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Business

Business Roundup

May 10, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 19

Elevance Renewable Sciences, based in Bolingbrook., Ill., has expanded its office space by 30% and its lab facilities by more than 80%. A new pilot-scale lab for converting renewable feedstocks by olefin metathesis into specialty chemicals will allow it to supply thousands of pounds of development samples.

W.R. Grace has formed a joint venture in Saudi Arabia with Khalid Ali Alturki & Sons to meet the growing need for concrete additives. During this year, the partners plan to open two admixture facilities near metropolitan centers, one in Dammam and the other in Jeddah.

Eastman Chemical has completed its acquisition of Genovique Specialties from the New York City-based private equity firm Arsenal Capital. Terms of the deal to acquire the maker of benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, and nonphthalate plasticizers were not disclosed.

Kemira has sold its sulfuric acid plant in Kokkola, Finland, to Swedish zinc and copper maker Boliden, which had been supplying sulfur dioxide to Kemira from a nearby zinc smelter. The plant has a capacity of 300,000 metric tons of sulfuric acid per year and employs 20 people.

Almatis, the alumina chemicals business once owned by Alcoa, has filed for prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company, which has about 900 employees, says that its senior lenders support its reorganization plan and that it anticipates emerging from bankruptcy soon.

Chemtura has completed the sale of its polyvinyl chloride additives business for $16.2 million to Galata Chemicals. The new firm is a partnership between the private equity firm Aterian Investments Partners and Artek Surfin Chemicals, a Mumbai-based company involved in textiles, metal finishing, and chemicals.

Evonik Industries has expanded production of methacrylate chemicals to 25,000 metric tons per year in Shanghai after an overhaul of its methacrylic acid unit. However, it has run into problems at its methacrylates unit in Worms, Germany, that will limit output at least through the end of May.

Joule Unlimited has raised $30 million in its second round of venture financing. The firm claims that it has successfully engineered microorganisms that can convert sunlight and waste CO2 directly into diesel and ethanol fuels in a continuous process.

Glycos Biotechnologies will build a biobased chemical plant in Malaysia by 2012 with Bio-Xcell, a government-backed biotech park. The Houston-based firm plans to convert low-value raw materials from the palm oil and oleochemical industries into biochemicals.

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