Business Roundup

Milliken will build a plant in Singapore by 2021 that will make specialty colorants and its Hyperform nucleating agents for polypropylene and polyethylene. In April, the company announced a 50% expansion of capacity for its Millad NX 8000 polypropylene clarifier at its site in Blacksburg, South Carolina.

Nouryon will double capacity at its surfactants plant in Stenungsund, Sweden, to meet growing demand in markets including lubricants, fuels, and asphalt. The $13 million project involves the installation of a new reactor and is due to be complete by early 2021.

Clariant is “significantly” increasing manufacturing capacity in Panjin, China, for catalysts used to produce maleic anhydride. Costing more than $10 million, the extra capacity is intended to meet growing demand for the catalysts, predominantly in Asia.

Evonik Industries has formed a 3-year partnership with the University of California San Diego Center for Microbiome Research to explore complex skin-microbe communities. Evonik hopes to use the knowledge it gains to develop cosmetic raw materials that promote a healthy skin microbiome.

JSR has established a subsidiary, JSR Active Innovation Fund, to invest in start-ups focused on digital technology. The Japanese chemical maker says the fund will begin with about $30 million.

GreenLight Biosciences, a maker of RNA via cell-free production, has joined forces with bioactives delivery firm Advanced BioNutrition to develop RNA products for agriculture applications. Greenlight says it is advancing an insecticide for potatoes that does not harm beneficial insects.

Avantium will receive nearly $7 million from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 innovation program. The funding, along with $8 million for industry and academic collaborators, will help Avantium proceed with its biobased plant sugar and ethylene glycol projects.

Waters Corp. has appointed Jonathan M. Pratt to head TA Instruments, its thermal analysis business. Pratt, formerly president of Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, replaces Terry Kelly, who joined SFW Capital Partners earlier this year.