Orion Engineered Carbons announced that it will implement price increases on all specialty carbon blacks worldwide, effective from on 1 September 2018.

Chandra Asri Perkasa (CAP), a subsidiary of Chandra Asri Petrochemical, has selected LyondellBasell's technologies for a new polyethylene (PE) plant and polypropylene (PP) unit being built as part of CAP's second petrochemical complex in Cilegon, Indonesia.

Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical Corp. is utilizing Haldor Topsoe's Catox catalyst for cost-efficient control of volatile organic compounds (VOC) at its styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) plant in Zibo, China.

Arlanxeo will invest a mid double-digit million EUR amount to modernize its production sites for synthetic rubber in Triunfo, Brazil and La Wantzenau, France, over the next three years.

As measured by the global turnover, butadiene rubber (BR) is the second most important rubber after styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR). According to the most recent study by the market research institute Ceresana, worldwide consumption for this elastomer type amounts to about 3.44 million tonnes per year. The region Asia-Pacific accounted for over 57 % of global revenues, followed at a large distance by North America and Western Europe. Ceresana expects the revenues generated with BR to increase by, on average, 4.1 % per year until 2025.

To localize elastomer mixing capabilities and support continued growth in Mexico, Cooper Standard recently celebrated the groundbreaking of its new 100,000 square-foot mixing facility in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

BASF is investigating the possibility of building a highly-integrated “Verbund” chemical production site in the South Chinese province of Guangdong. Today, Martin Brudermüller, BASF’s Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, and Lin Shaochun, Executive Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding in Berlin, in the presence of Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Goodyear has announced a new natural rubber procurement policy, supporting the responsible sourcing of raw materials. The policy is effective immediately and covers the entire supply chain, including smallholders, industrial plantations, intermediate dealers/consolidators, processors, trading companies, and the company itself.

PolyOne has acquired Plasti­Comp, a thermoplastic compounder focused on complex long fibre technology (LFT) composite formulations, for an undisclosed amount. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Winona, MN, USA. Through its Complēt product lines and design capabilities, the company serves customers in a wide-range of applications, including medical devices, robots and drones, marine, and outdoor equipment. PlastiComp’s 50 employees and its design and production facility in Winona will be integrated into PolyOne’s Specialty Engineered Materials segment.

Ineos Styrolution announced that it will commission an engineering study to build a world-scale styrene monomer plant on the US Gulf Coast. According to the company, the plant will benefit from access to low cost feedstock and energy from shale gas as well as a good ­infrastructure. A specific location is yet to be defined, said Ineos.