Search

The article offers information on the plastics industry's shift towards circularity, and addressing challenges and solutions in advanced recycling to achieve sustainability goals. It further discusses the industry's efforts to transform from a linear to a circular economy; the complexities of plastics recycling; and also mentions the need for regulatory support and massive investment in infrastructure.

AT THE risk of provoking a huge debate, ICIS has come up with the Top 40 power players in and around the industry--including industry executives, association leaders, politicians, and environmentalists. [...]

CONSUMERS TODAY demand much more from their cosmetics and toiletries (C&T) than ever before. It is not enough for their products to cleanse, smell good or moisturize--now they must do [...]

ALTHOUGH CHEMISTS have been experimenting with immobilized catalysts for decades, few are known to have been used at commercial scale. That may soon change. Powerful and flexible, homogeneous catalysts fit [...]

With the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world, Japan should be among the contract manufacturing sector's best customers, but the nation's peculiar drug laws and characteristic insularity have minimized the [...]

DRIVEN BY the need to protect sensitive electronic devices, the market for electrically conductive polymers compounded from thermoplastics and conductive fillers is large and healthy. At the same time, a [...]

HIGH COST has always been the key shortcoming of protein drugs, but improvements in cell-culture expression, enabled by the discoveries of companies such as ICOS, Crucell, Selexis, ML Laboratories, Chromos [...]

Although expanding regulation is making genuine innovation increasingly difficult, the skin care market still demands new benefits and improved performance, and ingredients manufacturers are doing their best to oblige. New [...]

The article focuses on the current state of the global petrochemical market, emphasizing the impact of the US's cost advantage and the challenges faced by producers worldwide due to overcapacity and weak demand. It discusses the significant decline in global industrial production in 2023, the cost disparities between regions, and the necessity for capacity rationalization to facilitate industry recovery.

The fine chemical spending spree of the late 1990s has not yet justified itself. At best, custom manufacturers have jumped the gun in the race to win contracts from the [...]

Though it can boast growth that would excite many other sectors of the depressed chemical industry, Wet process chemicals is still slogging its way through a slump that has bedeviled [...]

The article focuses on the growing expansion of Canada's chemical industry in Alberta, driven by the province's low-cost feedstocks and burgeoning carbon capture infrastructure. Topics include the establishment of Alberta's Petrochemical Diversification Program and its successor, the Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program, which have supported significant projects such as Inter Pipeline's Heartland Petrochemical Complex; the recent advancements in net-zero projects by Air Products and Dow.

SEVERAL YEARS of turbulence and restructuring not only changed the face of the agrochemical industry, but also eliminated a number of the fine chemical companies serving it. Sales are recovering [...]

LONZA, WHICH has been in the peptide business since 1997, reaffirmed its commitment to the sector last summer with a SF24m (15m [euro]/$19m) investment in a mid-scale Tides facility in [...]

HOME AND textile care are difficult markets for specialty raw materials. Unlike personal care and cosmetics, which often draw from the same toolbox, these markets offer slim margins and less [...]

The article focuses on the current petrochemical downturn and how the industry will have to shut down less efficient production capacity to maintain balance. Topics include the oversupply of olefin units leading to the lowest operating rates in over a decade, the unsustainability of the market imbalance, and the need for high-cost producers to reduce operating rates leading to permanent shutdowns.

ASSEMBLED BY former Rhodia ChiRex executive Ian Shott between 2003 and 2004, Excelsyn has had a busy year exploring the potential of its broad-based approach to servicing the life sciences [...]

ALTHOUGH ACTIVES containing peptides have seen wide use in cosmetics for over two decades, for most of that time, the peptides themselves were relatively anonymous. Today, however, they take star [...]

DEGUSSA'S OCTOBER write-off of its Laporte acquisition, following Rhodia's of ChiRex and, more distantly, Clariant's of BTP, may signal that the fine chemicals sector has put the past behind it. [...]

The water services industry in the US is mature and growing roughly in line with GDP, but the water treatment chemicals and services piece is a GDP-plus growth opportunity driven [...]

HUMAN BEINGS are not only complex organisms, they are also complex ecosystems in which the number of cells comprising the body of an adult is actually exceeded by the number [...]

DISCOVERY chemists in the pharmaceutical industry use energetic chemistries such as azide, diazomethane, hydrazine and nitration every day, but process chemists who have to consider the risks of transferring them [...]

