Royal DSM has recently started a new production line for Arnitel in Emmen, the Netherlands. The move will enable the company to meet the growing demand for Arnitel high-performance Thermo Plastic Copolyesters in the region.

FDA regulatory compliance is a mission-critical requirement. If the FDA finds a manufacturer to be non-compliant to or in violation of FDA rules, the consequences can be severe with warning letters, mandatory product recalls, temporary shut-downs, criminal penalties and fines depending on the severity of the violation. These penalties imposed could seriously dent the manufacturer’s brand image, and at times could even cripple the manufacturer financially.

Researchers from the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich have developed a new process to produce polylactic acid (PLA) from glycerol, a waste by-product in the production of biodiesel.

Aalborg Energie Technik assists Solvay in replacing a coal-fired boiler plant with a new AET Biomass Boiler. The 90 MWt plant is to be installed in Rheinberg, Germany, were it will help the company lowering the CO2 emissions by 190,000 tonnes/year.

Eurochem announced the opening of a third new fertilizer blending plant in Brazil. With the new 27,000 m2 facility at Araguari in Minas Gerais, the company is continuing the expansion of its subsidiary Fertilizantes Tocantins (FTO) in the country.

Enterprise Products Partners is to extend its ethylene pipeline and logistics system further into South Texas. The Baymark ethylene pipeline will originate in the Bayport area of southeast Harris County and extend approximately 145 km to Markham. The pipeline is scheduled to begin service in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Repsol has entered into an investment contract with the Portuguese Government for expanding its Sines Industrial Complex on the Portuguese coast. Claimed to be the largest industrial investment in the country in the past 10 years, the complex will also include the construction of a linear polyethylene unit and a polypropylene unit, each with an annual capacity of 300,000 tons.

Clariant has completed the construction of its plant in Podari, Romania. Expected to produce ~50,000 tons of cellulosic ethanol per annum, the unit is claimed to be the first full-scale commercial sunliquid unit for the production of cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues.

Orion Engineered Carbons has announced the start-up of a new production line for Specialty Carbon Blacks at its plant in Kalscheuren, Germany.

Additional large-scale investments in new facilities planned: Ineos has signed a letter of intent with Saudi Aramco and Total to build three new plants as part of the Jubail 2 complex in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The British company wants to invest about two billion Dollars.