Loparex and Infiana announced that the transaction to acquire Infiana has been completed and the integration into Loparex has begun. According to the two companies, Infiana’s expertise in highly engineered films and Loparex’s leadership in speciality release liners complement each other well. The combination will build stronger release liner capabilities and strengthen their global position, which will enable a stronger support to its customers’ growth plans, said the companies.

The German company Hennecke GmbH with headquarters in Sankt Augustin announced the new umbrella brand Hennecke Group for all product portfolios. The continuous growth of the Hennecke brand, the acquisition of Hennecke-OMS S.p.A in Italy and the related development of a joint international sales and service network made it necessary to create a unified brand identity.

Malaysia’s projected rubber glove export for this year has been revised down to 188 billion pieces from 195 billion pieces earlier due to the current labour shortage, said Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) president Denis Low Jau Foo. The figure is, however, slightly higher than the 172 billion pieces exported last year.

More than half of the country’s 1.08 million hectares of areas planted with rubber trees have been abandoned due to the low price of the commodity. The latest official data showed that 661,080 ha or 61 % of the total 1.08 million hectares of areas planted with the commodity are untapped as owners struggled to get a decent return for their efforts. An industry insider said smallholders who own 96 % of the total areas planted with rubber trees, had fled the estate and sought more lucrative jobs. The older owners — who comprise up to 60 % of the smallholders — had abandoned the job due to old age.

For K 2019, Messe Düsseldorf, in cooperation with the elastomer specialists of DR. GUPTA VERLAGS GMBH have published again the official RUBBER & TPE POCKET GUIDE. It is a free of charge and neutral listing of suppliers of elastomer-specific products and services at K 2019.

During a working meeting between the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang, Sibur Holding and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) signed a framework cooperation agreement to produce SEBS. Under the agreement, both companies will establish a 50/50 joint venture (JV) in Russia to produce at least 20 ktpa of SEBS.

Together with seven other companies of the recently founded value balancing alliance e. V., based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, BASF intends to develop a standard to makes the value creation of companies for society measurable and comparable in environmental, human, social, and financial terms.

thyssenkrupp is building an integrated chemical complex in Hungary. The foundation stone for the polyether polyol production facility was laid on 27 September 2019 in Tiszaújváros. The oil and gas company Mol Group is investing a total of EUR 1.2 billion in the new plant complex. It is expected to be commissioned in 2021 and will produce around 200,000 t/y of polyols. The facility will produce polyether polyols using the HPPO process (propylene oxide from hydrogen peroxide) developed by thyssenkrupp and Evonik.

Dow announced the launch of its V Plus Perform (VPP) Alliance Program. According to the company, bringing together technical and market expertise from across the value chain, the programme supports key stakeholders and specifiers in responding to the industry’s needs for more sustainable and energy efficient buildings, an area where envelope insulation innovation plays a critical role.

Emery Oleochemicals, a natural-based speciality chemicals manufacturer, announced that its Eco-Friendly Polyols business platform will showcase its comprehensive portfolio of Emerox polyols at the CPI 2019 Polyurethanes Technical Conference being held from 7 – 9 October 2019 in Orlando, FL, USA.