Dutch biopolymer producer Avantium has won a new customer along the path to commercializing its renewable polyethylenefuranoate (PEF) as a replacement for fossil-fuel based PET, the material most used for plastic beverage bottles.
US-based agricultural sciences company FMC has entered into an agreement to buy BioPhero, a Danish pheromone research and production firm, for about $200 million.
Swiss CDMO Lonza plans to build a large-scale commercial fill & finish facility in Stein. The new facility, to be located on the same campus as Lonza’s existing clinical drug product capabilities, will cost roughly 500 million Swiss francs and should be completed in 2026.
The administration of US president Joe Biden is looking for ways to work around the Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling that limits the Environmental Protection Agency’s role in regulating emissions of greenhouse gases.
AkzoNobel has agreed to buy the wheel liquid coatings business of Berlin-based Lankwitzer Lackfabrik for an undisclosed sum.
Leuna, Germany-based PA producer Domo Chemicals is teaming up with low-carbon hydrogen producer Hynamics, a wholly owned subsidiary of French energy group EDF, to produce sustainable polyamides from hydrogen, using output from the Belle-Étoile industrial site in Saint-Fons, France.
Germany’s BioNTech is pushing back against allegations by compatriot CureVac that the company infringed its intellectual property in formulating its mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, that it developed and marketed together with US drugs giant Pfizer.
German technology company Thyssenkrupp Nucera has won a contract to expand a caustic soda plant for India’s Kutch Chemical Industries. The contract’s value is in the low double-digit million-euro range.
US-based Koch Ag & Energy Solutions (KAES) has acquired a 50% stake in Jorf Fertilizers Company III (JFC III) from Moroccan phosphates and fertilizer giant OCP and at the same time established a 50:50 joint venture with OCP.
Polynt, an Italian manufacturer of chemical intermediates, is planning to build a new esterification plant to produce plasticizers – and mainly trimellitates – at its site in Atlacomulco, Mexico, in order to meet rising demand.
LyondellBasell (LYB) has pledged to cover at least 50% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2030.
Yara International has outlined an ambitious growth plan for its Clean Ammonia business, with “significant” investment decisions targeted over the next three years.
Two globally oriented drugmakers, Pfizer and Sanofi, are making moves that some may interpret as attempts to allay the pharma industry‘s reputation for being “only in it for the money” but could potentially benefit poorer countries if all goes to plan.
Arkema has closed its acquisition of South Africa’s Permoseal, a move designed to strengthen and complete the portfolio of its adhesives subsidiary Bostik.
Azelis is continuing its recent acquisition spree with agreements to buy two more companies in Lebanon and Turkey.
Trinseo and Dutch firm GMP Group are setting up a framework for an exclusive cooperation to further progress the circulatory of PS.
German specialty chemicals producer Lanxess has wrapped up its acquisition of International Flavors & Fragrances’s microbial control business unit, a year after announcing the $1.3 billion deal with the US company in August 2021.
Italian multinational specialty chemicals company Italmatch has acquired Aubin Group from investment firm BGF, its owner since October 2013. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
UK specialty chemical company Croda International will receive up to $75 million from the US government to expand its US capacity to produce ingredients for lipid systems used in novel therapeutic drugs, such as mRNA vaccines.
The mission of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under US president Joe Biden for the past 18 months has been to restore some of the Obama era anti-pollution regulations overturned by the former president Donald Trump.
Neste has bought the European rights to Alterra Energy’s liquefaction technology.
Ineos Oligomers is expanding its plant for High Viscosity polyalphaolefins (PAO) at La Porte, Texas, in stages up to mid-2025.
Azelis has announced that it has agreed to buy a majority stake in Ashapura Aromas, a leading Indian distributor of flavor & fragrance ingredients.
Novartis has confirmed reports by Swiss daily newspaper Tages-Anzeiger that it plans to slash 8,000 jobs worldwide.
Energy and petrochemical giants ExxonMobil and Shell have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CNOOC and the Guangdong Provincial Development & Reform Commission in China to evaluate the potential for a world-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.
Borealis is investing about €200 million to upgrade and expand capacity for cross-linked PE (XLPE) and semiconductive compounds in Europe in order to meet future demand in wire and cable applications.
Swiss drugmaker Novartis has made a five-year financial commitment of $250 million to fight neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and malaria.
Solvay is completely phasing out the use of fluorosurfactants across its global production platforms up to 2026. In its latest step, the Belgian chemical giant said it will be able to produce nearly 100% of its fluoropolymers without fluorosurfactants at its Spinetta Marengo, Italy, site by that date.
Sanofi and GSK are touting their latecomer protein-based Covid-19 vaccine as a potential game changer in the fight against the Omicron variant.
Finland’s Kemira has launched a new division, called its Growth Accelerator unit, to drive the company’s long-term growth for selected strategic initiatives.
Sharon McGuinness has been appointed to a five-year term as the new executive director of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the body that administrates the REACH chemicals legislation.
The Life Science business segment of German pharmaceuticals, chemicals and life sciences group Merck has widened its US plant for high-potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs) at Verona, near Madison, Wisconsin to 6,500 m2.
Dutch paints and coatings group AkzoNobel has invested an undisclosed sum in a new production line in China for water-based texture paints.
IMCD China, part of Netherlands-headquartered multinational chemicals distributor IMCD, has agreed to take over specialty distribution company Welex, boosting its footprint in China.
German chemical giant BASF has announced it will build a commercial scale battery recycling black mass plant in at its Schwarzheide, Germany, site, strengthening the location’s activities in production and recycling of cathode active materials (CAM).
