Business Roundup

Agrium and PotashCorp have completed their merger, creating the fertilizer maker Nutrien. The firm can make up to 25 million metric tons of potassium, phosphate, and nitrogen fertilizers annually.

Ineos has made a final decision to build a 120,000-metric-ton-per-year poly(α-olefin)plant in Chocolate Bayou, Texas. The facility, which will mainly serve lubricant markets, is expected to start up during the third quarter of 2019.

BASF and Sinopec will double neopentyl glycol capacity at their joint-venture plant in Nanjing, China, to 80,000 metric tons per year. The plant started production in 2015.

Thin Film Electronics has sold intellectual property covering printed rewritable memory labels to Xerox. The two firms inked a partnership to produce the smart labels in 2014. Thin Film will receive an up-front payment plus royalties.

Nippon Shokubai, PTT, and Mitsui & Co. will study construction of an alcohol ethoxylate surfactants plant at the Hemaraj Eastern Industrial Estate in Rayong, Thailand. PTT produces ethylene oxide, a raw material, at the site.

Gevo will cut 40% of the workforce at its headquarters in Englewood, Colo. The biobased chemicals company seeks to improve its cash flow so it can expand its isobutyl alcohol plant in Luverne, Minn.

Yield10 Bioscience, a plant science spin-off from biobased polymer firm Metabolix, has raised $14.5 million in a public sale of shares. Yield10 seeks to alter gene activity and carbon flow in oilseeds and rice to improve yields.

Boehringer Ingelheim is more than doubling the size of its corporate venture fund to $300 million. The extra money will go toward ­early-stage companies focused on regenerative medicine, infectious diseases, and immuno-oncology. The cash will also help Boehringer expand its portfolio in the U.S.