Three Investments For Germany’s Evonik

Evonik Industries will spend roughly $100 million to build a plant for organic specialty surfactants at its site in Shanghai. To be completed by mid-2013, the facility will make ingredients for cosmetics, laundry products, and industrial applications. In Argentina, Evonik plans to build a 60,000-metric-ton-per-year plant making sodium methylate, a catalyst for biodiesel manufacture. To be completed by the end of 2012, the facility will be similar to one the firm opened in 2009 in Mobile, Ala. And in its home country of Germany, Evonik has acquired Hanse Chemie, a maker of specialty silicones for applications such as auto manufacturing, dentistry, and photovoltaic systems.