Arlanxeo B.V. (Maastricht,
the Netherlands; www.arlanxeo.com) opened
a new polybutadiene production line in Brazil.
The new production line supplements Arlanxeo's
existing production capacity in Brazil with
an additional 65,000 metric tons per year
(m.t./yr) of capacity. The new production line is
located in the Triunfo petrochemical complex
in Rio Grande do Sul.
Indorama India commences production at
third spandex production plant
February 14, 2023 - Indorama India Ltd.
(Kolkata, India; www.inviya.com) commenced
commercial production of its third manufacturing
facility for spandex (elastane) at Baddi in
Himachal Pradesh. This plant adds 25 m.t./d
of spandex production capacity, bringing the
total production at the site to 65 m.t./d.
Kuraray completes construction of new
isoprenes plant in Thailand
February 9, 2023 - Kuraray Co. (Tokyo; www.
kuraray.com) has completed the construction
of a new plant for isoprene products. The
new facilities have been designed to produce
13,000 m.t./yr of polyamide-9T, 16,000
m.t./yr of hydrogenated styrenic-block copolymers
and 5,000 m.t./yr of 3-methyl-1.5-pentanediol.
The company invested around ¥40 billion ($310
million) in the project.
Merck breaks ground for specialty-gases
and semiconductor-materials plant
February 8, 2023 - Merck KGaA (Darmstadt,
Germany; www.merckgroup.com) broke ground
in Kaohsiung, Taiwan for a new production
facility for its Semiconductor Solutions business.
The site will produce specialty gases and
semiconductor materials for thin-film and
patterning solutions beginning in 2025.
Toray to expand production capacity for
PPS resin in South Korea
February 6, 2023 - Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo;
www.toray.com) will increase its production
capacity for polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) resin
by 5,000 m.t./yr at a plant in Gunsan, South
Korea, by late 2024. With this expansion,
Toray's combined PPS manufacturing capacity
will rise to 32,600 m.t./yr.
Repsol to install new manufacturing
line for recycled plastics
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February 2, 2023 - Repsol S.A. (Madrid,
Spain; www.repsol.com) will install a new
recycled-plastics production line with a
manufacturing capacity of 25,000 m.t./yr at
its Puertollano Industrial Complex in Spain.
The new unit, which will begin operation at the
end of 2024, will almost double the current
capacity. With an investment of €26 million,
it will manufacture plastics used to produce
rigid and flexible packaging for non-food use.
Specifically, it will process high- and low-density
polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE) with recycled
plastic content. In addition to the new recycledplastic
production line, Puertollano will start
up the first polyurethane-foam-recovery plant
in Spain this year.
Elkem to expand pitch
production capacity in Brazil
February 1, 2023 - Elkem ASA (Oslo, Norway;
www.elkem.com) will invest around NOK
200 million (around $20 million) to increase
its production capacity in Brazil for pitch, a
raw material for electrode paste to industrial
smelters. The investment will increase the
production capacity by up to 40% beginning in
2024, and is expected to generate additional
annual sales in excess of NOK 300 million.
Evonik to expand production capacity of
methylmercapto-propionaldehyde
February 1, 2023 - Evonik Industries
(Essen, Germany) has invested €25 million in
developing and expanding its methylmercaptopropionaldehyde
(MMP) production plant in
Wesseling, Germany. MMP is integral in the
production of DL-methionine, which is used
in animal feed to improve the performance
of livestock farming. The conversion and
expansion of the plant in Wesseling has been
made possible by the development of a new
production process that eliminates the need
for storage of chemical intermediates, such
as acrolein, at the site.
Linde to increase green-hydrogen
production in California
January 31, 2023 - Linde plc (Guildford,
U.K.; www.linde.com) plans to increase its
green-hydrogen production capacity in Ontario,
Calif. Linde will build, own and operate the
first of several planned 5-MW electrolyzers
to increase hydrogen capacity. Expected to
start up in the second half of 2024, the new
electrolyzer is one of several green-hydrogen
projects Linde is planning across the U.S.
ALPLA opens new PET
recycling plant in Romania
January 31, 2023 - ALPLA Group (Hard,
Austria; www.alpla.com), together with its
joint-venture partners Ecohelp and UPT, has
opened its first polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) recycling plant in Romania after an
investment of around €7.5 million. The plant
is now producing around 18,000 m.t./yr of
recycled material from household waste.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
MARCH 2023
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Chemical Engineering March 2023

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