Achema, the international trade fair for process industries has kickstarted with great pomp and vigor in Frankfurt, Germany. The live show has attracted over 2,200 exhibitors from more than 50 countries and is exhibiting numerous equipment and processes for the chemical, pharma and food industry.

China’s GDP shrunk 6.8 % in the last quarter as compared with a year earlier. The country’s chemical manufacturing output declined by 21 % and profits by 66 % in the first two months of 2020 due to the coronavirus scenario. However, now with the virus defeated, the East Asian nation hopes to improve these figures.

Under the heads of agreement signed between both the parties, Purecycle Technologies and Mitsui will develop a polypropylene recycling plant in Japan. The project is expected to transform PP waste into an ultra-pure recycled resin and will have an annual capacity of 59,000 metric tons.

The new Borstar polyethylene unit is a part of Borealis and Total Energies’ Baystar joint venture. Located in Texas, the facility is expected to produce 625,000 metric tons-per-year.

HF Sinclair has chosen Topsoe’s Hydroflex technology for producing renewable fuels at three of its facilities in the USA. Sustainable diesel produced from these plants will be used to cater to the transportation market in the country.

Under a partnership agreement between both the parties, Brooge Energy and Siemens Energy will develop a 650 MW solar PV plant in order to supply renewable energy to BRE’s green hydrogen and green ammonia project in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

BASF has inaugurated a new production facility for high-performance cathode active materials as well as a battery recycling plant for the production of black mass in Schwarzheide, Germany. With this project, the company aims to close the loop for the European battery value chain.

Under a MOU signed between BP and the Government of Egypt, BP will conduct numerous studies to analyze the feasibility of developing a large-scale green hydrogen production facility in Egypt.

The chemical company BASF is continuing with the final phase of the expansion of the production plant for methylene diphenyl isocyanates (MDI) at its Verbund site in Geismar, Louisiana. The investment of around 780 million dollars will increase capacities to 600,000 metric tons per year.

Gea introduced the intelligent software solution Gea Smart Filtration for membrane filtration plants at a recently held beverage and liquid food industry trade show. The software monitors the plant status remotely via app and makes use of cloud connectivity and real-time analytics to increase plant availability and performance. One of the company’s customers Seagarden, a supplier of fish-based ingredients in Norway, has also invested in a Gea membrane filtration plant that will be connected via app in the future.