IFF opens new flavours plant & lab in China

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (IFF) has opened two new facilities in China. A flavours manufacturing facility in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone and a Natural Product Research lab, located in the Nanjing Life Science Park.

The flavours plant is the company’s second in China and is designed to supplement IFF’s existing flavours and manufacturing operations in Guangzhou. The Naturals Lab is the company’s first outside of the US.

The Zhangjiagang site spans 66,800 sqm, encompassing the main manufacturing building that is fitted with a strong odour control system, quality control labs and an ambient warehouse for goods. Aligned with IFF’s commitment to sustainability, this facility is designed to have zero liquid discharge by reusing all water on-site, and is built to LEED Silver qualifications. 

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Covestro to build €1.5 bn world-scale MDI plant

Covestro has approved an investment of around €1.5 billion to build a new world-scale methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) plant in Baytown, Texas. This investment at the existing site in Baytown is the largest single investment in the history of the company.

Total capacity of the new train will be 500 kilotons MDI per year, start of production is expected in 2024. At the same time an older, less efficient MDI unit of 90 kilotons production capacity will be closed. Thus, total MDI capacities of Covestro in the NAFTA region will reach around 740 kilotons per year making Covestro the industry capacity leader in the region by 2024. With that, Covestro will also strongly underline its global industry capacity leadership position.

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Ascend sees constrained PA66 availability in short term

The US nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 (Polyamide 66-PA66) markets continue to face pressure despite decreasing feedstock costs amid severely constrained global supplies and strong demand.

In this market scenario, “PA66 availability will continue to be constrained for the short term,” said Phil McDivitt, President and CEO of Ascend Performance Materials, in a statement. “We are committed to meeting the long-term needs of our customers and maintaining reliable operations,” he added.

Due to conflicting reports on long-term PA66 availability, the company believed it necessary to restate its plans to meet the increased market demand, it stated.

A fully integrated producer and supplier of PA66, Ascend, declared force majeure on Pensacola, Florida site, mentioning that production continued to be around 90 percent of capacity. 

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Wood bags multi-million-dollar contract in Oman

Wood Group has secured a new multi-million-dollar contract with Duqm Refinery and Petrochemicals Industries to provide two Terrace Wall double-fired delayed coker heaters at their refinery on the south eastern coast of the Sultanate of Oman.

The award follows on from Wood’s successful delivery of the engineering and process design phase, the technology package and licence of the company’s SYDEC (selective yield delayed coking) technology.

Effective immediately, the contract will be delivered by Wood’s process and technology specialists based in New Jersey, US, and builds on Wood’s strong contribution to the Duqm Refinery to date, including the successful delivery of the overall facility pre-FEED, FEED and ongoing project management.

The contract is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2020.

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Aramco, Total launch engineering studies for giant petrochemical complex

Total SA and Saudi Aramco have signed a joint development agreement for the front-end engineering and design (FEED) of a giant petrochemical complex in Jubail, on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast.

The agreement was signed by Amin Nasser, President and CEO of Saudi Aramco and Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and CEO of Total.

Announced in April 2018, the world-class complex will be located next to the SATORP refinery, operated by Saudi Aramco (62.5 percent) and Total (37.5 percent), in order to fully exploit operational synergies. It will comprise a mixed-feed cracker (50 percent ethane and refinery off-gases) – the first in the Gulf region to be integrated with a refinery – with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year of ethylene and related high-added-value petrochemical units. The project represents an investment of around $5 billion and is scheduled to start-up in 2024.

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Yara to acquire 100 pc of Galvani minority interests

Yara SA has reached an agreement to acquire the minority interest in Galvani Industria, Comercio e Servicos SA from the Galvani family. As part of the deal certain assets will be transferred to the Galvani family, who will also receive a payment in cash and a contingent amount. Yara will thereby own 100 percent of the shares in Galvani Industria, Comercio e Servicos SA.
"This deal streamlines our production footprint in Brazil, securing full ownership of key Yara Brazil production assets, complementing its extensive distribution capabilities and achieving a more integrated position in the Brazilian market," said Lair Hanzen, Executive Vice President Yara Brazil.

Yara Brazil will own 100 percent of the industrial unit in Paulinia with integrated Single Super Phosphate production and a fertilizer bulk blend facility, and the Serra do Salitre project with an annual production capacity of approximately 1.2 million tonnes of phosphate ore and 1.5 million tonnes of finished fertilizer (SSP equivalents).

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Brenntag to distribute PQ’s sodium, potassium silicate solutions

Brenntag France said that it is distributing PQ Corporation’s sodium and potassium silicate solutions in France. This exclusive distribution agreement is effective since 1 July 2018.

“The PQ Corporation silicate product portfolio is an important addition to Brenntag’s product offering across all sectors. We value the core competency of PQ and the extensive technical knowledge and insight that they can offer customers to address real life situations. Brenntag is very motivated to serve and understand evolving demands from our respective customers,” said Eyal Attia, head of product management Brenntag France.

Read more: Brenntag to distribute PQ’s sodium, potassium silicate solutions