Entegris Korea signed an agreement with Gyeonggi Province for an additional $20 million investment, reinvesting profits from Korea. It began building a production facility in Hwaseong Jangan 2 industrial complex that will make high-purity chemicals and special containers, and will hire 50 people.

Newway Valve and Wanhua Chemical signed a centralized valve procurement agreement for Wanhua's US MDI integrated project in Louisiana, with a total investment of $1.25 billion and design capacity of 400,000 tonnes per year, during a ceremony at Yantai.

Dow announced plans to expand its alkoxylation plant for polyglycols at its Tarragona industrial complex in Spain, with a new reactor. The new capacity is expected to start operating in 2021 and will serve Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India and Asia.

Kuraray is investing approximately $15 million to install plant-based high barrier resin production in Houston, Texas, with the plant scheduled to be completed in September 2019 and operating in early 2020.

Air Products Korea signed an MOU with Chungcheongnam-do province to invest $30 million over five years in building industrial gas production and storage facilities at its Cheonan foreign investment zone plant.

Kuraray America is investing approximately US$15 million to install plant-based high barrier resin production in Houston, Texas, supporting Sealed Air's Plantic packaging work.

Kuraray is investing approximately $15 million to install plant-based high barrier resin production in Houston, Texas, supporting its partnership with Sealed Air. The resin plant is scheduled for completion in September 2019 and operation in early 2020.

Firmenich opened its largest flavor manufacturing plant in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone, Jiangsu, on March 20, 2019. The first phase cost $75 million and has an annual capacity of 12,000 metric tons.

Phu My Plastics Production JSC will use Honeywell UOP propane dehydrogenation technology to produce polymer-grade propylene at its plant in Vung Tau Province, Viet Nam, with expected output of 306,000 tonnes per year.

Fluor Corporation won the engineering, procurement and construction management contract for Valvoline's new blending and packaging facility in Zhangjiagang, China, its first plant in China. The contract value was undisclosed, and the plant will produce over 30 million gallons of lubricants and coolants a year.

Ortec, a biomaterial and polymer technology company, plans to invest $20 million to expand its existing Pendleton facility in Anderson County, South Carolina, creating about 18 new jobs. Hiring is projected to begin in the second quarter of 2019.

Chemours has started up a new Opteon YF (HFO-1234yf) refrigerant production facility at its Corpus Christi site in Ingleside, Texas, completing a $300 million project that triples its global capacity for this product.

Nestle and Danimer Scientific announced a collaboration to develop biodegradable water bottles based on Danimer's Nodax PHA. PepsiCo, an existing Danimer partner, may also gain access to the resins developed.

The Shepherd Chemical Company is investing $8.5 million to expand its Mirecourt, France manufacturing and R&D site, adding a third reactor, a new warehouse and upgraded pilot facilities. Production in the new reactor is expected in late 2019, potentially doubling the site's capacity.

Lotte BP Chemical confirmed an 180 billion won expansion at its Ulsan plant to build acetic acid and vinyl acetate monomer capacity, with construction from January 2019 to September 2020 and commercial production from January 2021. The project is expected to create 50 direct jobs.

ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions will provide the dual-pressure ammonia process license and engineering, supply and monitoring services for Ma'aden's new Phosphate 3 ammonia plant near Ras Al Khair, as a subcontractor to Daelim. The plant with 3,300 tons per day capacity is scheduled for completion in early 2022.

McDermott's Lummus Technology was awarded a technology contract by HPCL Rajasthan Refinery for the license and basic engineering of two 490 KTA polypropylene plants in Barmer District, Rajasthan, India. The award was reflected in McDermott's third quarter 2018 backlog.

INEOS Styrolution made the final investment decision to build a new 100kt ASA plant at its Bayport, Texas site, with start-up scheduled for 2021. WorleyParsons was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract.

SABIC signed a memorandum of understanding with UK-based PLASTIC ENERGY for feedstock supply to its European petrochemical operations. The two intend to build the first commercial plant in the Netherlands, anticipated to start production in 2021.

Indorama agreed in late December 2018 to acquire Invista's 282,000 metric-ton-per-year PET operation in Gersthofen, Germany, which makes industrial fibers and packaging resins.

Videolar-Innova is investing R$500 million to double its styrene monomer plant in Triunfo, Brazil, to 460,000 tonnes per year, with completion expected in 2019.

Australia-based Leaf Resources agreed to secure commercialisation and distribution rights for its Leafcoat biodegradable packaging coating in Europe. It is already licensed for North America, Brazil and Malaysia.

Nylene broke ground on Nov. 13, 2018 on an $8 million expansion at its Henderson, Kentucky plant, adding an 80,000 sq ft building and 40 jobs, with completion expected by July 2019.

Praxair announced that final closing conditions for its merger of equals with Linde AG were met after EU and US regulatory approvals, creating a combined company worth $46 billion expected to close October 31, 2018.

