Business Roundup

Braskem and Lummus Technology intend to conduct a joint study using Lummus’s electric short-residence-time cracking technology, SRT-e, to decarbonize one of Braskem’s sites in Brazil. Braskem operates four ethylene cracker complexes in that country.

AkzoNobel has built a polymer R&D lab and is about to build a lab for powder coatings at its site in Sassenheim, the Netherlands, at a total cost of about $8.5 million. The site is already home to AkzoNobel’s biggest European R&D teams for decorative paints and automotive and specialty coatings.

Sumitomo Chemical will sell its Chinese business in making process chemicals for flat-panel displays to China’s Zhenjiang Runjing High Purity Chemical Technology. Sumitomo says the operation faced “major changes” in the business environment in recent years.

Versalis, the chemical arm of Italian energy giant Eni, has acquired the Italian plastic compounding firm Tecnofilm. Tecnofilm manufactures functionalized polyolefins and thermoplastic compounds for sectors including the footwear and technical goods industries.

Synthomer, a UK-based speciality polymers firm, has agreed to sell its latex compounding operations to the Belgian firm Matco for just under $29 million. Synthomer’s latex business has plants in the Netherlands and Egypt, where it makes latex-based compounds and curing agents.

KBR has been awarded an engineering services contract in support of a feasibility study for a clean hydrogen facility that First State Hydrogen is developing in Delaware. The plant would be the first of its kind in the US mid-Atlantic region.

Resonac Holdings plans to invest about $100 million to expand capacity for nonconductive film and thermal conductive sheet used in high-performance semiconductors. The chips are used in artificial intelligence applications.

Spiber has raised $65 million to accelerate production of its fermentation-derived, silklike fiber. More than a dozen brands have used the material to make goods such as jackets, pants, and boots.