Allthough the low oil price troubles the US shale industry, chemicals giant BASF continues its plants for a propylene Megaplant in the US: The company has chosen Freeport., Texas, as the site for its latest methane-based propylene complex.

Wacker is expanding its existing vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (VAE) dispersions production facilities in the United States. The Munich-based chemical company will add a new reactor with an annual capacity of 85,000 metric tons at its Calvert City site, investing an amount of around €50 million in the site’s capacity and infrastructure.

Under the agreement, Covestro will be supplied with raw materials produced with Neste’s renewable hydrocarbons and aims to replace several thousand tonnes of fossil raw materials used in the production of its polycarbonates.

Advanced Global Investment Company (AGIC) has appointed Fluor for its new propane dehydrogenation and polypropylene complex in Saudi Arabia. On completion, the complex is expected to manufacture 843,000 tonnes-per-year of propylene and 800,000 tonnes-per-year of polypropylene for producing specialty polymers.

Mitch Eichelberger has succeeded Dave Morgan as Chevron Phillips Chemical Company’s new Senior Vice President, Polymers & Specialties. Eichelberger currently holds the position of senior vice president, Corporate Planning and Technology at the firm.

At least 11 people have died and thousands have fallen sick due to a styrene gas leakage from LG Polymers’ chemical plant in Visakhapatnam, the southern state of India. The gas leakage occurred due to the negligence of factory workers amidst the coronavirus lockdown in India.

Sinopec Hainan will make use of Lyondell Basell’s Hostalen ACP technology for its new 300 KTA high density polyethylene unit in China. The technology will be used for producing high performance and multi-modal HDPE resins which are used in pressure pipes, films and blow-molding applications.

Linde has acquired a minority stake in ITM Power, a British manufacturer of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzers for the electro-chemical splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Evonik has become the maiden company across the globe to launch a 3D-printable Peek (polyether ether ketone) filament as an implant-grade material for medical applications. The Peek filament is based on a highly viscous and high-performance polymer from Evonik.

Styrenics Circular Solutions (SCS) was established with an aim to increase the circularity of styrenic polymers. Greiner Packaging, one of the leading European plastic packaging manufacturers has recently joined SCS and will now work together to achieve the unique circularity capacity of polystyrene.