Indorama Ventures Xylenes & PTA has recently launched a new Purified 2,6-Naphthalene Dicarboxylic Acid (PNDA) production facility in Decatur, Alabama, U.S. With the development of this plant, the company has become the largest PNDA producer in the world.

The EIG-led consortium has concluded the infrastructure deal with Aramco. Under the terms of the contract, the consortium which includes well-known investors will now acquire a 49 % equity stake in Aramco Oil Pipelines Company.

BASF started the construction of a new plant for the production of the base material DHDPS (dihydroxy diphenyl sulfone) in Ludwigshafen, Germany in mid January this year.

Raízen Argentina has awarded a contract to KBR for modernizing its Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) unit at its Buenos Aires Refinery in Argentina. Under the deal, KBR will provide a basic engineering package for the FCC New Configuration Project.

Basel/Switzerland and Nanjing/PR China – Lonza announced the building of a performance chemicals plant in Nanjing. The facility will come on stream in the second half of 2008.

The Hungarian pharmaceutical industry has a long history, and it is a major factor in the country’s economy. Research plays an important role, but production technology is also very sophisticated, as the example of a recent automation project clearly shows.

Whether coal, gas or even biomass will replace petroleum as the chemical raw material of the future is not yet clear. However, one thing is certain. Alternatives will be needed in the long term despite that fact the even pessimists predict that oil will be available for the next forty years. High prices, increasing consumption in Asia and the chaotic political situation in the oil producing countries add an element of urgency to the discussion on diversification of the raw material base. The industry is looking for an intelligent mix and an evolutionary approach to the supply of raw materials.

Röhm will utilize the Lima technology on an industrial scale for its new methyl methacrylate (MMA) production plant in Bay City, Texas, USA. On completion, the new facility is expected to have a production volume of 250,000 tons.

Energy costs have now become a long-term issue in the chemicals sector and are becoming an important efficiency factor. Process versions which only a few years ago laid abandoned and disregarded in the drawer due to their high investment costs are benefiting from this sea change. This also includes mechanical compression of vapors in evaporators which remained in the long grass for a long time and is now enjoying a renaissance.

BASF will modernize and service its acetylene facility at the Ludwigshafen Verbund site. In the course of these efforts the company will also perform routine maintenance at its facility producing 1,4-butanediol (BDO), which is based on acetylene.