Business Roundup

Siam Cement is halting plans for an initial public offering of its chemical business on the Thai stock market. The company blames a poor economy and high energy prices.

Nouryon, the former chemical business of AkzoNobel, is investing in Icos Capital’s Fund IV, a venture capital fund that acquires shares in start-ups developing sustainable technologies. Icos Capital is active in Germany, Poland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

Mitsui Chemicals, Mitsui & Co., IHI, and Kansai Electric Power plan to study the establishment of a hydrogen and ammonia supply chain in Osaka, Japan. The companies will look into facilities for receiving, storing, and distributing ammonia in the region.

Rocky Mountain Institute has won $3 million in federal funds to study the feasibility of a carbon dioxide removal hub in the Pacific Northwest. The project would implement direct-air-capture systems from Heirloom Carbon Technologies, Removr, and Sustaera and combine them with Carbfix’s CO₂ mineralization process.

American Battery Factory has raised an undisclosed amount in a series A financing round with participation from Lion Energy and FNA Group. The company aims to build a factory for making lithium iron phosphate batteries in Tucson, Arizona.

Axalta is partnering with the inkjet specialist Xaar to introduce digital technology for painting vehicles. The technology allows for precise placement of paint and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Technip Energies will provide the hydrogen production unit for a sustainable aviation fuel project that BP is planning in Australia. The unit will use steam methane reformation to produce the H₂.

Seven Seas Terminals is acquiring the Mississippi Phosphates Superfund site in Pascagoula, Mississippi, to convert it into a bulk storage and tank terminal operation. Mississippi Phosphates, which went bankrupt in 2014, made diammonium phosphate fertilizers at the site.