Origin Materials and Packaging Matters have agreed to jointly develop advanced packaging materials, including the polymer PEF, building on an existing 10-year supply agreement for carbon-negative PET.

SK Capital Partners, LP completed its previously announced acquisition of IPACKCHEM Group SAS, a Paris-headquartered supplier of barrier packaging for crop protection and specialty chemicals. The deal value was not disclosed.

Tamilnadu Petroproducts board approved setting up a propylene recovery unit at an estimated cost of about Rs 30 crore. The announcement was made on 30 March 2021.

Tamilnadu Petroproducts approved revamping the caustic soda unit of its heavy chemicals division at an estimated cost of Rs 165 crore, raising capacity from 150 to 250 tonnes per day. Completion is expected in about 18 months after statutory clearances.

Tamilnadu Petroproducts approved augmenting its linear alkyl benzene plant from 120 to 145 kilo tonnes per year at an estimated cost of Rs 240 crore, with completion expected in about 24 months after approvals. The announcement was made on 30 March 2021.

The Estée Lauder Companies and Eastman signed a global memorandum of understanding under which Estée Lauder brands will incorporate Eastman Renew molecularly recycled polyester packaging to help meet its 2025 sustainable packaging goals. The announcement was made on 30 March 2021.

Avantium Renewable Polymers signed two additional conditional offtake agreements for PEF resin with Toyobo and Terphane, bringing the total to four contracts, which together cover 30% of the planned flagship FDCA plant's capacity. Refresco is also among the offtake partners.

Sumika Polymer Compounds Europe is setting up a new Polish subsidiary and a production site of about 5,500 square meters in Poznan. The site will add 30,000 tonnes of compounded polypropylene capacity, with about 30 jobs and production scheduled from Q1 2022.

Johnson Matthey signed a substantial deal to supply membrane-electrode assemblies to German direct methanol fuel cell maker SFC Energy. No value was disclosed in the article.

Johnson Matthey announced new manufacturing capacity for catalyst-coated membranes used in green hydrogen production. The capacity location and amount were not stated in the article.

Diversified CPC International completed Phase I of its new Beaumont, Texas plant at Iron Horse Terminals, which began commercial operation in late November 2020. The company invested $10 million in Phase I.

Lummus Technology was awarded a contract by Enter Engineering for four SRT VI and VII cracking furnaces at the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex in Uzbekistan, which will more than double its ethylene production.

Bostik started up a new industrial adhesives plant in Nara, Japan, within the Bostik-Nitta joint venture, 80% owned by Arkema. The lines serve non-woven hygiene and industrial packaging, labelling, transportation and electronics markets.

NOVA Chemicals signed a long-term agreement with Merlin Plastics, Canada's largest plastics recycler, to increase supply of post-consumer recyclate for consumer packaging. NOVA is also providing financing for a multi-million dollar recycling project.

Tver regional governor discussed with Shell Neft plans to expand lubricant production at its Torzhok plant, with investment up to 6 billion roubles, output rising to 300 million litres a year, and work starting in 2021 and finishing in 2023.

China's JDB Group selected PPG INNOVEL non-BPA coatings for beverage cans for its Jia Duo Bao herbal tea, after testing against Chinese and international food contact standards.

Agfa is building a new unit at its central factory in Mortsel, near Antwerp, to produce water-based inks for laminates, corrugated and other packaging. The plant will be co-located with R&D and quality control and is meant to cover volumes for the next five to ten years.

Koch-Chemie began a construction project to modernize and expand its Unna factory, adding production capacity and planned bottling equipment and office space. The announcement was dated 24 June 2020.

Johnson Matthey won a contract from Technoleasing, part of ESN Group, to license its combined reforming methanol technology and Advanced Series Loop for a 3,000 mtpd methanol plant in Skovorodino, Amur Oblast, Russia. The contract includes engineering, equipment and catalyst supply and is subject to a final investment decision by Technoleasing.

Azelis agreed to acquire the distribution assets of PT Primaditha Jaya Mandiri, which distributes food ingredients for processed meat, beverage and savoury segments in greater Jakarta, Indonesia.

Actega is significantly expanding production of water-based and UV-cured overprint varnishes, raising global capacity to over 150,000 tonnes per year. About €2 million has been invested in a new integrated production facility in Brazil employing 180 people.

EGIDA has begun construction of a plant in the Lipetsk special economic zone producing elastic polyurethane foam, furniture fabrics and upholstery components. The investment was raised to 3.79 billion rubles, with more than 200 jobs planned by 2022.

Belgian cleaning products maker Loda has acquired Dutch company Burg Reiniging B.V., a producer of bleach and drain cleaners, and bought extra industrial land in Beerse. The article is dated 21 April 2020.

EQT is reported to be in talks to acquire Schülke, a German hygiene solutions provider, from Air Liquide. No deal has been announced and no value was given.

Dymax Corporation will buy about 16 acres in the Gastonia Technology Park and invest up to USD 21.5 million to build an advanced manufacturing operation, creating about 59 jobs within five years.

