NEWS
IN BRIEF
Cabot to buy MXCB Cabot has agreed to buy Mexico Carbon Manufacturing( MXCB) from Bridgestone for $ 70 million on a debt-free, cash-free basis, subject to customary closing adjustments. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in Mexico and should close within six months. MXCB makes reinforcing carbons at a site near Cabot’ s own facility at Altamira, which will continue to supply these to Bridgestone.
Nouryon to supply Arauco Under a long-term agreement, Nouryon will build fully integrated sodium chlorate and chlorine dioxide facilities to supply Arauco’ s new $ 4.6 billion pulp mill in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. The company will own and operate the former – which will increase its capacity in Brazil by 20 % and globally by almost 10 %- and will engineer, construct and operate the latter. The mill is scheduled to start up in late 2027.
AI for peptides Under a new strategic collaboration BioDuro will use AI-based drug discovery software firm Atombeat’ s Hermite system to generate vast libraries of potential peptide compounds and use the RiDymo platform to filter and prioritise them, based on key developability traits such as membrane permeability. It will then apply its high-throughput synthesis capability to produce hundreds of compounds in parallel.
Chemtrade buys Polytec Canadian firm Chemtrade has agreed to acquire Polytec, a provider of water treatment services to the food and municipal markets in the south-eastern US for $ 150 million in a deal that is expected to close in Q4. Chemtrade said this will add“ a unique solutions platform” to its own line of water treatment chemicals products.
Wacker advances on two fronts
German firm Wacker Chemie has commissioned Etching Line Next, a € 300 million production line for ultrapure, semiconductor-grade polysilicon, at its main Burghausen site in Bavaria. This was supported by funding from the federal and state governments and the EU. The first consignments are already being shipped.
Ultra-pure polycrystalline silicon is the purest man-made material, at up to 99.9999999999 % purity.“ Everything regarding the semiconductor industry and, consequently, digital transformation revolves around this key raw material,” noted Wacker CEO Christian Hartel. It is notably used in high-performance chips for AI applications and supercomputers.
Wacker claims to be the global leader in this field, as well as the only producer in Europe. The company plans to double its sales in semiconductors from 2024 to 2030 and the new line will help to meet that demand.
Shortly before this, Wacker had also opened its new biotechnology centre in the Sendling district of Munich, where it has been conducting basic research for over a century and, since the 1980s, also in biotechnology. This represents“ a double-digit million-euro sum” investment, the company confirmed.
The new centre has space for around 90 employees and advanced equipment over 1,500 m 2 of lab space and 70 m 2 of office space. Hartel said it“ will allow us to concentrate and intensify our biotech research activities” to meet anticipated growth in the sector, while also helping to accelerate the R & D process.
The focus includes the production of proteins and nucleic acids for mRNA-based APIs, as well as fermentation for food and dietary supplement ingredients. The bioreactors range in size from a few ml to 200L.
Ingevity retrenches in CTO
Ingevity has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its crude tall oil( CTO) refinery at North Charleston, South Carolina, and most of its Performance Chemicals Industrial Specialties product line from the same site to Mainstream Pine Products. The transaction should close by early 2026 and is expected to yield $ 110 million after tax.
The Road Technologies product line and certain lignin-based dispersants are not part of the deal and Mainstream has agreed to supply certain refinery products to support Road Technologies product line. Ingevity will continue to provide some critical operating services to Mainstream.
CEO Dave Li said that the deal“ marks a significant milestone for Ingevity, reducing portfolio volatility, strengthening our margin and cash flow profile and enhancing future strategic optionality”. The company’ s full-year guidance as a result of classifying the assets being sold as discontinued operations.
12 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981