A new ethylene complex from Lyondell Basell and its Chinese joint venture partner has officially been put into operation. The petrochemical complex has started manufacturing the first end products with an annual capacity of 1.1 million tonnes of ethylene at the Panjin site in the northern Chinese province of Liaoning.

Toray and LG Chem have plans to establish a joint venture – LG Toray Hungary Battery Separator for the manufacture and sales of battery separator film which are used in automotive lithium-ion batteries. For this, LG Chem will invest 375 million dollars in Toray Industries Hungary, a 100 % subsidiary of Toray which will then establish the joint venture.

Lubrizol and Grasim Industries recently broke ground on the first phase of the 100,000 metric-ton CPVC resin plant in Vilayat, Gujarat, India. Claimed to be the world’s largest based on single-site capacity for CPVC resin, the facility’s first phase is expected to be operational by early 2025.

Adnoc has plans to develop the Habshan CCUS project, a project with a capacity to capture and store 1.5 mtpa of carbon dioxide underground. The move is in line with the firm’s net zero by 2045 ambition.

Ethernet-APL (Advanced Physical Layer) offers considerable benefits for end users in the process industry by facilitating seamless connectivity between field devices using the Ethernet protocol and greatly simplifying the creation of high-performance automation networks.

With the acquisition, Maag Pump Systems will form a new integrated Gear Pumps business unit which will be led by the Managing Director and former owner of Witte Pumps & Technology. The deal is expected to expand Maag’s product portfolio, enhance its technical and manufacturing capabilities and also extend its global footprint.

The acquisition of the biotech firm Targenomix, a spin-off of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, will assist Bayer in its Crop Science R&D as the start-up will provide novel systems biology approaches for innovative crop protection discovery.

Pfeiffer Vacuum has launched a new Smartvane rotary vane pump for mass spectrometry which comes equipped with a hermetically sealed pump housing. Ideal for applications in environmental, food, pharmaceutical and clinical analytics, the pump ensures zero leakage.

Unipar has chosen Thyssenkrupp Nucera’s electrolyzers which features the highly efficient BM2.7 technology for modernizing its chlor-alkali plant in Brazil. This move will replace the plant’s existing mercury and diaphragm plants.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nova Chemicals and Plastic Energy will conduct a feasibility study to develop an advanced recycling facility in Ontario, Canada. If approved, the facility is expected to be the largest of its kind in Canada with a potential initial capacity of 66 kt per annum.