NEWS
IN BRIEF
Deal is off The Lugman Group has executed its right of withdrawal from the deal it reached in September 2024 to buy the Fechenheim Industrial Park from Clariant for € 95 million . Clariant said that it remains committed to divest the park . It has no operational activities there . The park is located east of Frankfurt-am-Main and covers approximately 428,000 m 2 .
Nouryon opens Saudi office Nouryon has opened its new office in the Al Abdulkarim Tower in Al Dhahran , Saudi Arabia , where it operates as a joint venture with Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo Company . A commercial team will be based there for key end markets in the region , including packaging , polymer specialties , building and construction , oilfield and personal care .
Kurita , Avista merge Water treatment firm Kurita America is to merge with sister company Avista Technologies in what they described as “ a strategic move aimed at combining their strengths to better serve industrial and municipal markets ”. Avista specialises in membrane treatment and process support for reverse osmosis systems , plus micro- , ultra- and multimedia filtration .
Immobilisation alliance Ecovyst and ChiralVision have signed a memorandum of understanding to use their respective capabilities to enhance biocatalytic performance in industrial processes . The former will bring advanced materials , speciality catalysts , sulfuric acid and regeneration services , while the latter , a specialist in biocatalysis , will bring its expertise in support functionalisation and enzyme immobilisation .
Ube pivots to specialities
Japan ’ s Ube Chemicals has announced further details and schedules for the structural reform of its basic chemicals activities . The company is in the long-term process of transforming itself by “ actively investing in expanding the specialty chemicals business while downsizing , withdrawing [ from ] or restructuring basic businesses ”.
It will cease producing ammonia and related products at its main site in Ube by March 2028 , over two years ahead of the schedule in the current medium-term plan . Caprolactam and polyamide material production , including cyclohexanone , will cease by March 2027 . Thereafter , the site will focus mainly on speciality businesses , including polyimide , separation membranes , ceramics , pharmaceuticals , and high purity chemicals .
Ube ’ s Thai subsidiary will cease making cyclohexanone , caprolactam and ammonium sulfate , and will shut down one of two polyamide lines . In addition , Ube Fine Chemicals ( Asia ) will discontinue 1,6-hexanediol and 1,5-pentanediol . The Thai sites will expand in the continuing businesses of composites , polycarbonate diol for high-performance coatings and elastomers .
The facility in Spain will continue to make caprolactam and polyamides while expanding recycled and bio-based productions for the European market , where demand for these is stronger . It will also cease to produce cyclohexanone , 1,6-hexanediol and 1,5-pentanediol as soon as it completes coordination with customers and others , and will promote the carbon neutrality in Europe .
As a result of this , Ube expects to hit its greenhouse gas emission reduction target of 50 % on 2013 levels by fiscal 2028 , ahead of schedule . To pay for the closures , it expects to record about € 22 million in impairment losses and related expenses in the fiscal year ending March 2025 , over 70 % of which will be as a result of downsizing in Thailand .
Ube added that it expects to recover this loss swiftly “ through the stable earnings of its specialty chemicals business . Furthermore , toward 2030 , the group will continue to focus on growth strategies such as actively investing management resources in speciality businesses and strengthening global management , while making further progress in sustainability management ”.
Ube has since broken ground on a new facility in Louisiana that will make 100,000 tonnes / year of dimethyl carbonate ( DMC ) and 40,000 tonnes / year ethyl methyl carbonate ( EMC ) plant in Louisiana . This is the largest investment ever made at the site and will make Ube the only manufacturer of both in the US .
DMC and EMC are used in electrolyte solvents for lithium-ion batteries , while DMC is also used in semiconductor manufacturing processes . The plant will produce DMC using Ube ' s proprietary gas-phase nitrite process , which is said to feature lower energy consumption , higher quality and fewer by-products and impurities compared to ethylene-based process . It is scheduled to begin operation in November 2026 .
8 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981