Two former spinoffs from Bayer were competing for headlines on Jun. 19 and 20, as specialty chemicals company Lanxess issued a profit warning amid rumors that Middle East chemicals and energy behemoth Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) had made a takeover offer for engineering plastics producer Covestro.
Colombia-based company Cali Food Papers started with new product line named Ecopapel that offers biodegradable, compostable and recyclable paper- and cardboard-based packaging for food.
On behalf of the Finnish government, refiner Neste is spearheading the development of a so-called industrial hydrogen valley in the country’s Uusimaa region. Other participants in the recently begun exploratory studies include energy utilities Gasgrid Finland, Helen and Vantaa Energy.
Methanol Chemicals – known as Chemanol – a Saudi Arabian producer of methanol and derivatives, has signed agreements to acquire controlling stakes in two compatriot chemical companies.
Brenntag is to acquire Chinese distributor Shanghai Saifu Chemical Development for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is expected to close later this year.
The US Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit to potentially block the $27.8 merger of Amgen and Horizon Therapeutics is creating heightened concern in the international biopharma sector.
Belgian chemical company Solvay is splitting up into two separate entities.
BASF has broken ground for its new 50,000 t/y polyethylene plant due to go on stream at its integrated production site in Zhanjiang, China, in 2025. The new facility will be its first PE unit in the People’s Republic.
Shell is reviewing operations in Singapore, with a view to repurposing, selling or decommissioning assets in Bukom and Jurong Island. The energy and chemicals giant will also “high-grade and right-size” its energy and chemicals parks in Europe, which could mean plant closures.
IMCD has agreed to buy Brylchem Group, comprising Brylchem in Singapore and Chemipac and CMS Marketing Trading in Vietnam. Brylchem has roughly 50 employees and generated revenue of about €58 million last year. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Bayer has agreed to pay nearly $7 million to settle false advertising claims alleged by New York’s state attorney general. The state said the German agrochemicals and pharma group misled consumers by asserting that its Roundup herbicide is harmless and safer than soap or detergent.
US biotech Promosome has filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Diego, California accusing Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech of infringing its intellectual patent rights relating to the mRNA technology used in their Covid-19 vaccines. Promosome is seeking a share of the royalties.
South Korean CDMO Samsung Biologics has entered into a long-term manufacturing partnership with major drugmaker Pfizer.
Axens has signed an agreement with KazMunayGas (KMG) to supply the process design package for its proprietary AlphaButol technology for producing high-purity 1-butene, which is required for producing PE. KMG has plans for a 1.2 million t/y PE plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan.
Univar Solutions has reported that its proposed takeover by Apollo Global Management’s is making progress, with regulatory approvals now secured from the EU, the US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and China. In addition, the Italian regulator has given its foreign direct investment approval.
Johnson Matthey is providing its butanediol (BDO) technology to China’s Fujian Zhongjing Petrochemical, which plans to build three new plants in phases. The BDO will be used as feedstock for producing 600,000 t/y of biodegradable plastic polybutylene adipate terephthalate.
Solvay is partnering with Italian gases group Sapio to develop green hydrogen peroxide at its site in Rosignano, Italy. A 756 t/y green hydrogen plant will be built by mid-2026, cutting CO2 emissions for peroxides-related operations at the site by 15%.
Activist investors continue to pile pressure on Brenntag. Both Engine and PrimeStone have openly rejected Brenntag’s proposed two new supervisory board members – Richard Ridinger and Sujatha Chandrasekaran – who are up for election at Brenntag’s annual meeting on Jun. 15.
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient maker EuroAPI said it plans to invest €50 million in a new state-of-the-art production plant at its fully integrated Budapest site.
German engineering contractor Thyssenkrupp Uhde and the UK’s Johnson Matthey are supplying a new cartridge for an ammonia plant in Turkey to significantly reduce pressure in the synthesis loop while maintaining the nameplate capacity of 1,200 t/d. Delivery is planned for 2024.
Chinese CDMO WuXi Biologics plans to expand capacity in Germany in response to rising demand. The company will install a second filling line at Leverkusen and expects to double capacity from 12,000 liters to 24,000 liters at its drug substance facility in Wuppertal.
DuPont and former group units Chemours and Corteva have agreed to pay more than $1 billion to settle out of court US claims that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) discharged from their plants contaminated waterways that supply a majority of US public water systems.
To boost supply of the injectable chemotherapy drug cisplatin – the US is facing a shortage of oncology treatments – the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will temporarily allow imports of 50-milligram vials from Chinese manufacturer Qilu Pha. Canada’s Apotex would distribute.
To meet growing global demand, BASF is expanding output of global alkyl polyglucosides (APGs) at Bangpakong, Thailand, and Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The group also produces the mild surfactants at Düsseldorf, Germany, and Jinshan, China. In North America, it is sole manufacturer.
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk is in exclusive talks to take a controlling stake in Biocorp, a French company specializing in developing and producing delivery systems and medical devices, for about €154 million.
LyondellBasell, Technip Energies and Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to design, build and operate a demonstration unit using Technip’s electric steam cracking furnace technology.
After building up manufacturing footholds outside the US, including in Australia, Kenya, South Korea, Canada and the UK, vaccine specialist Moderna is planning to build a new plant closer to its home base in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Chemours has agreed to sell its glycolic acid business to PureTech Scientific for $137 million cash. The transaction is expected to close by the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approval and other usual conditions.
Science and technology group 3M has announced plans to invest $146 million to expand its biopharma filtration capabilities at manufacturing facilities in Europe. The company did not disclose the facilities’ locations.
Italian API producer Olon has started building a second facility at its Rodano site in Milan that will be entirely dedicated to producing ultra-potent compounds.
Germany’s Merck is investing €35 million in biosafety testing at its Glasgow and Stirling sites in Scotland. When completed – no date has been given – the company said the expansion will create nearly 500 jobs, lifting the workforce headcount across the two sites to more than 1,200.
PPG has announced plans to spend $44 million on upgrading five of its powder coatings plants in the US, Mexico and Brazil, to meet growing customer demand for more sustainable products. All the projects are scheduled to be finished by the fourth quarter of this year.
Toward bringing global operations under sole family control for the first time since selling the bulk to Hoechst 1965, German industrial gases producer Messer is buying out investor CVC. To finance the plan, the company will sell a stake to Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.
Swiss CDMO Lonza has acquired Dutch-based Synaffix, a biotech focused on ADC development. The deal comprises an initial cash injection of €100 million and up to €60 million in additional performance-based considerations. Synaffix will continue to operate under its existing name.
LyondellBasell plans to keep its oil refining business in operation longer than planned. Rather than pull the plug at the end of 2023 as announced earlier, the olefins and polyolefins giant said this week it would delay its exit until the end of the 2025 first quarter.
