Acquisition

Unit Sale

Sara Lee Corp. is selling the remaining interest in its insecticide unit to S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. The binding offer is worth $188 million.

Protection Sought

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released interim guidance that reportedly would provide greater transparency in the agency’s chemical safety inspections process. Under the interim guidance, EPA inspectors will offer employees and employee representatives the opportunity to participate in chemical safety inspections. In addition, the EPA will request that state and local agencies adopt similar procedures under the Risk Management Program. The EPA expects to issue final guidance later this year.

The Performance Products division of Huntsman Corporation has launched a study into options to further expand its JEFFAMINE polyetheramine manufacturing capacity in Asia. The study will be completed by the end of the third quarter this year. It will examine the feasibility of installing new capacity within Asia across various locations, including the option of expanding its Jurong Island, Singapore operation.

Waste Management Facility

Baker Hughes has opened a new U.K. waste management facility, or Eco-Centre, in Peterhead, Scotland. The facility can provide environmentally compliant processing of up to 30,000 tons of drill cuttings and 14,000 m³ liquid waste/year. The facility includes remote monitoring technology that allows clients to track waste streams for environmental compliance reporting. It also includes a research and development center that will serve as a hub for the study of emerging technologies to reduce the oil and gas industry’s environmental impact. The Eco-Centre recycles much of the drilling waste by stripping residual oil from tons of drill cuttings produced in drilling operations. The cuttings can then be used to cap landfill sites. The salvaged oil is recycled for powering the center’s processing mill, and a rain capturing system helps cut down on the plant’s use of local water for cooling and re-hydrating solid waste.

Acquisition

BASF SE has agreed to acquire Cognis for $858 million in cash. Cognis is a supplier of raw materials for cosmetics, detergents and cleaners. The transaction is expected to close in November 2010.

Expansion

Cytec Industries is expanding the launch of specialty adhesives into Asia. Cytec Engineered Materials, a unit of Cytec, is rolling out a line of pressure-sensitive adhesives that are ultraviolet-curable. The products will enable Asian tape manufacturers to compete in markets where typical solvent-based pressure sensitive adhesive products are not practical.

Ammonia Plant Contract

KBR has been awarded a contract by Tierra Del Fuego Power & Chemical Co., Ltd. to provide licensing and process design for a grassroots ammonia plant in Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina. KBR will license its conventional ammonia technology for the anticipated 1,500 metric tons/day plant, which will utilize the country’s abundant natural gas resources to produce high-yield fertilizer for the region. Project work is expected to being as early as July 2010.

New Facilities

Lanxess plans to build compounding facilities with an initial capacity of 20,000 metric tons/year for the production of the engineering plastics Durethan and Pocan in Jhagadia, India. Construction of the new compounding facilities will begin this fall and are due to go on stream at the beginning of 2012.

Naphtha Project