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has acquired a 35% stake in ExxonMobil's low-carbon hydrogen project in Baytown, Texas. The project aims to produce 1 billion standard cubic feet of hydrogen per day, which is equivalent to the energy needed to power 1.5 million homes. Adnoc's investment is part of its strategy to expand its portfolio of lower-carbon energy sources. The partners plan to make a final investment decision in 2025, with startup scheduled for 2029, pending government support and regulatory permits. [Extracted from the article]

Motiva Enterprises, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, has revived plans to build an aromatics facility in Port Arthur, Texas. The company has licensed aromatics technologies from Honeywell UOP and has begun engineering and design work for the facility, which will produce benzene and para-xylene. Motiva has not yet made a final investment decision or announced a timeline for construction. The demand for petrochemical feedstocks is expected to continue growing, making the development of this facility important for future energy and petrochemical needs. [Extracted from the article]

Ohio has launched the Greater Akron Polymer Innovation Hub, supported by state funding and local investment. The hub, led by the Polymer Industry Cluster, aims to revive the polymer industry in northeast Ohio. It has allocated a significant portion of its funding to build the Hub Polymer Pilot Plant. Additionally, Motiva Enterprises has revived plans to build an aromatics facility at Port Arthur, Texas, which will produce benzene and para-xylene. The company has licensed aromatics technologies from Honeywell UOP and is currently in the engineering and design phase. [Extracted from the article]

Louisiana petrochemical producers successfully weathered Hurricane Francine, which made landfall as a Category 2 storm. While the storm caused widespread power outages and flooding, no major damage or unplanned shutdowns were reported at the region's petrochemical facilities. Producers such as ExxonMobil, Dow, and Nova maintained operations while closely monitoring the situation. The storm's impact appeared to be more water-related than wind-related, and prices for certain chemicals may increase due to potential supply disruptions. In other news, Ohio has launched the Greater Akron Polymer Innovation Hub, aimed at supporting the revival of the polymer industry in northeast Ohio. The hub has received significant funding to build the Hub Polymer Pilot Plant and advance regional innovation and investment in sustainable polymers. Additionally, Motiva Enterprises has revived plans to build an aromatics facility at Port Arthur, Texas, which will produce benzene and para-xylene. The company has licensed aromatics technologies from Honeywell UOP and is currently in the engineering and design phase of the project. [Extracted from the article]

Once an ideal, optical purity is becoming a necessity, driven in part by the availability of the tools that make it possible, including asymmetric chemocatalysis. Today, several companies specialize in [...]

PHARMACEUTICAL and fine chemical companies are looking closely at microreactors, an alternative to batch production that not only offers a flexible approach to continuous processing, but also promises to save [...]

Obscured by cultural, linguistic and geographic distances as well as the ambiguity that comes from too many choices, the Chinese fine chemicals market remains something of a mystery to many [...]

Now past critical mass, nanotechnology knowledge and investment have begun to grow exponentially, multiplying the opportunities for application and profit. Work in the field has been dominated by government labs, [...]

A few months ago, visitors to CPhI in Frankfurt may have noticed that BASF is promoting a new technology called BASIL. 'Need to scavenge acids? Want to get rid of [...]

Tight supplies have pushed up MDI prices since mid-summer Bouyant demand and planned turnarounds are putting upward pressure on the price of methyl di-p-phenylene isocyanate (MDI) in Asia and Europe, [...]

The article analyzes the potential of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution to hinder pyrolysis-based plastics recycling. Topics discussed are EPA requirement to review companies submitting pyrolysis oil chemicals to conduct testing for impurities under the Toxic Substances Control Act, concerns about recycling and the possibility of toxic components, health and environmental risks associated with the pyrolysis of waste plastic.

Feedstock costs have carried acetic acid prices aloft for several months Feedstock costs have carried acetic acid prices aloft for several months Global acetic acid prices have recovered from a [...]

High demand for synthetic fibers has driven up the price of the nylon feedstock Asian caprolactam (capro) prices have risen to historic highs, prompting fears of a bubble. Buoyed by [...]

Asian producers of acrylic fiber are responsible for the movement Spot acrylonitrile (ACN) prices in the US Gulf have been rising since late September on strong demand from Asia. Availability [...]

A string of unplanned outages has prices high and buyers fuming Proliferating outages, rising feedstock costs and growing demand sent acrylate prices rocketing during the first half of 2010, but [...]

The Plaza Group solves marketing problems for petrochemical producers relationships AGENTS OF INFLUENCE Rex Features Read John Richardson's Asian Chemical Connections blog for the latest trends and issues facing Asia [...]

On-site generation offers an economical solution to safety issues surrounding chlorine transportation INNOVATIVE CHEMICAL engineering could help resolve a major disagreement between the water treatment industry and environmentalists over chlorine. [...]

An ambitious group of carpet makers and entrepreneurs is building a new industry - carpet recycling 'Carpet is very durable. It will 'style out' before it wears out. This makes [...]

Time to get Working on the Basics These days I'm trying to get my head around petrochemicals. Does that sound odd? Petrochemicals are, after all, basic chemicals. What am I [...]

The Global Product Strategy aims to step up industry performance and inform the public THERE MAY be a bright side to the furor surrounding products such as bisphenol A, the [...]

Big pharma is selling off manufacturing assets, but history suggests buyers should proceed with care 'An empty plantwill be someone else's problem' Guy Villax, CEO, Hovione ONGOING CONSOLIDATION and cost [...]

Members of the Soap and Detergent Association meet this week to do business and set the agenda for the year ahead 'We've restructured the convention to provide more content for [...]

Rx-360 offers generics firms a cost-effective means of reducing supply-chain risk 'The only way they are going to fill the gap is through sharing audit reports' Guy Villax, CEO, Hovione [...]