Business Concentrates SPECIALTY CHEMICALS
▸ Ineos plans vinyl acetate in Europe Ineos plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a 300,000-metric-ton– per-year vinyl acetate plant in Europe. The project marks Ineos’s return to vinyl acetate production in the bloc after the closure of a plant in Hull, England, in 2013. Vinyl acetate, known as VAM, is an intermediate for polymers used in coatings, films, and adhesives. The new plant will be located in Belgium, Germany, or the U.K., Ineos says. “The demand for VAM in Europe continues to grow briskly, and the market is uncomfortably reliant on imports from remote locations for sufficient supply,” says Graham Beesley, CEO of Ineos Oxide.—ALEX SCOTT
BUSINESS
▸ Lanxess squeezes Chemtura costs Lanxess expects to save $120 million per year by 2020 from its recent acquisition of Chemtura. The firm had previously anticipated savings of about $100 million. Lanxess expects to reap half the savings from synergies in production and procurement, including the optimization of Chemtura processes and technologies. About 30% of savings are expected to come from cuts in administrative costs, primarily in North America. The final 20% will come from streamlining the combined sales and marketing organization. Lanxess has not revealed the impact on jobs.—ALEX SCOTT
POLYMERS
▸ Asahi and Bluestar form Chinese venture Asahi Kasei and China National Bluestar, a subsidiary of ChemChina, will form a venture to produce the engineering polymer poly(phenylene ether) (PPE) in Nantong, eastern China. The venture will combine Bluestar’s processes for making PPE and the intermediate 2,6-xylenol with Asahi’s know-how in modifying PPE with other polymers, glass fiber, flame retardants, and
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | SEPTEMBER 11, 2017
Fuller to acquire Royal Aiming to expand in high-tech markets, the adhesives maker H.B. Fuller has agreed to buy Royal Adhesives & Sealants for nearly $1.6 billion from its owner, the private equity firm American Securities. Royal, which has headquarters in South Bend, Ind., has annual pretax earnings of about $140 million on sales of $650 million. During its most recent fiscal year, Fuller earned about $280 million on $2.1 billion in sales. American Securities bought Royal in 2015 from another private equity firm, Arsenal Capital Partners, which in turn purchased it from Quad-C Management in 2010. Royal itself has made 18 acquisitions over the years. On a conference call, Fuller CEO Jim Owens extolled Royal’s high-end adhesives, such as those used to assemble airplanes. He also noted Royal’s cutting-edge technology for bonding metal to rubber, a notoriously tricky application. Moody’s cautions that the acquisition might be pricey. The ratings agency is putting Fuller under review for a credit downgrade, noting that the purchase will triple Fuller’s debt and “significantly increase” its financial risks.—ALEX TULLO
other additives. Their facility will include a 30,000-metric-ton-per-year PPE plant and a 20,000-metric-ton plant for compounded materials.—JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY
GREEN CHEMISTRY
▸ AkzoNobel develops biobased chelates AkzoNobel and the British firm Itaconix will jointly develop biobased chelating agents for laundry detergents and other cleaning products from fermentation-derived itaconic acid. The chelates will replace phosphates, O which damage the OH environment, says HO Peter Kuijpers, AkO zoNobel’s general manager for chelates Itaconic acid and micronutrients. In February, the two companies agreed to develop itaconic acid-based polymers. Itaconix also has deals with Croda and Solvay.—ALEX SCOTT
BIOBASED CHEMICALS
▸ Goodyear introduces soybean tires Goodyear Tire & Rubber is beginning to use soybean oil in its tire tread compounds as a substitute for petroleum-derived oil. Goodyear says the move will reduce its dependence on fossil fuels while
boosting performance. Tire treads made with soybean oil last 10% longer and grip the road better under cold conditions, the
Goodyear is using soybean oil in some of its tires. firm says. Additionally, soybean oil mixes with silica reinforcement better than do petroleum-based oils. Goodyear has been working on the technology for more than five years with financial support from the United Soybean Board.—ALEX TULLO
SPECIALTY CHEMICALS
▸ Perstorp invests in caprolactone The Swedish chemical maker Perstorp will invest an undisclosed sum in a plant in Warrington, England, where it makes the polymer starting material caprolac-
Perstorp is investing in this caprolactone plant in Warrington, England.
C R E D I T: GO O DY EA R ( T I R E ) ; P E RSTO R P ( P LA N T)
PETROCHEMICALS
