Business Concentrates ECONOMY
▸ ICL’s phosphorus specialties go to SK Israel’s ICL is selling two phosphorus chemical businesses to the private equity firm SK Capital for about $1 billion. One business makes phosphorus pentasulfide, used in lubricants, mining chemicals, and pesticides. The other business makes firefighting mixtures, based on ammonium phosphate and other ingredients, that are air-dropped onto forest fires. In the past 12 months, the businesses generated $112 million in operating profits on $294 million in sales. ICL says it is selling them because they have limited fit with its other phosphorus-related businesses such as phosphoric acid. —ALEX TULLO
GREEN CHEMISTRY
▸ Partners convert waste to ethanol Sekisui Chemical and LanzaTech are using fermentation to convert municipal solid waste into ethanol at a demonstration facility at a Japanese landfill. In traditional fermentation, yeast
Sekisui and LanzaTech converted waste to ethanol in this demonstration facility. converts sugar into products. LanzaTech uses bacteria to convert carbon-containing gases from waste incineration and other industrial sources into chemicals such as ethanol.—JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY
PETROCHEMICALS
▸ Nova advances Canadian polyethylene Nova Chemicals is going ahead with plans to build a polyethylene plant in Sarnia, Ontario, and to expand its ethylene cracker there. Nova will invest more than $1.3 billion in the projects. The poly-
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | DECEMBER 11/18, 2017
Clear vista for chemicals The U.S. chemical industry is on the cusp of a strong 2018, while its counterparts in Europe, including Germany, are expecting a good but not spectacular year. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) trade association is calling for an increase in U.S. chemical production of 3.7% in 2018 after an estimated 0.8% increase this year, when Hurricane Harvey hampered production along the Gulf Coast. “Manufacturing has turned a corner, business investment is on the rise, and domestic oil and gas production is on the rebound,” notes Kevin Swift, ACC’s chief economist. Cheap and abundant feedstocks and energy give U.S. chemical makers an edge, he points out. The European Chemical Industry Council and Germany’s Chemical Industry Association each predict a 2.0% rise in chemical output in the regions they represent. The groups say they are enjoying robust demand from the European Union as well as Asia and Russia. However, both note that high energy and feedstock prices as well as carbon costs under the EU Emissions Trading System will put them at a disadvantage to North America and China in 2018.—MARC REISCH
ethylene plant will use the company’s Advanced Sclairtech process and have a capacity of 450,000 metric tons per year. To feed the plant, Nova is expanding the cracker by 50%. Earlier this year the Canadian firm opened a polyethylene plant in Alberta, bought a controlling interest in a Williams Cos. cracker in Louisiana, and announced plans to build a cracker in Texas with Total and Borealis.—ALEX TULLO
on his promise to launch a major restructuring of the indebted generic-drug giant. Schultz aims to reduce Teva’s costs around the globe by $3 billion by 2019. To do that, Teva will slash 25% of its workforce, about 14,000 employees, and shutter many of its R&D facilities, manufacturing plants, and offices worldwide next year. The Israeli firm’s stock spiked 16% upon the news.—RYAN CROSS
INVESTMENT
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
▸ Covestro adds MDI, chlorine in Spain
▸ DuPont launches microbiome venture
Covestro will spend about $235 million to increase its production capacity for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in Tarragona, Spain, by about 30% to 220,000 metric tons per year. Covestro also plans to establish its own facilities for making chlorine, a raw material for the polyurethane intermediate, in Tarragona. The new MDI capacity is due online in 2022 and the chlorine by the end of 2020. Covestro had considered closing the Tarragona plant in 2015 when chlorine supply became uncertain.—ALEX SCOTT
DuPont Nutrition & Health has launched a microbiome venture that will partner with scientists in academia and industry to develop new products. DuPont says it currently offers microbiome-enhancing probiotics and prebiotics, including human milk oligosaccharides. The firm’s first partner is the APC Microbiome Institute, a collaboration of three Irish institutions. The partners will focus on products that establish healthy microbiomes in infants.—MELODY
EMPLOYMENT
▸ Teva will cut 14,000 jobs worldwide Kåre Schultz, the new CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, is making good
BOMGARDNER
BIOLOGICS
▸ WuXi throws switch on biologics expansion WuXi Biologics says its new biologics manufacturing plant, which it claims is the world’s largest such facility using dispos-
C R E D I T: LA N Z AT EC H
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
