Air Products has entered into a JV with the Debang Group to build, own and operate a coal-to-syngas processing facility in the Jiangsu Province of China. Under the terms of the agreement, Air Products will own 80 % of the JV while the remaining 20 % will be with the Debang Group.

BASF plans to invest €50 million to expand its crop protection production capacities in the Guaratinguetá chemical complex, about 170 kilometers from São Paulo, Brazil. Furthermore, a new plant for biological products is scheduled to be opened by August this year in Chile. With these investments, the BASF Crop Protection Unit reinforces its strong commitment to deliver innovation and strengthen its position in continuously growing agricultural markets as Latin America.

Mexichem has recently announced that it has changed its name to Orbia. The company has also introduced its new innovative logo concept – the Impact Mark which aims to measure the firm’s progress against six factors related to people, planet, and profit.

On first sight process requirements in urban mining seem to be much less complex as in the classical mining of primary ore bodies since numerous metals are available in high concentrations. Anyhow the presence of many different metals makes the separation to pure end products very demanding and complex.

In August 2018, Clariant’s Mega Max 800 methanol synthesis catalyst was installed at the coal-to-liquid plant of CHN Energy Ningxia Coal Industry Co in China. Now, the 1-million-tonne per year methanol production plant has been able to produce higher yields at lower energy and feedstock costs.

Borealis has held the groundbreaking ceremony for its new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant. Located at the existing Borealis production site in Kallo, Belgium, the new facility will have a targeted production capacity of 750,000 metric tonnes per year of propylene.

Royal DSM has appointed Shruti Singhal as President of DSM Engineering Plastics. Singhal will report to Dimitri de Vreeze, Member of DSM’s Managing Board and succeed Roeland Polet who is expected to retire next year.

The European Commission pursues in its 7th environmental programme key objectives in dealing with substances and materials known under the catchwords ‘non-toxic environment’ and ‘circular economy’. These target areas have numerous interfaces in waste, chemicals and product law, resulting in multiple conflicting goals. A total of five experts with many years of experience have dealt intensively with this topic and presented solutions. 

5,600 billion Euros is the ultimate Grand Prix for chemicals. But the winner is by no means identified — The chemical industry experienced above-average growth globally. With this development, chemical companies could pocket 5,600 billion Euros per year till 2035. But the global distribution is not equal: The North American market is growing strongly whereas the market in Europe has stagnated. The consequence: The significance of the old continent could get marginalized for this industry. There is still time to change course.

Since the establishment of the Periodic Table of Elements (PSE) 150 years ago, not only the number of known elements has increased, but new technologies have also emerged: Chemical pesticides to protect the harvest, batteries for energy on the move and plastics in every form, color, and function. The current focus is on the sustainability aspect. But here, too, chemistry offers new solutions. The 10 most promising technologies for a more sustainable world have been selected by the chemical association IUPAC.