NEWS
IN BRIEF
Plant commissioned Indian chemical major SRF has announced the commissioning of a new facility to produce agrochemical intermediates at Dahej in Gujarat state, as approved by the board in October 2023. The first phase was completed in July 2024. The total cost of the project was around $ 28 million, the company said.
Sironix secures funding Seattle-based Sironix Renewables has secured $ 5.3 million in funding. It will use this to scale up its manufacturing operations for renewably-derived ingredients for cleaning products and personal care, which several major consumer brand companies are evaluating. The firm’ s first product, Eosix Surfactant, is 100 % plant-based, as well as sulfate- and 1,4-dioxane-free.
Veranova moves HQ Veranova is to relocate its corporate headquarters from Wayne, Pennsylvania, to Devens, Massachusetts. Devens is already the home to an FDA-approved facility, which carries out clinical and commercial manufacturing of ADCs, HPAPIs, phosphoramidites and other complex small molecules. It is currently undergoing a $ 30 million expansion focused on the former two.
Wastewater deal for Croda Following a pilot project, Croda Singapore and Nanyang Technological University spin-off NanoSun have joined to build a wastewater treatment facility at the former’ s Jurong Island site. This will use NanoSun’ s water purification technology, which incorporates a 3D-printed self-cleaning filtration membrane infused with TiO 2 particles, reduce water consumption and reducing CO 2 emissions by 25 % on current industry standards.
Go-ahead for Finnish bioventure
Kemira and IFF have taken the final investment decision to move forward with commercial manufacture of renewable biobased products. They will invest around € 130 million and will begin production at the IFF biorefinery in Kotka, Finland, to be operated by a 50-50 joint venture.
The plant will convert up to 44,000 tonnes / year of plant sugars into bioproducts for multiple applications. It will use the Designed Enzymatic Biomaterial( DEB) technology platform, on which the two companies have been collaborating since 2020.
Kemira holds global exclusive rights for the commercialisation of DEB biomaterial in the paper, board and water treatment markets.
Signing the deal between Kemira and IFF
Other potential applications include packaging and paper coatings.
Kemira has also revealed plans to add multiple production lines for strength chemical agents for paper, board and tissue at its Wellgrow site in Bangkok, Thailand. The new capacity, which will take the total to around 100,000 tonnes / year, is expected to be up and running in August 2026 and will serve the South-East Asia and Indian markets.
Finally, Kemira has completed the acquisition of Thatcher Group’ s iron sulfate coagulant business in the US East Coast. This is a small deal as the acquired business has sales of under $ 10 million / year. No employees will transfer as Kemira will serve the new customers from its own facilities.
Rainbow invests in US
Rainbow North America, the US subsidiary of a Chinese crop protection firm, has established a‘ partner production centre’( pictured) at Champaign, Illinois, in the heart of the Midwestern agricultural sector. This will begin with a renovation and construction activities on a 12-hectare campus and will continue with multi-phase expansion. Production operations will be in place to support the 2026 growing season.
Rainbow said that the centre“ will be purpose-built to meet the evolving needs of North American crop protection brands, incorporating optionality at every level to ensure efficient management of working capital”. Key capabilities will include:
• Diverse import routes to optimise supply chain logistics
• Multiple tech-enabled production lines for herbicide formulations
• Comprehensive packaging options, including bulk
This expansion follows a series of major investments in North America over the past year, including the acquisition and expansion of a highcapacity herbicide formulation centre in Houston, the establishment of a North American business team, and a growing portfolio of US and Canadian product registrations.
16 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981