Covestro appoints KION board member as new CFO

Covestro AG has appointed Dr Thomas Toepfer (45) as the company’s new chief financial officer (CFO). He will take over the position from Patrick Thomas, effective on 1 April 2018. Since June 2017, Patrick Thomas has been interim CFO in addition to his function as CEO. 

Toepfer has been a member of the executive board (CFO and labor director) of KION Group AG since 2012. Before joining KION he served as a member of the managing board, chief financial officer and labor director of STILL GmbH, Hamburg. Previously to this, Toepfer held the position of CFO at Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH from 2008 until 2011.

“By appointing Toepfer, we have been able to secure a highly regarded top executive and expert in the field of finance with many years’ experience and a proven track record in the capital market for our company. He will perfectly strenghten our management team and thus shape the future of Covestro,” said Dr Richard Pott, chairman of the supervisory board, Covestro.

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Total starts operation at Brazil’s Libra oil field

Total SA announced first oil from the Libra mega-field, located in ultra-deep waters 180 kilometers offshore Rio de Janeiro, in the pre-salt Santos Basin in Brazil. The floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit Pioneiro de Libra has a capacity of 50,000 barrels of oil.

This start-up of the early production system will generate revenue while also enabling technical data to be collected to optimize the subsequent development phases.

Beyond this early production phase, the Libra development will further continue with the next investment decision for the Libra 1 FPSO with a capacity of 150,000 barrels per day. In the years ahead, other production units of similar capacity will be invested in so that the field can be developed to its full potential. 

The Libra field is operated by Petrobras (40 percent) as part of the international consortium whose other partners are Total (20 percent), Shell (20 percent), CNOOC (10 percent) and CNPC (10 percent).

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Ineos to supply first ever US ethane to China in 2019

Ineos has announced a long-term supply agreement with SP Chemicals to deliver ethane from US shale gas to China.

The agreement, which will see US ethane from shale gas shipped to China for the first time, will supply SP Chemicals with a long-term competitive supply of ethane for its industrial production.

The deal will involve the construction of a 95,000cbm capacity ship which is expected to be delivered in 2019. Known in US as a very large ethane carrier (VLEC) it will be the largest ethane carrier in the world, and will ship US ethane from shale gas to SP Chemicals’ new gas cracker facility, currently under construction in Taixing China.

As with the Ineos Dragon ships, this vessel will be operated by Evergas. It will be the first VLEC in their fleet of 23 gas ships. The ship will be built in China under the management of the JACCAR Group.

“This is another world first for Ineos after importing shale gas to Europe in 2015. By bringing in US ethane from shale gas to China for the first time, we are now leading the way in shipping ethane worldwide to meet the needs of an expanding chemicals sector. We are excited to work with a client such as SP Chemicals and we look forward to delivering this historic project,” said David Thompson, CEO of Ineos trading and shipping.

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Grace licenses UNIPOL technology to Oriental Energy in China

W R Grace & Co (GRA) has contracted to license its UNIPOL PP process technology to Oriental Energy (Ningbo) New Material Co Ltd for an expansion at its facility in Ningbo, China.

The two new 400-kiloton capacity lines are expected to begin operations in 2020 to produce homopolymer and random copolymers.

The Ningbo operation is a subsidiary of Oriental Energy Co Ltd, a comprehensive alkane resources operator that develops clean energy and new material for the international market. Oriental Energy previously licensed UNIPOL PP process technology for a 400-kiloton PP line in 2012.

The project represents the 22nd and 23rd UNIPOL PP Process Technology reactor lines licensed in China. With this license, the total design and operating capacity of UNIPOL PP lines in China will exceed 7,500 kilotons per year.

Grace's all gas-phase UNIPOL PP process technology provides the most advanced and broadest range of homopolymers, random copolymers, and impact copolymers in the industry. As the simplest of all PP process technologies, with fewer moving parts and less equipment than any alternative, its reliable, stable, and predictable operation leads to lower capital, operating, and maintenance costs.

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Sika acquires leading acoustics automotive supplier in Germany

Sika AG has agreed to acquire Faist ChemTec Group, a leading manufacturer of high-performance engineered, structure-borne acoustic solutions for the automotive industry.

Headquartered in Worms, Germany employs 840 people worldwide. The acquisition brings technology and know-how that will accelerate Sika’s growth and drive market penetration via the strong synergies between the two companies.

Faist ChemTec is a renowned company with a trusted brand, comprehensive technical expertise and strong, long-term customer relationships. With six production sites in Europe, North America and Asia, and a pan-European distribution network, it supplies its customers with successful and innovative products. Similar to Sika, its innovations are driven by megatrends such as the increased need for comfort and lightweight construction of vehicles.

“The acquisition fits perfectly with our growth strategy and will significantly enhance our product offerings and technology base for acoustic damping solutions in the automotive market. The manufacturing footprint supports our aim to achieve global reach combined with local presence when serving customers worldwide. We warmly welcome the successful team from Faist ChemTec Group into the Sika family and are excited to work together in the future,” said Paul Schuler, CEO of Sika.

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Hikma invests in digital health firm Biolinq

Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (Hikma) said that its venture capital arm, Hikma Ventures Limited (Hikma Ventures) has invested in Biolinq, the next generation minimally-invasive biosensor technology company, in collaboration with M Ventures which led the $10 million series A round of financing.

Lana Ghanem, managing director of Hikma Ventures and Edward Kliphuis, investment director of the new businesses fund at M Ventures will be joining the Biolinq board of directors.

Biolinq is a digital health company with a unique, wirelessly-enabled biosensor patch that is capable of continuously monitoring multiple biomarkers. Biolinq’s first commercial product, a unique minimally-invasive technology will allow patients with diabetes to continuously monitor their blood glucose without the pain and hassle of traditional continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems.

“Diabetes is a chronic disease affecting millions of people worldwide with a high prevalence in the Middle East and North Africa. We enjoyed working alongside the M Ventures team on closing this investment and we look forward to working with the Biolinq team and our other co-investors to bring this technology to patients,” said Lana Ghanem.

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New method converts carbon dioxide into useful compounds

MIT researchers have developed a new system that could potentially be used for converting power plant emissions of carbon dioxide into useful fuels for cars, trucks, and planes, as well as into chemical feedstocks for a wide variety of products.

The new membrane-based system was developed by MIT postdoc Xiao-Yu Wu and Ahmed Ghoniem, the Ronald Crane professor of mechanical engineering, and is described in the journal ChemSusChem.

The membrane, made of a compound of lanthanum, calcium, and iron oxide, allows oxygen from a stream of carbon dioxide to migrate through to the other side, leaving carbon monoxide behind. Other compounds, known as mixed ionic-electronic conductors, are also under consideration in their lab for use in multiple applications including oxygen and hydrogen production.

Carbon monoxide produced during this process can be used as a fuel by itself or combined with hydrogen and/or water to make many other liquid hydrocarbon fuels as well as chemicals including methanol (used as an automotive fuel), syngas, and so on. Ghoniem’s lab is exploring some of these options. This process could become part of the suite of technologies known as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), which if applied to electricity production could reduce the impact of fossil fuel use on global warming.

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