Lanxess is building the world’s largest plant for EPDM synthetic rubber in China. The German specialty chemicals company is investing € 235 million in the plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. According to Lanxess, this is the largest investment the company has made in China to date.

The 167,000 people who came through the doors at this year’s ACHEMA in Frankfurt between the 18th and 22nd of June 2012 may not have set any visitor attendance records, but the event organizers have every reason to be more than satisfied with the proportion of international exhibitors and trade visitors.

Solvay announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Sunshield Chemicals, an Indian company specializing in surfactants, from Amit Choksey Group. This acquisition will enable Solvay’s Novecare business to accelerate growth plans in India for the home and personal care, agrochemicals, coatings and industrial applications markets.

Due to the sensitive nature of the manufacturing process, the aggressive atmospheres and the extremely high safety standards in the chemical industry, drive systems have to meet very demanding requirements. Machine availability is not the only issue. Humans, the machinery and the environment also need adequate protection.

The world's biggest plant for neodymium polybutadiene rubber (Nd-PBR) takes the next step: Lanxess announced its € 200 million project to be well underway. Groundbreaking could be celebrated in September, CEO Heitmann said.

BASF will acquire the electrolytes business for high-performance batteries from German Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company Merck. The companies have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.

By 2030, companies from the various chemical sectors will be engaged in fierce competition for additional market volume worth more than EUR 1 trillion. To do so, they will have to find a strategy that puts them ahead of the competition. These are key findings of the new study entitled "A different world – Chemicals 2030" by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.

Every year chemical companies endure disposal and destruction cost of outdated material amounting to millions of Euros. The shorter the shelf life the higher the costs. By means of some simple process optimization measures costs can be reduced may times over.

Scaling, fouling and oxidation are the natural enemies of reverse osmosis (RO) systems in water treatment—especially in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Proper process monitoring and control of critical parameters such as pH, ORP, conductivity, flow, temperature and differential pressure can provide advanced warning and protection of scaling, fouling or chemical attacked. If early warnings are ignored, the membrane may become irreparably damaged.

“Radar sensors were, are and will remain our flagship product!” With this clear statement, Vega is getting ready for the future. The market leader has proven with its plicsplus instruments Vegapuls 60 that even good things can be improved.