With a mega investment of 50 billion dollars, Astrazeneca has plans to expand its presence in medicines manufacturing and R&D in the USA. The company intends to set up a new multi-billion-dollar manufacturing facility in the country which is expected to produce drug substances for the Company’s innovative weight management and metabolic portfolio.

The innovative enzymatic esterification technology has the potential to revolutionize ester production by significantly reducing energy consumption and enhancing product quality through environmentally friendly biocatalysis, at a competitive cost-in-use of the enzyme.

Wacker Chemie has invested a double-digit million-euro amount in the new Wacker Biotechnology Center which is located in Munich, Germany. The center aims to focus on research in manufacturing processes for biopharmaceuticals and ingredients for food and dietary supplements.

The US firm Independence Hydrogen manufactures and distributes gaseous hydrogen in a decentralized hydrogen business model. Sumitomo Corporation has made a strategic investment in Independence Hydrogen to develop additional decentralized hydrogen production and distribution projects in the USA.

Invista has launched its new 13-million-dollar technology hub and research and development center in Houston, USA. The nearly 40,000-square-foot facility will have more than 50 members of R&D, Engineering and Advanced Process Control teams supporting Invista’s global technology needs in the chemical intermediates and polymer product lines.

The Copobras Group has received circular polyethylene from Braskem. The sale marks the first time Braskem has commercialized such circular resin in South America and Copobras will use the resins to produce flexible packaging for the pet food segment.

Construction of the chemical recycling facility, which will be used to convert plastic-to-oil, has been successfully completed at MCC's Ibaraki Plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.

To cater to the Asian market, Evonik has launched its largest center for medical device applications in Shanghai, China. This new facility aims to specialize in the research, development, and processing of semi-finished components for bioresorbable medical devices.

Cnooc has announced that the Yellowtail project which is located in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana has begun production ahead of schedule. The main production facilities include 1 floating production, storage and offloading and 1 subsea production system, with 26 production wells and 25 injection wells planned to be commissioned.

BASF has recently inaugurated a new mega production plant for alkyl ethanolamines at its Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. With this project, the company is expected to increase its global annual production capacity for alkyl ethanolamines by nearly 30 percent to over 140,000 tons per year.