The Bayer Group plans to expand its business in Japan – despite the difficult conditions following the earthquake and tsunami disaster – and continue to grow sales in the coming years.

Lanxess is strengthening its commitment to Brazil with three major new investments totaling roughly € 30 million, which will create more than 100 jobs. The investments will support the growing trend toward green mobility in the Latin American country. Lanxess’ high-tech materials will offer innovative solutions to the growing local automotive market.

Germany-based Evonik Industries will build a new production plant for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in Jilin Province in northeastern China. The Group invests more than one hundred million Euro.

Technology company The Linde Group has been awarded a long-term contract to supply Vietnamese steel company POSCO SS-Vina (PSSV) with industrial gases. The deal will see Linde construct the country's largest air separation unit at the Phu My industrial park in Ba Ria (Vung Tau province). The Group will be investing a total of around EUR 40 million in the project.

The founding of a subsidiary in India is another step taken by the German pump specialist Flux-Geräte to extend its worldwide distribution network. Pune, one of India’s biggest cities, will be the company’s basis for its development of the huge Indian market.

Lanxess is building the world’s largest plant for EPDM synthetic rubber in China. The German specialty chemicals company is investing € 235 million in the plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. According to Lanxess, this is the largest investment the company has made in China to date.

How do you live up to the promise of Operational Excellence? That was the theme for Yokogawa’s fourth EMEA user conference, which took place in Barcelona/Spain in September this year.

Bayer MaterialScience has commissioned a new technical center for the development of isocyanate production processes at Chempark Dormagen. The research center was erected in just under a year with an investment of €5 million.

Synbra Technology in the Netherlands had put a PLA (polylactic acid) plant into service. The plant can produce up to 5000 tons PLA per year and Synbra plans to further expand the capacity. Furthermore Sulzer decided to built its own 1000 tons a year PLA production plant to support customers in the development of new applications.

The world's biggest plant for neodymium polybutadiene rubber (Nd-PBR) takes the next step: Lanxess announced its € 200 million project to be well underway. Groundbreaking could be celebrated in September, CEO Heitmann said.