Chemical Engineering June 2010 - 63

Economic Indicators
Business neWs
Plant Watch
Evonik plans to shut down
polyethylene waxes production
May 21, 2010 - Evonik Industries AG (Essen,
Germany; corporate.evonik.com) intends
to shut down its production of polyethylene
waxes in Heme, Germany at the end of December,
2010. This step was taken as part of
a profitability analyses.
Lonza selects Nansha for new
vitamin B3 plant
May 11, 2010 - Lonza Group Ltd. (Basel,
Switzerland; www.lonzagroup.com) has selected
Nansha, China as the location for its
new vitamin B3 manufacturing site. The new
facility will provide an additional 15,000 metric
tons per year (m.t./yr) of product, representing
an increase of more than 40% over
current capacity. Lonza will invest approximately
CHF50 million in the construction of
the new nicotinate plant over the next three
years. The capacity will be added in phases,
with the first phase expected to come online
in 2011, followed by full operation in 2012.
Lanxess and TSRC to create
rubber JV in China
May 7, 2010 - Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany;
www.lanxess.com) and TSRC Corp.
(Taipei, Taiwan; www.tsrc.com.tw) will enter
into a 50:50 joint venture (JV) in Greater China
called Lanxess-TSRC (Nantong) Chemical Industrial
Company Ltd. The two companies are
jointly investing $50 million in a new plant that
will produce nitrile rubber (NBR) in Nantong.
The plant will have an initial capacity of 30,000
m.t./yr. Groundbreaking is scheduled for
September, 2010, and production is expected
to start in the first half of 2012. Clearance for
the JV from the relevant anti-trust authorities is
expected by the end of July, 2010.
DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products
expanding Bio-PDO production
May 5, 2010 - DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products,
LLC (Loudon, Tenn), a JV between
DuPont (www.dupont.com) and Tate & Lyle
(www.tateandlyle.com), have announced
an expansion to their facility to increase production
of bio-based 1,3 propanediol (BioPDO)
by 35%. Construction is scheduled to
start in June, and the expansion is expected
to be complete by 2nd Q 2011.
Linde builds air separation
unit in Kazakhstan
May 5, 2010 - The Linde Group (Munich,
Germany; www.linde.com) is set to construct
a large, state-of-the-art air separation
unit (ASU) for ArcelorMittal, the world's largest
steel corporation, at ArcelorMittal's Temirtau
site in Kazakhstan. This plant will be Kazakhstan's
first industrial-scale development
with a capacity of 2,000 m.t./d and has an
investment value of around €95 million. It is
set to go onstream mid-2012.
SNF invests to increase global
manufacturing by 50%
April 21, 2010 - SNF (Andrézieux, France;
www.snf-group.com) is investing in new
production capacities starting in 2010
through 2012. Total production will increase
from 380,000 ton/yr to 580,000 ton/yr as
follows: In Plaquemine, La. a 50,000-ton/
yr acrylamide plant and four 20,000-ton/
yr anionic powder plants; In Taixing, China,
a 50,000-ton/yr acrylamide plant and four
20,000-ton/yr anionic powder plants and
the opening of two 20,000-ton/yr cationic
powder plants; In Andrézieux, France,
20,000 ton/yr of anionic polymer and
10,000 ton/yr of cationic polymer; A new
plant in Vizag, India to produce polyacrylamide
emulsions and liquid followed by
acrylamide and powder polyacrylamide.
HPD to supply systems
for sodium sulfate production
April 20, 2010 - Alkim Alkali Kimya A.S. (Alkim,
Instanbul, Turkey; www.alkim.com/tr/
index.aspx) has selected HPD (Plainfield,
Ill.; www.hpdsystems.com), a Veolia Water
Solutions & Technologies company, to supply
evaporation and crystallization process
equipment for their new greenfield plant in
Çayırhan, Turkey. The new plant will produce
120,000 ton/yr of pure sodium sulfate from
glauberite, extracted through a unique
solution mining process. The HPD system
produces glauber salt as a first purification
step followed by re-crystallization to an
anhydrous sodium sulfate in a multi-effect
evaporator. The end product is a key component
in consumer products, pulp & paper,
and the textile industry.
Mergers and acquisitions
Honeywell and DuPont announce
JV for new refrigerant
May 20, 2010 - Honeywell (Morristown,
N.J.; www.honeywell.com) and DuPont
(Wilmington, Del.; www.dupont.com) have
announced a manufacturing JV to produce
a new refrigerant for use in automotive
air-conditioning systems. The new refrigerant
is said to have 99.7% lower global warming
potential than the current refrigerant. Under
the agreement, DuPont and Honeywell will
share financial and technological resources
with the intent to jointly design, construct
and operate a manufacturing facility for the
new product. Prior to the construction of the
new plant, the JV will begin supplying the
new refrigerant in the 4th Q 2011, in time to
meet EU regulatory requirements.
Omnova Solutions completes acquisition
of Dow Chemical's product line
May 17, 2010 - Omnova Solutions Inc.
(Fairlawn, Ohio; www.omnova.com) has
completed the acquisition of The Dow
Chemical Co.'s (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.
com) hollow sphere plastic pigment (HPP)
product line. Concurrently, the RohmNova
paper coatings JV has been terminated.
The termination was necessitated by Dow
Chemical's acquisition of the JV partner,
Rohm and Haas Co.
Evonik Industries, Tasnee and Sahara plan
JV to produce superabsorbents
April 26, 2010 - Evonik Industries AG (Essen,
Germany; corporate.evonik.com), National
Industrialization Co. and Sahara Petrochemicals
are planning to set up a JV to produce
superabsorbent polymers. Their intention
is to build a state-of-the-art facility with a
80,000-m.t./yr capacity at Jubail in SaudiArabia.
Startup would be in the 1st Q of 2013.
Songwon and Tangszhan
Baifu to form a JV
April 19, 2010 - Songwon Industrial Co.
(Ulsan, Korea; www.songwonind.com)
and Tangshan Baifu Chemical Ltd. have
announced their intention to form a JV to
manufacture and sell thioester antioxidants.
The two companies have signed a
memorandum of understanding whereby
Songwon will take an initial stake of 30%
in Tangshan Baifu Chemical Ltd. with the
option to extend its share to up to 50% at
a later date. The JV will be operational by
January 1, 2011.
Dorothy Lozowski
For consideration in this section,
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For additional news as it develops, please visit www.che.com
June 2010; VOL. 117; NO. 6
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http://www.linde.com http://corporate.evonik.com http://www.snf-group.com http://www.lonzagroup.com http://www.omnova.com http://www.dow http://corporate.evonik.com http://www.lanxess.com http://www.tsrc.com.tw http://www.alkim.com/tr/ http://www.hpdsystems.com http://www.songwonind.com http://www.dupont.com http://www.tateandlyle.com http://www.honeywell.com http://www.dupont.com http://www.che.com http://www.Che.Com

Chemical Engineering June 2010

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