Business Roundup

Kraton Polymers will expand capacity for unhydrogenated styrenic block copolymers at its plants in Europe by 20,000 metric tons per year. The company says the increases will be completed by April 2007.

Basell is selling its 36% stake in Taiwan Polypropylene Co. (TPP) to Lee Chang Yung Chemical, a Taiwanese thermoplastic elastomer maker. As part of the sale, Basell will pick up TPP's minority stakes in separate joint ventures in Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.

BASF is increasing capacity for 2-mercaptoethanol at its site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, by about 40% to more than 10,000 metric tons per year. The project is expected to be completed by the end of August.

Avalon Pharmaceuticals and ChemDiv are collaborating on the discovery and development of small-molecule oncology drugs. ChemDiv will provide its large library of chemical compounds as well as medicinal and synthetic chemistry services.

Agilent Technologies will manufacture the active short interfering RNA component in Calando Pharmaceuticals' CALAA01, under development as a cancer therapy. Agilent produces oligonucleotides through its nucleic acid solutions division.

Air Liquide and China's Tianjin Soda Plant are forming a joint venture to build two large air separation units that will feed chemical plant expansions at Tianjin Soda. The $100 million project is expected to be completed by the end of 2008.

Shell is going ahead with a previously proposed 800,000-metric-ton-per-year ethylene cracker at its Bukom Island, Singapore, site. The project, to be completed in 2009 or 2010, includes an ethylene glycol plant.