Market research firm, Research and Markets has recently released an in-depth report on the impact of Covid-19 on the Chinese chemical industry. In the report, various regional players, laws and policies, consumer behaviour and macro-economic factors have also been analysed.

BASF is constructing a new pilot plant center at its Ludwigshafen site in Germany which will act as a global hub for pilot-scale production and process innovations of chemical catalysts. The new center will help the company to strengthen its global catalyst development.

The Floating Liquefied Natural Gas project by Petronas has chosen BASF’s OASE purple gas treatment technology for its Acid Gas Removal Unit process. The project will extract natural gas from deepwater gas reservoirs in depths up to 1,500 meters.

BASF and Sinopec have plans to expand production capacities for numerous downstream chemical plants at its Verbund site in Nanjing, China. This includes the construction of a new tert-butyl acrylate plant to meet the growing demand for specialty chemicals in the country.

2015 was the year of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Mergers and acquisitions increased by 43 % worldwide to a new record value of 4.5 billion dollars as compared to the previous year. PROCESS presents the biggest deals of the previous 18 months in detail.

BASF and Eni have entered into a strategic agreement and launched a joint R&D initiative to reduce the CO2 footprint of the transportation sector. Together, the companies aim at developing a new sustainable technology to produce advanced bio-propanol from glycerin.

To develop next-generation lithium-ion batteries, a joint venture between Porsche and Customcells Itzehoe has brought the chemical group BASF on board. The partner is to exclusively supply high-energy HEDTM cathode materials for Porsche's high-performance vehicles.

A massive explosion occurred at the waste disposal centre of the chemical park operator Currenta in Leverkusen on 27 July. Black clouds of smoke could be seen over the city. At least two people were killed in the subsequent fire of a solvent tank.

BASF has plans to invest double-digit million-dollars into the expansion of the mobile emissions catalysts production plant in Chennai, India. With this, the company intends to double its catalysts production capacity for the heavy-duty on- and off-road segment.

BASF has acquired Zodiac Enterprises’ assets in Caldwell, Texas which will enable the German company to expand its circular economy business in catalyst recycling. The move will support BASF’s existing precious metal recycling operations in Seneca, South Carolina.