Production shift

Explosion

An explosion at a Goodyear chemical plant that makes synthetic rubber for tires killed one worker and injured six others.  There was a blast in a heat exchange unit at the plant as well as a small release of ammonia, which is used to cool processed liquids.  The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

New catalyst

University of California-Riverside scientists are using a newly discovered catalyst to aid in the production of amines at a low cost and with no waste products.  They say the new technology can quickly, cleanly and inexpensively produce amines to be used in solvents, additives, detergents, dyes and bactericides.

Lawsuit

Huntsman Corp. is filing suit against Apollo Management LLC and its partners as a result of them allegedly falsely representing their attempt to buy Huntsman.

Acquisition

Monsanto Co. plans to acquire Marmot S.A., which operates Semillas Cristiani Bukard.  Terms of and timing for the deal were not disclosed.  The acquisition will enable Monsanto to provide new higher-yielding corn seed offerings to farmers.

The Egyptian parliament has recommended a relocation of Agrium Inc.’s $1.2 billion fertilize plant from Damietta.  Residents have feared pollution, prompting the recommendation that it be moved to another suitable industrial zone.

Investment

Bayer AG plans to invest $156 million in its Brazilian operations through the end of next year.  The company plans to invest $62 million in its Belford Roxo plant for modernization and technical upgrading of the production facilities for plastics precursors and crop protection products as well as overall infrastructure.  The additional $93 million will be used at other company sites in the country.

Start-up

Shell announced the first start-up using its new Shell OMEGA (Only Mono-Ethylene Glycol Advanced) process technology.  The process uses catalytic conversion of ethylene oxide to monethylene glycol (MEG) as opposed to the traditional thermal conversion approach.  The start-up was at Lotte Daesan’s chemical manufacturing facility in Daesan, Korea.

Capability boost

LyondellBasell Industries plans to expand its global polypropylene (PP) compounding capacity to 1.2 million tons/year by the end of 2009, a growth rate of more than 30%.  The capacity boost will occur as a result of opening a new plant in Guangzhou, China and Damman, Saudi Arabia as well as further expansion at existing sites in Suzhou, China; Rayong, Thailand; and Ensenada, Argentina.  They are also considering additional plant investment options for Russia and India.

Joint venture

Ashland Inc. is joining Sud-Chemie AG in a metal-casting joint venture that will include three of the companies’ business units.  Each will hold a 50% share in the venture that will be headquartered in Venlo, the Netherlands.  The joint venture will combine Ashland’s Casting Solutions business group, Sud-Chemie’s foundry-related businesses and Ashland-Sudchemie-Kernfest GmbH, a joint venture formed by the two companies in 1970.  The deal is expected to close early next year.