Orion Engineered Carbons announced the commercial launch of ECORAX Nature, a new family of products developed using carbon black made from renewable feedstocks.

Dow has announced a series of incremental, high-return capacity expansions to support growing demand across key end-markets on 1 July 2021. In Dow’s Consumer Solutions business, several key growth projects are planned to come online globally throughout 2021 and will increase capacity of silicones as well as cationic hydroxyethylcellulose polymers and polyethylene glycols.

Invista Nylon Chemicals (China) Co. plans to establish a new Asia Innovation Center for nylon 6,6 application development near Invista’s integrated nylon 6,6 facility at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) in China. The center, requiring an investment of over USD 15 million, will be Invista’s “first” research and development center for nylon 6,6 application development in Asia, the company noted.

Bridgestone Brazil has announced a new investment in its tyre manufacturing plant in the city of Camaçari, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. According to the company, following the increasing demand for high-tech and premium tyres in the country, and important gains in market share in Brazil and South America, it is announcing a total of more than BRL 700 million (~ USD 139 million) in the modernisation and expansion of the plant, with an increase in its production capacity by more than 20 %. The expansion is expected to begin in Q4 2021 and create 420 new jobs (permanent and temporary positions) in the region.

Kumho Petrochemical recently agreed to purchase the 50 % stake of Kumho Polychem held by its joint venture partner, JSR, making Kumho Petrochemical the sole owner from July 2021 onward.

On 30 June 2021, Celanese Corporation announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire the Santoprene TPV elastomers business of Exxon Mobil Corporation. The business is a leading global producer of TPV serving a variety of end-uses including automotive, construction, appliance, medical, and industrial. Celanese will buy the Santoprene brand as part of a comprehensive TPV product portfolio, along with intellectual property, production and commercial assets, and a world-class organisation.

In light of increased efforts towards climate neutrality by 2050, the European Union (EU) is working on the implementation of a so-called carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), which would put a carbon price on imports of certain goods from outside the EU. In the recent publication, nova-Paper #15 „A Tax on Fossil Carbon is More Effective Than a Tax on CO2 Emissions“, the nova-Institute introduces and discusses the realisation of the CBAM as a tax on fossil carbon. The proposed fossil carbon tax is a simple, effective and elegant tool to achieve the goals of the carbon border adjustment mechanism. It is in line with the ambitious climate goals of the EU and supports both the decarbonisation of the energy sector as well as the transformation of the chemicals and derived materials sector from fossil to renewable carbon, said nova-Institute.

The Landau-based German company Wickert Maschinenbau GmbH announced it is changing from a manufacturer of customised presses to an all-round provider for composite manufacturing. The family-run company said it is thus reacting to the increasing demand for supplementary services revolving around the planning and development of press systems.

According to KraussMaffei, converting clean industrial waste or contaminated mixed waste from the “Green Dot” system into pure polymers or even complex recompounds – plastics recycling is a highly diverse and extremely challenging task. As an experienced machine manufacturer and material expert, KraussMaffei's extrusion division brings a great deal of expertise to the table – perfect prerequisites for sustained success in this important growth market. The company said its extrusion technology is an ideal choice for plasticising and degassing process steps as well as for repelletising and recompounding.

On 22 June 2021, Engel gave an optimistic outlook for the current fiscal year. "Our order books are as full as they last were in 2018", said CEO Dr. Stefan Engleder. "We have genuinely sky-rocketed out of the crisis." At the same time, new challenges await the injection moulding machine manufacturer and system solution provider from Austria, above all the current supply bottlenecks in raw materials and components. "We have evolved during the crisis," said Engleder. "We will master the challenges that lie ahead well."