Germany inaugurated its second liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal on Jan. 14 in the Baltic seacoast town of Lubmin, in the presence of chancellor Olaf Scholz and Manuela Schwesig, prime minister of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
US biopharma manufacturing and technology company National Resilience has entered into an agreement with Abu Dhabi investor Mubadala Investment Company to build a manufacturing plant in the United Arab Emirate’s biggest city. This will be the first GMP biopharma facility in the UAE.
The aim of Tokyo, Japan-headquartered Tsubame BHB is to commercialize on-site ammonia production at small-scale plants using an electride-based catalyst. The Company now received an order from Daiichi Jitsugyo for an ammonia synthesis facility to be introduced for the integrated demonstration test of blue hydrogen and ammonia production/utilization conducted by Inpex in Kashiwazaki in Japan’s Niigata Prefecture.
As it continues to leverage earnings from its top-selling mRNA-based Covid vaccine to deepen its existing knowhow, Mainz, Germany-based BioNtech has announced plans to acquire all of London-based artificial intelligence specialist InstaDeep.
US specialty chemicals and materials company Chemours will spend $200 million to increase capacity for its Nafion ion exchange membranes at its site in Villers-Saint-Paul, France.
Venator’s second-largest investor, Czech private equity fund J&T MS 1 SICAV, is asking for a seat on the board of the UK-headquartered multinational pigments and additives producer, citing major concerns about its financial underperformance and massive shareholder value destruction.
BASF has broken ground on the third and final phase of its expansion project for polyurethane precursor MDI at its integrated site in Geismar, Louisiana.
Canada’s Fluid Energy Group has sold its global modified and synthetic acid business, including the Triton industrial business, to Dorf Ketal FZE, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dorf Ketal Chemicals India, for an undisclosed sum.
As Bayer’s board prepares to search for a new CEO to succeed Werner Baumann, the German pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals group has attracted the attention of two activist investors interested in pulling its share price out of the doldrums and reaping the rewards.
Yara has announced plans to modify its ammonia terminals in Germany to help speed up the country’s hydrogen economy. CEO Svein Tore Holsether said the company has identified “substantial potential” to increase ammonia imports to Germany in line with growing market demand.
AstraZeneca has entered into an agreement to buy CinCor Pharma, a US-based clinical-stage biopharma focused on developing novel treatments for resistant and uncontrolled hypertension as well as chronic kidney disease.
Leading active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturer EuroAPI plans to invest €40 million at its site in Saint-Aubin-lès-Elbeuf, France, to launch a new production technology for vitamin B12. Full capacity is expected to be reached by 2027.
QatarEnergy said it has made a final decision to go ahead with delayed $6 billion Ras Laffan Petrochemicals Complex to be realized with US multinational partner Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem).
Vopak and Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies are forming a joint venture company to accelerate the development of an international hydrogen market. The 50:50 venture, LOHC Logistix, will be based in Germany, supporting both partners’ efforts to supply green hydrogen.
Specialty chemicals and food ingredients distributor Azelis has acquired 100% of Benelux smoke ingredients distributor Smoky Light.
Germany‘s Merck has granted an exclusive license for the tumor-targeting IL-12 fusion protein currently known as M9241 to PDS Biotechnology Corporation, a US-based clinical-stage immunotherapy company with a growing pipeline of targeted immunotherapies for cancer and infectious disease.
US-based multinational contractor KBR and its Japanese acetyls technology partner Showa Denko have been selected by Asian Paints to provide services for a grassroots vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant in India.
Viatris, formed in November 2020 from the merger of Mylan with Pfizer’s Upjohn division, has established an eye care division following the closure of two acquisitions on Jan. 3.
On December 19, 2022, the European Commission proposed a revised regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) of chemicals and introduced new hazard classes for endocrine disruptors, as well as for chemicals that do not break down in the environment and can accumulate in living organisms, or risk entering and spreading across the water cycle, including drinking water.
In its first acquisition since forming in 2010, mRNA specialist Moderna is buying Japan’s OriCiro Genomics for $85 million, expanding its therapeutics and vaccines portfolio.
Arkema has finalized the divestment of Febex, a company specialized in phosphorus-based chemistry, as a further step in what it calls its ”dynamic portfolio management strategy.” Buyer is Belgian group Prayon; the acquisition price was not disclosed.
In a deal announced shortly before Christmas that only attracted significant attention in the new year, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said it is acquiring a 24.9% stake in Austrian energy group OMV from Mubadala, the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates.
Nouryon announced on Jan. 4 that it had closed its purchase of ADOB, a Poland-based supplier of chelated micronutrients, foliars and other specialty agricultural solutions.
Granules India, a Hyderabad-based pharma company, is partnering compatriot clean energy company Greenko ZeroC to develop green zones for the sustainable manufacture of drugs and their intermediates.
Novartis has agreed to pay a total of $245 million to settle lawsuits filed by direct purchasers, indirect purchasers and retailers accusing it of colluding with Par Pharmaceutical to delay the launch of a generic version of its Exforge (valsartan/amlodipine) hypertension drug.
German distribution giant Brenntag is retreating from plans to acquire US rival Univar. The company said in an ad hoc statement that it is “no longer pursuing these discussions.”
Just before the New Year, the administration of US president Joe Biden revived Waters of the United States, a section of former president Barack Obama’s Clean Air Act that had been deleted by Donald Trump in a move rejected by a federal court.
SABIC, OQ and Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) have agreed to jointly develop a petrochemical complex in Duqm, Oman, reviving a project that stalled in late 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
ExxonMobil has started up what it says is one of the largest advanced recycling facilities in North America at its integrated manufacturing complex in Baytown, Texas, where the company uses proprietary Exxtend technology to break down hard-to-recycle plastics and process them into chemical feedstock.
US consumer products giant 3M has announced it will discontinue production and use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, (PFAS) across its products by the end of 2025.
Arkema has doubled capacity for its Reafree-branded powder polyester resins at its Navi Mumbai facility in India. The French chemical producer said the upgrade reinforces its leadership position in the global powder coatings market and its commitment to developing very low-VOC technologies.
German utility companies Gascade, Ontras and Terranets BW are planning to create a 1,100 km pipeline system with up to 20 GW capacity to transport renewable hydrogen across the country from north to south.
Danish technology company Haldor Topsoe has been chosen by Ascension Clean Energy (ACE) to provide its Syncor autothermal reforming technology for a world-scale ammonia plant to be built in Louisiana, USA.
As part of plans, announced in dribbles, to carve 8,000 jobs out of its global workforce to save $1 billion, Swiss drugs giant Novartis is eliminating 285 staff positions across its headquarters sites in the US state of New Jersey.
Trinseo has finally decided to stop producing styrene at its Böhlen site in Germany, saying the plant – producing about 300,000 t/y – is too small to be competitive on the global market with current high gas prices and new styrene capacity additions sealing the unit’s fate.
