DATE : 2015-08-27
Germany-based chemicals producer Evonik has canceled plans to build a methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant in Alabama, the company said on Thursday.
Evonik had planned to construct a 120,000 tonne/year MMA facility in Mobile, Alabama. Announced in 2012, the plant was scheduled to come online in mid-2015.
As the target date passed, market sources said the company had delayed commencement of the project.
The company has now confirmed the project has been canceled following a strategic review. It did not provide further explanation.
The new facility was to be the first to utilize the company’s Aveneer production process, which is said to provide greater yields without the use of sulphuric acid.
Evonik currently operates an MMA facility in Fortier, Louisiana, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 tonnes/year, according to ICIS data. The company also has MMA plants in Germany and China.
MMA is a liquid monomer used primarily to produce resins and acrylic polymers. It is used in the production of acrylic sheeting and in surface coatings.
Major US producers of MMA include Arkema, Dow Chemical, Evonik and Lucite.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2015-08-26
The force majeure on butyl acrylate (butyl-A) and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA) at French-based specialty chemicals producer Arkema is expected to be lifted imminently, a source from the company said on Wednesday.
The declaration at the Carling facility was made on 22 May, on the back of the force majeure on oxo-alcohols at Lavera a few days prior.
The force majeure on oxo-alcohols from the Lavera petrochemicals site has now been lifted, a second source from Arkema also confirmed on Wednesday. The source added that the situation is back to normal and the producer is now in a position to build stocks.
Arkema and INEOS Oxide operate a 50:50 joint venture in Lavera called Oxochimie. INEOS Oxide, which also declared force majeure earlier this year, was not available for a comment.
Oxochimie has the capacity to produce 160,000 tonnes/year of n-butanol, 20,000 tonnes/year of iso-butanol and 120,000 tonnes/year of 2-ethylhexanol at Lavera.
Acrylate esters include methyl acrylate (methyl-A), ethyl acrylate (ethyl-A), butyl-A and 2-EHA. They are used to make paints, coatings, textiles, adhesives, polishes and plastics.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2015-08-04
LG Chem said Wednesday that it has finished expansion work on the Yeosu plant in South Jeolla, which produces crude acrylic acid (CAA) and super absorbentpolymer (SAP).
CAA is a material used to produce paint, while SAP is needed to make various products like diapers and sanitary pads.
The company said the CAA line was expanded by 160,000 tons to produce a total capacity of 510,000 tons per year. The SAP line, on the other hand, was expanded by 80,000 tons, to have 360,000 tons of annual capacity - the fifth- and fourth-largest in the world, respectively, in terms of production.
LG Chem is the only Korean company producing CAA. The company also said it plans to grow its SAP business, up from the current of 1.1 trillion won to 1.7 trillion won ($927 million to $1.4 billion) by 2020.
SOURCE Icis News
DATE : 2015-08-01
The nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is required to combat increases in oxidative stress. The chemical compound tert-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) can downregulate Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1), a repressor of Nrf2, thus maintaining the stability of Nrf2. tBHQ can also increase intracellular "free" zinc in human bronchial epithelial (16HBE) cells. We aim to investigate whether the intracellular free zinc change plays a role in Nrf2 activation. tBHQ exposure dose-dependently increases intracellular free zinc concentrations within 30 min in 16HBE cells by mobilizing intracellular zinc pools. Active Nrf2 and the antioxidant enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) increase at 3 h after tBHQ treatment. Chelating intracellular free zinc with tetrakis-(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine (TPEN) during tBHQexposure partially abrogates the tBHQ-induced activation of Nrf2 and HO-1 expression, while Keap1 is further decreased.
These results indicate that tBHQ-induced stability of Nrf2 is associated with the intracellular free zinc level. Because the activated Nrf2 is phosphorylated, the serine/threonine protein phosphatase activity, which is known to be inhibited by zinc, is assayed. The results showed that tBHQ treatment can suppress cellular protein phosphatase-2A (PP2A) and protein phosphatase-2C (PP2C) activity, which can be abrogated by adding TPEN. This finding is verified in a cell-free protein extract experiment by supplying zinc or by chelating zinc with TPEN. These results provide a novel mechanistic insight into Nrf2 activation in antioxidant enzyme induction involving zinc signaling. The increase of intracellular free zinc may be one mechanism for Nrf2 activation. The inhibition of PP2A and PP2C activity may be involved in Nrf2 phosphorylation modulation.
SOURCE American Journal of Physiology
DATE : 2015-07-24
Lukoil Group, a local manufacturer of oil and chemicals, is expanding its acrylonitrile production capacity from the current 150,000 tonnes/y to 190,000 tonnes/y at its Saratovorgsintez site in Saratov, Russia. The expansion project is scheduled to be finished in 2016. The sodium cyanide capacity at the Saratovorgsintez site is also being improved from the current 18,000 tonnes/y to 30,000 tonnes/y, which will be completed in late 2015.
SOURCE Plastics News
"BASF has committed financing in place to buy Syngenta," one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential.
BASF will only decide to submit a bid for Syngenta if Monsanto makes an offer for the Swiss group, the sources said, adding that BASF was comfortable with there being no merger at all and the status quo in the industry prevailing.
"BASF will not be a first mover but remain a reactive player," one of the people said.
BASF and Syngenta declined to comment.
Monsanto wants to combine its world-leading seeds business with Syngenta's pesticides business. Syngenta has rejected the proposal and refused to open its books, despite the offer of a $2 billion cash payment should the transaction fail to win regulatory approval.
Source: Reuters via Chemistry Daily - J. Spiel