PMC buys Copperhead
PMC Group International , which owns PMC Isochem , has acquired Cobra Investments Management from a consortium of previous owners . This includes Copperhead Chemical , which has a 350-hectare site at Tamaqua , Pennsylvania . As well as being the sole US manufacturer of nitroglycerin as a drug , Copperhead makes drug dosage forms , explosives and propellants for the defence industry , preservatives and antimicrobials .
Big deal for Anupam
Gujarat-based speciality chemical company Anupam Rasayan has signed a letter of intent to supply multiple kinds of life sciencerelated chemicals to an unnamed multinational over the course of five years . The order is said to be worth about $ 145 million . The firm earlier received approval from the Securities & Exchange Board of India for an IPO to raise $ 140 million .
Enzyme investment
BASF has agreed to invest an undisclosed amount at Sandoz ’ s Kundl / Schaftenau Campus , in Austria ’ s Tyrol region , with the aim of developing a world-scale production set-up for bacterial enzymes and biotechnology products . The start of production is planned for 2024 and BASF added that it may invest further at the site in the long term .
Ube becomes UBE
Ube Industries is to change its name to UBE Corporation , subject to shareholder approval . The company said that it has already spun off its Ube machinery business and plans to merge its cement businesses with Mitsubishi . The change thus reflects its shift away “ from its past conglomerate structure and the beginning of a new corporate history ”, focused on chemicals .
BASF , Chemours both target net zero emissions
BASF has revised its greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions targets . It now aims reduce emissions by 25 % from 2018 levels of 21.9 million tonnes of CO 2 equivalents by 2030 and to achieve net zero by 2050 . Meanwhile , Chemours has announced plans to achieve a 60 % absolute reduction of operations-related GHG emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050 . BASF aims to hit its target despite planned growth and the construction of a large verbund site in South China . Factoring this out would translate to a 50 % cut in emissions by 2020 . The company plans to invest up to € 1 billion by 2025 to reach this target and a further € 2-3 billion by 2030 . Key to all this is a long-term transition to using electricity from renewable sources . The company is developing such technologies , usually in partnership with others , but most are still at the pilot stage and will only be scaled up after 2030 . Among these flagship projects are :
• A pilot furnace for the world ’ s first electrically heated steam cracker , with Sabic and Linde
• Methane pyrolysis technology for the CO 2
-free production of hydrogen from natural gas
• A 50 MW proton exchange membrane water electrolysis system , in partnership with Siemens , for CO 2
-free production of hydrogen from water and electricity at the Ludwigshafen verbund site
• Carbon capture and storage under the North Sea with partners in the Antwerp @ C consortium , possibly saving 1 million tonnes / year of CO 2
The first two could be under way within two years , depending on funding from German and EU authorities . The latter two are still in the investigation stage . Because of the switch , BASF expects to see a massive increase in electricity costs at its main sites , threefold by 2035 in the case of Ludwigshafen . It is therefore participating in investments in renewable energy generation facilities to meet its own demand . Using a holistic approach , Chemours will continue to enhance emission control technologies and drive energy efficiency improvements company-wide so as to reduce Scope 1 ( direct ) emissions and it will increase the amount of electricity and other energy generated from renewable sources to reduce Scope 2 ( indirect ) emissions . It will announce its goals related to Scope 3 ( supply chain ) emissions from its value chain later . The company warned , however , that achieving this “ will require significant collaboration in both the public and private sectors to deliver technological innovation and government policies that enable and incentivise the transition to a greener economy ”.
Ludwigshafen is key to BASF ’ s emission reduction aims
10 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981