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Business

Business Roundup

May 19, 2008 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 86, Issue 20

Solvay is investing $40 million to build a 125,000-metric-ton-per-year plant at its Green River, Wyo., facility to produce SOLVAir Select 300, a new sodium bicarbonate-based product used for treatment of sulfur dioxide in flue gases. The new capacity, meant to serve a market driven by tightening air pollution regulations, is set to start up in 2010.

MeadWestvaco Specialty Chemicals has purchased a 50% interest in Brazil-based oleochemicals maker Resitec. With the transaction, MeadWestvaco intends to expand its pine chemicals presence in the region and add tall oil fatty acids and tall oil rosin acids to Resitec's portfolio. Resitec is building a tall oil refinery in Brazil.

Cambrex has appointed Steven M. Klosk, 51, president and CEO. John R. Miller, 70, lead director, becomes nonexecutive chairman. They replace James A. Mack, 70, who has stepped down.

Total and Saudi Aramco have agreed to build a 400,000-bbl-per-day refinery in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, by 2012. In addition to fuels, the facility will have annual capacity of 700,000 metric tons of p-xylene, 140,000 metric tons of benzene, and 200,000 metric tons of propylene.

Terra Industries is expanding urea ammonium nitrate solutions capacity at its Woodward, Okla., plant by more than 500,000 tons. The $180 million expansion is driven by the high premium UAN solutions garner over their raw material, ammonia.

The German chemical industry has started out the year strongly, says the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) in its latest report. In the first quarter, chemical production rose by 2.3% from the year-ago quarter and sales were up by 5.5% to just under $70 billion. VCI economists forecast production will rise 2.5% in 2008 with only small increases in producer prices and sales.

BASF Coatings has started up a new production site in Russia to supply coatings to Russian automakers. The facility at Pavlovski Posad, which is 37 miles east of Moscow, has an annual capacity of 6,000 metric tons.

BASF will also double its capacity for alkylethanolamines by mid-2009 at its headquarters site in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The company currently has a total amine capacity of 70,000 metric tons per year in Ludwigshafen and Geismar, La. Separately, BASF says it has started up a 50,000-metric-ton-per-year nitric acid plant in Antwerp, Belgium. The output will be used primarily in BASF's urethane production.

Evonik industries' Goldschmidt division has extended an agreement with India's Sabinsa to market standardized botanical extracts to the personal care industry. This agreement allows Sabinsa to broaden its customer base of cosmetic and personal care companies by tapping into Goldschmidt's global customer list.

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