No light at the end of the tunnel insight for the Japanese chemical industry: As a reaction to global overcapacities and declining margins, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical announced its withdrawal from the purified terephthalic acid (PTA) business.

Biomass has a wealth of potential as a resource for bulk products such as lactic acid or ethanol. In practice, however, it is difficult to develop successful production chains. Commissioned by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research has developed a method that can help companies and government authorities create biobased chains, from source materials to end products.

The company aims at increasing silicone rubber production by a total of 40,000 metric tonnes annually by 2021. The move has been undertaken to meet the region’s rising demand in vital industries as well as to further expand its portfolio.

With an aim to support the automotive players in the region and move towards cleaner mobility, the company will be establishing a new plant by the end of 2019 to expand its capacity.

Solvay has started hydrogen peroxide production at its new plant in Zhenjiang, China.

In the Indian automation sector, Siemens has its distinguishable presence. In a conversation with PROCESS India, Karlheinz Kaul, Global CEO, Siemens Industry Automation Control Equipment, is describing the changing trend in demand from the user community and how the company is preparing itself to address those. Bhaskar Mandal, VP, Siemens Industry Automation, South Asia is facilitating the meeting.

Researchers at the University of Konstanz presented a new way of obtaining polyester from fats and oils, more specifically, from castor oil. A well-known and chemically established building block that can be obtained from castor oil is Undecenol.

Lanxess inaugurates a new production line at its largest site in Leverkusen for the production of the Lewatit brand of weak acid cation (WAC) exchange resins, as well as bringing a new food-grade filling and packing system into operation. The crisis ridded spacility chemicals company had invested some € 10 million in the expansion process ince April 2013.

With the new HiPace 300 H, Pfeiffer Vacuum presents the most powerful compression turbopump currently available in the pumping speed class of 300 l/s. With a compression ratio of 107 for hydrogen, it is suitable for generating high and ultra-high vacuum.

Under her new role, Wuttke will be responsible for developing and executing end-to-end digital strategy which is expected to be a core area for the firm’s success in the near future.