Kumho P&B Chemicals will invest 200 billion won to add 200,000 tonnes per year of BPA capacity at a new site near its Yeosu plant, raising capacity from 450,000 to 650,000 tonnes. Completion is due in the second half of 2021.

thyssenkrupp commissioned the world's first commercial plant using its PLAneo technology to make polylactide bioplastic in Changchun, China. The plant is operated by Jilin COFCO Biomaterial, a COFCO subsidiary, and started production in October 2018.

Ink maker Siegwerk agreed to develop interactive folding boxes with Prismade Labs that respond to smartphone screens, using Prismade's printed electronic structure technology. The partners plan long-term development of digital packaging applications.

BASF plans to acquire Belgian chemicals company Solvay's worldwide polyamide business. The deal is under EU merger review, with the deadline extended to January 11, 2019.

Danimer Scientific will locate a fermentation facility in Winchester, Kentucky, investing $36.2 million to produce its Noda PHA biopolymer and create 37 full-time jobs. Operations are targeted to start in Q4 2019.

Germany-based Siegwerk agreed to acquire Ultra Inks, a manufacturer of water-based flexo inks, to support its services in the Canadian market and expand its packaging ink portfolio.

Air Products has been awarded additional gaseous nitrogen and hydrogen supply for Samsung Electronics' Giheung fab in South Korea. It will build a new air separation unit, several hydrogen plants and pipelines, scheduled to be operational in 2020.

Master Fluid Solutions announced a new metalworking fluids blending plant in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, China, its largest investment globally, which will double its China capacity and is expected to be fully commissioned by the end of 2020.

Samsung Engineering approached AMPO POYAM Valves to design and manufacture more than 4,000 gate and globe valves for PTT Global Chemical's olefins reconfiguration plant in Map Ta Phut, Rayong, Thailand. The plant is expected to start operations in early 2021, with an investment of 820 million.

Adhesive maker Mavera Kimya in Kayseri, Turkey, has invested in Pressure Sensitive Adhesive production, upgraded a production line to raise speed, and plans to start making adhesives not currently produced in Turkey. Its capacity has reportedly doubled.

Samsung Engineering selected Ampo Poyam Valves to supply more than 4,000 gate and globe valves for PTT Global Chemical's olefins reconfiguration project in Map Ta Phut, Rayong, Thailand. The project is valued at up to $820 million and expected to start in early 2021.

Messer and CVC Capital Partners Fund VII agreed with Linde AG to acquire the majority of Linde's industrial gases business in North America and parts of its South American business for USD 3.3 billion. The joint venture MG Industries will operate under the Messer brand, and the deal depends on the Praxair-Linde merger and cartel approvals.

DowDupont announced it will invest $45 million to buy and retrofit a plant in Newark, Delaware. The article text is truncated, so further details are unavailable.

DowDuPont will invest $45 million over two years to buy and retrofit a new Newark, Delaware plant producing Kalrez high-temperature sealant material. The facility will be twice the size of the current site and will not add permanent jobs.

Valvoline plans to build its first plant in China, a 80,000-square-meter blending and packaging facility in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province, with about $70 million investment. Production is expected to begin by the end of 2020 with capacity above 30 million gallons of lubricants annually.

DowDuPont announced about $100 million of investments over two years to expand capacity and modernize the Sabine River Works plant in Orange County, Texas, for Surlyn, Nucrel, Fusabond and Vamac specialty materials, with phased output starting in 2020.

Wonik Materials decided to invest KRW 21.5 billion in building a factory and new facilities, as disclosed on 5 April 2018.

SNC-Lavalin and its joint venture partner JV Driver were awarded a lump-sum EPC contract by INEOS Oligomers to design and build a polyalphaolefin unit at Chocolate Bayou, Texas. The unit is expected online in October 2019 with 120,000 metric tons per annum capacity.

MonoSol, a Kuraray division, will initially invest US$72 million to build a 150,000-square-foot water-soluble film manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Indiana, expected to create up to 89 jobs by mid-2020. The site adds about 18 percent to existing global capacity.

SNC-Lavalin, in consortium with TechnipFMC, was awarded a lump sum EPC contract by NOVA Chemicals for two gas cracking furnaces at its Corunna cracker in Canada. The award supports a third phase expanding the unit's ethylene capacity by more than 50%.

DuPont Nutrition & Health's Microbiome Venture announced in March 2018 a strategic R&D partnership with the Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies (TFTAK) in Tallinn, Estonia, focused on cultivation and bioprocess capabilities for next-generation probiotics.

BOC Australia, a Linde Group member, unveiled a new $20 million specialty gases production facility at its Sydney Operations Centre in Wetherill Park. The facility will supply over 8,000 high purity and specialty gases.

Solvay announced a €6 million investment to expand sodium bicarbonate production capacity at its Rheinberg site in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, for its SOLVAir flue gas treatment product, with startup planned by end of 2018.

Polwax plans to commission a solvent deoiling installation at its Silesian plant at the end of 2019, processing about 30,000 tonnes of paraffin slack wax a year to supply its Jaśło site.

MacDermid appointed Mumbai-based Kanan Graphics as its distributor for the Western region of India to supply and distribute its flexo plate range.

BASF and customer Schaumaplast launched a packaging solution made from Styropor MB, the first expandable polystyrene on the market produced with BASF's biomass balance method.