The conference “Rubber meets Science”, organised by the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) in Industry and Craft at RWTH Aachen University in Aachen, takes place on 25 – 26 June 2019 in Aachen. It is dedicated to the processing of organic rubbers and silicone rubbers. These two topics will be dealt with in parallel sessions. The organic rubber session will be chaired by Dr. Gerard Nijman, KrausMaffei Berstorff, the silicone rubber session will be chaired by Oliver Franssen, Momentive Performance Materials.

Nexen Tire is in a dilemma over its plant in the Czech Republic as it faces a range of difficulties in setting up its presence in Europe amid falling car sales on the continent, according to industry analysts. Korea's third-largest tire manufacturer broke ground on the USD 1.1 billion project in 2015 and began its commercial operation in mid-April of this year, with an aim to boost manufacturing capacity and strengthen its position in Europe. However, the tire demand in Europe has been slowing down, increasing market uncertainties.

For sealing materials in contact with gases such as hydrogen, a consideration of gas permeability is of elementary importance for the assessment of safety, functionality and reliability. The aim of the presented study is to give an overview of the permeation behavior of thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPV) and ethylene-propylenediene rubber (EPDM) towards hydrogen under consideration of processing influences. A comparison of TPV and EPDM shows a differentiated permeation behavior.

Amyris, Inc. announced the appointment of Kathleen Valiasek, formerly Chief Financial Officer, to Chief Business Officer effective immediately. Valiasek will assume a dedicated role of furthering the company's strategy of collaborating with large, well-funded partners to grow the company's business. Simultaneously, she will continue to oversee the company's financing and investor relations activities.

The shipments value of primary plastics machinery (injection molding and extrusion) in North America declined in the first quarter of 2019, according to the statistics compiled and reported by the Plastics Industry Association’s (Plastics) Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES).

Nouryon announced that it has completed a EUR 20 million project at Sundsvall, Sweden, that significantly raises production capacity for its Expancel expandable microspheres. These are used to enhance the properties of products ranging from shoe soles and food packaging to wind turbines.

DuPont de Nemours, Inc. has announced its debut as an independent company following the successful separation of its Agriculture Division through the spin-off of Corteva, Inc. The company was formerly known as DowDuPont Inc.

New coal-to-olefins (CTO) and methanol-to-olefins (MTO) projects in China could be delayed due to the government's intensified efforts to meet clean energy goals by reducing coal usage and changing crude oil and coal prices, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData.

Dow announced the recent completion of a project with customer Kraiburg Relastec GmbH & Co. KG to power a new running track exhibit at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Sibur announced it is currently commissioning its ZapSibNeftekhim integrated petrochemical complex in Tobolsk, Russia, the "largest" petrochemical complex in the country. The USD 9.5 billion project involves a steam cracker with the capacity to produce 1.5 million t/y of ethylene, about 500,000 t/y of propylene and 100,000 t/y of butane/butylene fraction, as well as polyethylene and polypropylene units with a combined total capacity of 2 million t/y. Start-up is expected to begin this quarter. "The products of this plant will play an important role in replacing foreign polymers and increasing the share of non-primary, non-energy exports," the company noted.