Business Roundup

Kuraray is expanding capacity for ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resins in Europe and the US by a total of 10,000 metric tons (t) per year by 2026. The expansions will bring the firm’s capacity for the polymer, used in packaging, to 113,000 t per year.

Braskem has signed a joint venture with SCG Chemicals to build an ethanol-to- ethylene plant in Thailand. The firms plan to make a final investment decision for the project in 2024.

Mitsui Chemicals plans to expand capacity for polyurethane dispersions in Shimizu, Japan. The company aims to complete the expansion, which will double its domestic capacity, in 2025.

FMC has won a battle in its patent fight with Rainbow Agro. A Mexican court ruled that Rainbow infringed on FMC’s patents and cannot register products that include the insecticide chlorantraniliprole in the country.

Membrion has raised $5.5 million from Samsung’s venture capital arm and Lam Capital, bringing its total series B fundraising to $12.5 million. The company makes ceramic desalination membranes to recover water from harsh conditions.

Syrah Resources will sell natural flake graphite from its mine in Mozambique to Graphex Technologies and Westwater Resources. The firms will process the graphite into battery anode materials at facilities in the US.

Cornish Lithium has received $67 million from a state-owned bank in the UK and private investors to help bring its lithium mining project in Cornwall on line. The firm says it needs to raise an additional $210 million.

BASF is set to double production capacity for water-soluble dispersants based on acrylic acid in Dilovasi, Turkey. The new plant is on schedule to be operational by the third quarter of this year.