China's largest MDI producer, Wanhua Chemical, continues to expand its market share. The company already dominates the global MDI market ahead of Covestro and BASF. It will continue to expand its capacities in the coming years, reports the Chinese chemical newspaper Zhongguo Huagong Xinxi Zhoukan. What does this mean for the global market?

Not only the production of green hydrogen, but also its safe and compact storage is a major challenge for the energy transition. Metal hydrides could be a good solution — they store large quantities of hydrogen in a small space, but release greenhouse gases during production. This is now set to change.

The digitization train is picking up speed and many companies in the process industry have already jumped on board to gain a competitive edge through a deeper understanding of their production and a better overview of their various systems and locations. In this process, more and more companies are exploiting the fast and pragmatic approaches offered by open-source software. Automation experts, such as those from Wago Kontakttechnik, in a team with system integrators combine sensor systems, gateways, container applications and cloud computing to extract even more information from company processes.

Hydrogen company HyCC has launched Project H2era to construct a 500-megawatt green hydrogen plant in the Amsterdam port area. The project, launched in cooperation with the Port of Amsterdam, is a major step forward in the development of the regional hydrogen economy to help decarbonize industry and mobility.

Covestro, the Chemicals group is planning to cut up to 10 % of jobs worldwide. Up to 1700 jobs across the globe, and more than 900 in Germany might be cut by the end of 2023, according to initial estimates.

Specialty chemicals are currently at the top of the Chinese Government's plans. Due to the importance of new materials for several key industries - from e-mobility to renewable energies and semiconductors - this branch of the chemical industry is set to receive strong support over the next five years.

Can hydrogen play out as chlorine chemistry’s trump card? — Safe, clean, and sustainable — Eurochlor’s position paper on its Mid-Century Strategy for the chlorine industry reads like green buzzword bingo. Yet it’s clear that if the European Union wants to become carbon-neutral by 2050, it will have to take chlorine chemistry into account. It’s just as well that electrolysis provides a sought-after co-product.

The world’s largest chemical company will soon be in China! The merger of chemical giants Sinochem and ChemChina has recently been approved, thus, paving the way for Sinochem Holdings, a mighty single organisation with estimated sales of more than 144 billion dollars! In this background, we bring to you the top 10 chemical companies in China making headlines.

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.

Chinese petrochemical company Sinopec has developed a new process to convert crude oil directly into chemicals. The new "Crude Oil to Chemicals" (COTC) process is a major technological breakthrough. China is thus becoming the global technology leader in catalytic cracking of crude oil.