Axens announced on 1 Sept 2020 that it has been awarded by BUA Group, a leading Foods, Mining & Infrastructure Conglomerate based in Lagos, Nigeria, the supply of process technologies for its greenfield refinery and petrochemicals facility in Nigeria.

ShaanXi Qing Shui Yin Quan Coal Industry Development Co. has selected Eurotecnica's melamine technology for a new melamine plant in China. The 60,000 t/y single-train facility will use Eurotecnica's 4th generation Euromel technology, which features the traditional total-zero-pollution concept. No other details were available.

Minister of Industries Wimal Weerawansha and Hambantota International Port Group (Private) Limited (HIPG) recently held a meeting in Colombo regarding a proposal to set up a tyre factory in Hambantota.

Melanie Kostka has been awarded the Reifenhäuser Sponsorship Award on the occasion of IKV’s 30. International Colloquium Plastics Technology. With the Sponsorship Award, the Reifenhäuser company honoured the outstanding research work done by Melanie Kostka, who is employed as a scientific assistant at the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) in Industry and Craft at RWTH Aachen University.

LyondellBasell and Liaoning Bora Enterprise Group (Bora) have started up their new 50-50 joint venture polyolefin complex in Panjin, Liaoning Province, China. The facility, which will operate under the name Bora LyondellBasell Petrochemical Co., includes a 1.1 milliont/y flexible naphtha/liquefied petroleum gas cracker, the production of 800,000 t/y of polyethylene (PE) and 600,000 t/y of polypropylene (PP).

Nova-Institute, a private and independent research institute, and the consulting group COWI announced that they have conducted the first survey on renewable carbon in the chemical industry. They estimate that 20 – 25 % of the carbon supply is already renewable.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives plans to develop rubber products with innovative ways to create new market demand and help strengthen prices, said deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek. Several projects are in the pipeline, including research grants, funds for startups and the creation of a "Rubber Valley", or hub for innovative rubber projects.

About 640,000 jobs will be created in the next 10 years if Nigeria revives its rubber plantations in the six geo-political zones, President of the National Rubber Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NARPMAN), Peter Igbinosun, said.

Trinseo, a manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe announced on 4 September 2020 a price increase for all polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), ABS and SAN grades.

Nouryon has selected Green Bay in Wisconsin as the location for a new facility to produce its Expancel expandable microspheres. Expancel is used as a lightweight filler and blowing agent to make end products lighter and obtain different surface effects. They also reduce costs and environmental impacts by requiring less raw material. Key end-use markets include the automotive, construction, packaging and mining industries.