At the 10th World Congress of Chemical Engineering ,the plenaries offered a representative view of the chemical industry with presentations of top level executives from the world’s largest chemical companies. The representatives addressed global challenges and explained their solutions in specific applications.

In light of the planned acquisition of Monsanto, Bayer has signed an agreement to sell selected Crop Science businesses to BASF for € 5.9 billion (approx. $ 6.97 billion).

BASF broke ground on a new resin and electrocoat (e-coat) plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in Shanghai. With its operation scheduled to commence in the second half of 2015, the plant will help to address the increasing demand for high quality coatings solutions in various growing industries, notably the automotive industry, in Asia Pacific.

At the middle of the year BASF will change the management of its Oil & Gas division. For this reason Mario Mehren will also head the BASF subsidiary Wintershall.

Despite their fundamental differences, compressed air and vacuum technology do have some things in common: expensive technology is required in order to generate high or low pressures. Variable-speed drives are the technology of choice for compressors and vacuum pumps alike in order to keep operating costs in check. The demand for contracting quotations is also increasing.

BASF’s facility is expected to cater to the fast-growing pharmaceutical market in South Asia, with a strong focus on generic drug manufacturing.

American engineering specialist Jacobs will once again work on BASF's second largest "Verbund" site at Antwerp/Belgium: The Company will provide process, piping and electrical/ instrumentation engineering services for the seaside facility, speakers explained.

How modern insulation systems increase energy efficiency—What works for people, also works in this particular case for chemical plants as well: Without the right clothing, energy consumption for heating or cooling to the ideal temperature increases. Potential annual savings of 16124 GWh are there for the taking in the energy-intensive chemical industry. What do companies need to do? PROCESS finds out from insulation manufacturers, industry associations and the chemical industry.

Saudi Arabia ventures further into the downstream business: Regulatory authorities had recently approved plans of the joint–venture company Saudi Butanol Company (Sabuco), to build the world’s largest butanol plant in Jubail...

Future chemicals could be generated from shale gas, biomass, residual materials and waste gas — In fact, chemical companies and institutes around the world are working on the material use of CO2 and other effluents. Are projects like Carbon2Chem bringing about a new era of recycling management?