Coal chemistry has "great potential" in China, says China's president. Xi Jinping makes this statement - which makes climate activists around the world sit up and take notice - during a visit to one of the traditional coal provinces of the People's Republic. The most powerful politician in the country, which consumes the most coal in the world, visited coal chemical companies at the Yangjiagou Revolutionary Base in Yulin, Shaanxi province. PROCESS' China Market Insider explains what these statements mean.

Achema back as a live event for the first time since it was postponed— After some back and forth, the leading trade fair for the process industry opens its doors in August. Despite great anticipation for the upcoming meeting, expectations are mixed. Achema between the Ukraine war and the fading pandemic.

To deal with the global plastic waste problem, at great deal of hope is placed in chemical recycling processes. But can the process hold up to these high expectations? An expert discussion at Achema Pulse addressed the potentials and challenges of the technology. PROCESS worldwide listened in on the session and summarized the most important statements for you.

BASF’s new acetylene plant can produce 90,000 ton of the versatile chemical annually. A byproduct of the process is what is known as acetylene coke. To prevent the coke from clogging the combustion chamber, it is removed by so-called poking robots, specially developed in-house by BASF.

The mega-merger between Sinochem and Chemchina is now official, the move will create the largest chemical company in the world. The new chemical giant in China will have estimated sales of more than 144 billion dollars, thus, making it larger than BASF and Dow combined.

BASF is working with authorities in China to use more electricity from renewable sources at its chemical plants. The company has just announced a particularly ambitious goal for the new Verbund site in Zhanjiang, in the southern province of Guangdong: The first plants at the Verbund site, which is currently under construction, are to be operated entirely with renewable energies.

China wants to reduce its ‘import dependence’ on engineering plastics. This is stated in the new 14th five-year plan of the communist leadership in Beijing, which has its eye on the strategic value of these special chemicals used across a number of domestic industries. Recently, concrete targets for ‘self-sufficiency’ in these materials were published, reports the chemical newspaper Zhongguo Huagong Xinxi Zhoukan.

With a new MDI technology, Covestro aims to improve efficiency and environmental protection. Everyone is talking about sustainability — including the chemical industry. With the quartet of regenerative energies, alternative raw materials, recycling solutions and CO2-saving technologies, Covestro wants to become a front runner. A completely new MDI technology should also help.

Following the final approval for the construction of its Zhanjiang Verbund site, BASF will start the next phase — the construction of a steam cracker and several downstream plants.

The chemical company BASF is continuing with the final phase of the expansion of the production plant for methylene diphenyl isocyanates (MDI) at its Verbund site in Geismar, Louisiana. The investment of around 780 million dollars will increase capacities to 600,000 metric tons per year.