Business Roundup

SABIC has received regulatory approvals to acquire a 24.99% stake in Clariant, becoming the specialty chemical maker’s largest shareholder. The firms say they are discussing future collaborations.

PQ Group has struck a deal under which KD Corp. will manufacture PQ’s polyolefin catalysts in South Korea. The arrangement allows PQ to supply its catalysts from a base in Asia.

BASF plans to increase by up to 25% its capacity to make alkoxylates in Antwerp, Belgium. When completed in 2021, the project will increase output of alkoxylates used to make cleaning products and as raw materials for plasticizers, emulsifers, and crop protection additives.

Venator will close its titanium dioxide plant in Pori, Finland. To compensate, the firm will add 45,000 metric tons per year of capacity at its other sites, or about 35% of the Pori plant’s capacity.

Invista will add 40,000 metric tons per year of nylon 6,6 capacity at its 150,000-metric-ton plant in Shanghai. The firm says it has invested more than $1 billion in the nylon 6,6 chain in the past five years.

DIC had a deadly accident at a plant in Kashima, Japan, when a storage tank being welded by contract workers exploded. One worker died and another was injured. The plant makes the engineering plastic polyphenylene sulfide.

Benson Hill Biosystems, a St. Louis-based start-up that develops computational tools for improving plant genetics, has raised $60 million in a third round of funding led by GV, formerly Google Ventures. The company will use the funds to expand its pipeline of tools for food and agriculture customers.

Maravai LifeSciences will grow its oligonucleotide reagents business by relocating its San Diego facility to a new 29,000-m2 site in the Sorrento Valley area of the city. The company’s staff of about 150 employees will move to the new location, which has room to expand.