Lanxess has teamed up with BP to produce green plastics by making use of sustainable raw materials. Under the terms of the agreement, BP will supply sustainably produced cyclohexane to the Lanxess’ production site in Antwerp, Belgium to produce the high-performance plastic polyamide 6 which is used in the automotive industry as well as in the electrical and consumer goods sectors.

Evonik and Wynca has commenced production at its first fumed silica plant in China. Located in Zhenjiang, the facility is expected to produce fumed silica under the brand name Aerosil. The plant will make use of Evonik's product technology with Wynca’s silicone industry chain to develop high-value products.

The year is 1864 — The Bavarian fairy-tale king Ludwig II ascends the throne. The first pneumatic post dispatch system starts up in Hamburg. Lincoln wins the US presidential elections. And the 28-year old Wilhelm Meyer from Hanover/Germany founds a machine company (Maschinenfabrik) in Aerzen. Of all these things, only the company Aerzener Maschinenfabrik is still a presence today. It has grown. And it has benefited from a pioneering spirit and a richness of ideas, courage and hard work.

An special technique, developed by Ajax Equipment, uses a multiple stage insert system to overcome bunker flow problems, creating a more favourable approach to existing outlets and spreading the flow to previously “dead” storage areas of the bunker. The insert system has been used at Tata Steel Europe at its plant in Scunthorpe, UK, to overcome coal bunker flow problems.

According to Bloomberg and Downstreamtoday, Formosa Plastics Group is seeking permission from the U.S. state of Louisiana to invest $ 9.4 billion to build petrochemical plants.

In order to meet the fast growing global market demand for its innovative chelating agent, BASF will build a new Trilon M (methylglycinediacetic acid) world scale plant at Evonik’s Theodore, Alabama site.

With the introduction of a third size in the GEA Hilge Contra range, the company is expanding the performance spectrum of its centrifugal pumps to a flow rate of 100 cubic meters per hour. The new GEA Hilge Contra III meets the general requirements of the dairy, beverage and food industries.

Cyplus Idesa, a joint venture between German Evonik and Mexican Grupo Idesa, officially opened their sodium cyanide production plant in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico.

Cabot plans to invest more than US$180 million, increasing its carbon black capacity in in China, Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina by the end of 2013, as well as adding capacity at three facilities in Europe.

Evonik’s new plant in Southeast Asia will be used for the production of methylate in the region. The move is in line with the company’s strategy to further strengthen its global alkoxides business especially in the Asian market inorder to become one of the world’s largest manufacturers of alkoxides.