Chemical Engineering January 2017 - 12

Business News
LINEUP
AKZONOBEL
ATUL
BASF
CORBION
ERAMET
EVONIK
EXXONMOBIL
GURIT
HONEYWELL
INEOS STYROLUTION
JACOBS ENGINEERING
LINDE
MEXICHEM
MITSUBISHI HEAVY
INDUSTRIES
PRAJ INDUSTRIES
SASOL
SHOWA DENKO
SIGMA-ALDRICH
SOLVAY
TESORO
TOTAL
UMICORE
WESTERN REFINING
WOOD GROUP
ZACHRY
Plant Watch
Linde starts up CO2
plant in Fort Worth
December 12, 2016 - Linde North America
(Bridgewater, N.J.; www.lindeus.com) started
up a new carbon dioxide plant in Fort Worth,
Tex. The plant, which has a production
capacity of 250 metric tons (m.t.) per day,
is supplying CO2 for food-and-beverage
producers and chemical manufacturers.
AkzoNobel and Atul to jointly
build MCA plant in India
December 9, 2016 - AkzoNobel N.V.
(Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.
com) and Atul Ltd. (Valsad, India; www.atul.
co.in) intend to jointly invest in setting up a
production plant for monochloroacetic acid
(MCA) at Atul's facility in Gujarat, India. Each
partner will hold a 50% stake. From an initial
capacity of 32,000 m.t./yr at startup, the plant
has been designed for future expansion to
produce 60,000 m.t./yr of MCA.
Praj Industries to build multiple
bioethanol plants across India
December 9, 2016 - Praj Industries Ltd.
(Pune, India; www.praj.net) has entered into
an agreement with Indian Oil Corp. to set up
three new second-generation (2G) bioethanol
plants - one each at Panipat, Haryana and
Dahej, Gujarat. These plants will each have
capacity to produce 100,000 L/d of ethanol.
Additionally, Bharat Petroleum Corp. has
also selected Praj as technology partner for
setting up a 100,000-L/d 2G bio-ethanol plant
in Orissa.
Ineos Styrolution announces
expansion plans in Mexico
December 6, 2016 - Ineos Styrolution,
(Frankfurt am Main, Germany; www.ineosstyrolution.com)
plans to expand the company's
copolymer plant in Altamira, Mexico, which
produces a variety of acrylonitrile butadiene
styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile styrene acrylate
(ASA) solutions. The 20,000-m.t. capacity
expansion will grow Ineos Styrolution's overall
copolymer production capacity in Altamira to
180,000 m.t./yr. Startup is expected by the
first quarter of 2018.
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12
Showa Denko to construct plant for
production of new high-purity solvents
December 6, 2016 - Showa Denko K.K.
(Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) will build a
purification plant to produce new grades of
high-purity solvents at its Tokuyama Plant
in Shunan City, Japan. Construction of the
new plant will be completed in May 2017,
and commercial operations will commence
in June 2017.
Sasol announces polypropylene
capacity expansion in South Africa
November 28, 2016 - Sasol Ltd.
(Johannesburg, South Africa; www.sasol.co.za)
has completed its C3 Expansion Project, which
enables the company to increase production
capacity of polypropylene by 103,000 m.t./yr
at its Secunda Chemicals Operations in South
Africa. The project represents an investment
of around $73 million.
BASF to implement stepwise capacity
expansion for U.S. MDI production
November 16, 2016 - BASF SE (Ludwigshafen,
Germany; www.basf.com) began engineering
for a stepwise capacity increase of its methylene
diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) production facilities
at the company's Verbund site in Geismar, La.
Capacity will be increased incrementally from
300,000 to around 600,000 m.t./yr.
ExxonMobil to increase polyethylene
production at Beaumont site
November 15, 2016 - Exxon Mobil Corp.
(Spring, Tex.; www.exxonmobil.com) plans to
add a new production unit at its Beaumont, Tex.
polyethylene plant that will increase capacity
by 65% - approximately 650,000 m.t./yr.
Significant contracts were awarded to Jacobs
Engineering, Wood Group, Zachry Group and
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for work on the
Beaumont expansion project.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Umicore to acquire Eurotungstene
from Eramet Group
December 12, 2016 - Umicore N.V. (Brussels,
Belgium; www.umicore.com) has signed an
agreement to acquire Eurotungstene from
Eramet Group (Paris, France; www.eramet.
com). Eurotungstene specializes in metal
powders used in diamond tools and hard
metal applications. Closing of this transaction
is anticipated to occur in the first half of 2017.
Evonik acquires Huber's silica business
December 9, 2016 - Evonik Industries AG
(Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has
acquired the silica business of J.M. Huber
Corp. (Edison, N.J.; www.huber.com) for $630
million. For the 2016 financial year, Huber Silica
was expected to achieve sales of close to $300
million. Huber's silica business is especially
oriented towards applications in the consumer
goods sector.
Solvay to sell its cellulose
acetate business
December 7, 2016 - Solvay S.A. (Brussels,
Belgium; www.solvay.com) has reached an
agreement to sell its cellulose acetate tow
business, Acetow, to private equity funds
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
JANUARY 2017

http://www.sasol.co.za http://www.lindeus.com http://www.basf.com http://www.akzonobel http://www.atul http://www.co.in http://www.exxonmobil.com http://www.praj.net http://www.umicore.com http://www.eramet http://www.ineos http://www.styrolution.com http://www.evonik.com http://www.huber.com http://www.sdk.co.jp http://www.solvay.com http://www.chemengonline.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM

Chemical Engineering January 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering January 2017