Shanghai Valve No.2 Factory and Wanhua-Bosu Chemical (BorsodChem) signed a strategic cooperation agreement covering chemical projects in Europe. It is the second overseas agreement between the two sides after a Wanhua US agreement.

Johnson Matthey Poland has built a new automotive catalyst factory of about 23,000 square metres in Gliwice, Poland, and plans to hire 400 workers, with recruitment starting in March 2020. The construction cost of the plant was 128 million PLN within a wider 450 million PLN investment begun in 2018.

Corbion will invest approximately US$190 million in a new 125,000 metric ton lactic acid plant at its existing Rayong Province site in Thailand, using its gypsum-free technology.

Samson Ringo completed factory acceptance testing of 3595 angle control valves for antisurge service in the ethane cracking plant of a petrochemical complex. The valves were custom-sized to replace existing units and showed an opening time of 0.8 seconds.

Kaneka has completed a PHBH biodegradable polymer plant with annual production capacity of about 5,000 tons, five times its previous model, at an investment of around 2.5 billion yen.

KBR was awarded a contract by Hainan Huasheng New Material to license Mitsubishi Chemical's BPA technology and provide engineering design for a 240,000 tons per annum plant in Dongfang City, Hainan Province.

Innovative Chemical Products Group acquired Hi-Tech Coatings from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, adding high-performance water-based and UV-curable coatings and facilities in the UK, Netherlands and Michigan. A strategic supply partnership with Heidelberg was also established.

Baker Hughes broke ground on its first chemicals manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia at the PlasChem Park in Jubail and agreed to supply feedstock chemicals from Sadara Chemical Company. The announcement was dated November 26, 2019.

Evonik Industries is expanding its capacity for organic dispersions used in heat seal lacquers at its Darmstadt, Germany site, with completion scheduled for the second half of 2021. The dispersions serve food and beverage flexible packaging.

US private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners completed its acquisition of Clariant's healthcare packaging business, now rebranded as Airnov Healthcare Packaging, for about CHF308 million. The deal was signed in July 2019 and completed in November 2019.

Vopak is expanding its Terminal Linkeroever by 50,000 cubic metres with eight new tanks, mainly for storing monoethylene glycol (MEG). The report is dated 4 November 2019.

Veolia Water Technologies won a contract from Lee & Man to supply its HPD Enhanced Chloride Removal Process at the company's pulp mill in Chongqing, China, to treat precipitator ash and reduce chloride and potassium.

Honeywell is considering a potential $40 million investment to expand capacity at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana plant by 20 million pounds per year of Solstice ze refrigerant, creating 13 new jobs, with completion expected in early 2021.

Solvay will increase production capacity of its Tecnoflon FKM peroxide curable fluoroelastomer by nearly a third at its Spinetta Marengo plant in Italy, with the extra capacity due by May 2021. The expansion serves demand from automotive, oil and gas, and semiconductor industries.

Borregaard decided to invest NOK 207 million in its chloralkali plant at Sarpsborg, Norway, including a new electrolyser and rectifier, with completion planned for 2021.

Tikehau Capital, Bpifrance and minority investors provided 33 million euros to ADDEV Materials to finance its acquisitions of Andpak and Zip-Chem, following an April investment of 38 million euros.

WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH will become the European blister coating production partner of Royal DSM by the end of 2019, using its new water-based coatings plant in Gerhardshofen, Germany. DSM's SOLUCOTE products will be distributed under WEILBURGER's SENOLITH WB BLISTER COATING line.

Addev Materials, a supplier to the aerospace, space and defence market, has agreed to acquire ANDPAK, a custom chemical packaging provider, and Zip-Chem, a surface preparation products maker. Investors reinvested EUR 33 million into Addev to finance the deal.

TBM began construction on August 26, 2019 of its second domestic LIMEX plant in Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, with about 25,000 tonnes annual output and operations planned for winter 2020, employing around 60 local workers.

Zhejiang Petrochemical has announced plans to build a paraxylene plant in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, capable of producing 4 million tons per year, as part of China's push to reduce paraxylene imports.

SK Capital agreed to acquire the Performance Products & Solutions business of PolyOne Corp in a deal valued at about $775 million. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company awarded Honeywell UOP the reconfiguration of the refining and petrochemicals sections of its Al-Zour refinery, including technology, design, key equipment and catalysts. The announcement is dated July 24, 2019.

Ampo Poyam Valves will design and manufacture electric actuated gate valves for Gulf Coast Growth Ventures' chemical facility in San Patricio County, Texas. Construction starts in Q3 2019 with start-up expected by 2022.

Chemours formally inaugurated its $300 million Opteon YF production facility in Ingleside, Texas, near Corpus Christi, tripling its Opteon YF capacity. Production started in February 2019.

Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals decided to build a new plant at the Bando Inter Industrial Park in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, producing gravure inks and coating agents, with construction from November 2019 and operations from July 2021.