Business Roundup

AkzoNobel plans to spend more than $60 million by 2014 to build a dicumyl peroxide (DCP) plant at its site in Ningbo, China. The plant will expand Akzo’s DCP capacity by more than 30% to 25,000 metric tons per year. DCP is a polymer cross-linking agent.

Kemira is reducing its 2011 revenue and profit guidance. The Finnish company says a late winter has delayed delivery of airport deicing chemicals, municipalities have cut back on water treatment chemicals, and North American and European paper chemicals consumption has been lower than expected.

Toray Industries has produced lab-scale quantities of what it says is the world’s first fully renewable polyester fiber. The fiber is based on commercially available biobased ethylene glycol and p-xylene made from renewable isobutyl alcohol provided by Gevo.

Fujifilm will set up a company in South Korea to produce semiconductor materials, including developers, chemical mechanical planarization slurries, and cleaners. The new unit will take over facilities currently operated by Exax, a local electronic materials producer.

Fulcrum Bioenergy, a waste-to-ethanol firm, has amended its filing for an initial public offering of stock to reflect plans to raise $93 million from investors. One of those investors, Waste Management, has also agreed to loan Fulcrum up to $70 million in the event that it does not receive a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.

Asahi Kasei Pharma has acquired Artisan Pharma, a Waltham, Mass.-based firm that sells ART-123, a recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin alpha for treating severe sepsis. Asahi Kasei helped establish Artisan, now called AKP America, in 2006 with several venture capital firms.

Qteros, a cellulosic ethanol start-up has cut its staff and named a new CEO: Mick Sawka, the firm’s former senior vice president of engineering and commercial development, has replaced John McCarthy. Qteros says it will continue to develop its process in partnership with India’s Praj Industries.