Index (ISE) of the BOVESPA,
of which it has been a component for nine years. Also in
2013, Braskem was considered
the best Brazilian company in carbon
management due to its excellence in
performance and transparency, with the
company achieving the highest scores in
Brazil in the Carbon Disclosure Project
(CDP), one of the worlds most highly
respected sustainability indicators for
listed companies. Internationally, the
Company has also been a component
of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Emerging Markets, the sustainability
index for emerging markets on the New
York Stock Exchange, since 2012 (the
year of its launch).
Cytec Expands Production
of CYASORB CYNERGY
SOLUTIONS, UV Stabilizers
for Coatings in China
Cytec Industries Inc. celebrated the
successful expansion of CYASORB
CYNERGY SOLUTIONS stabilizers,
which are produced at the new polymer
additives production line in Fengxian,
Shanghai, China. The Fengxian facility started operations in April 2012 to
shorten delivery time for Cytec’s proprietary, high performance UV stabilizers to
the Asia Pacific market. The CYASORB
CYNERGY SOLUTIONS product line
and CYASORB THT light stabilizers
protect plastics and coatings from harmful UV light when exposed outdoors
and increases service life. They protect
the physical properties of products, as
well as appearance properties, such as
color and gloss, in a variety of applications. Both product lines are proprietary
and are covered by one or more patents
within Cytec’s intellectual property portfolio. The latest CYASORB CYNERGY
SOLUTIONS stabilizer product was specifically designed for the Asia Pacific automotive industry.
“We invested heavily in bringing the
latest proprietary and patented technologies to China, and we are pleased to continue introducing further solutions that
address the specific needs of Asia Pacific
market,” said François Jacob, global marketing director for Additives Technologies.
“The development of new high performance stabilizer systems is required to
support the plastic industry to satisfy the
demand for higher levels of performance
and new requirements.”
National University of
Singapore and BASF
Embark on Joint Graphene
Research
The Graphene Research Centre (GRC)
at the National University of Singapore
(NUS) Faculty of Science and BASF has
partnered to develop the use of graphene
in organic electronic devices, such as organic light emitting diodes (OLED). The
goal of this collaboration is to interface
graphene films with organic electronic
materials for the creation of more efficient and more flexible lighting devices.
“Our motto at GRC is ‘Inventing the
Future’ and the combination of graphene
from GRC and organic materials from
BASF is the perfect way to research possibilities that have not been explored before
and can lead to transformative technology. We are working towards a bright future where clean energy can be harvested,
transported and stored in efficient ways,
in order to be used to create a better and
healthier living for all of us,” sais Antonio
Castro Neto, director of the Graphene
Research Centre and a Distinguished
Professor at the Department of Physics,
NUS Faculty of Science and Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
NUS Faculty of Engineering.
BioAmber and Vinmar
Sign Agreement to Set-up
Production Facility in N.
America
BioAmber Inc., an industrial biotechnology company producing sustainable
chemicals, has signed a take-or-pay
contract for bio-based 1,4-Butanediol
(BDO) with Vinmar International. Under
the terms of the 15-year master off-take
agreement, Vinmar has committed to
purchase 100 percent of the BDO produced in a 100,000 ton per year capacity plant that BioAmber plans to build in
North America and commission in 2017.
Vinmar also plans to invest in the BDO
plant alongside BioAmber.
BDO is a building block chemical
that is used in a wide range of products, including engineering plastics
for the automotive industry, polyurethanes, biodegradable plastics and
spandex. The current size of the global
BDO market is approximately $4 billion. BioAmber produces BDO by
combining its succinic acid technology with a catalyst technology licensed
from DuPont and the company believes
its bio-based BDO is cost competitive
with petroleum derived BDO. To date,
BioAmber has validated the high quality of its bio-based BDO with over 20
purchasers of petroleum BDO.
Following the financing, construction and commissioning of the 100,000
ton BDO plant, Vinmar will be obligated to purchase 100 percent of the BDO
produced for 15 years, and BioAmber
will be obligated to sell exclusively to
Vinmar. Vinmar also plans to invest in
the BDO plant, taking a minority equity
stake of at least 10 percent. As part of
the agreement, Vinmar has a right of
first refusal to invest in and secure 100
percent of the off-take from a second
BDO plant that BioAmber would build
in the future.
In order to seed the market for
its bio-based BDO, BioAmber plans
to initially produce approximately
4,000 tons of BDO annually at a toll
manufacturing facility that the company expects to commission in 2015.
The tolling facility will convert bio-succinic acid produced at the Sarnia,
Canada plant that is currently under
construction. Under the terms of the
agreement announced today, Vinmar
has committed to also purchase 100%
of the BDO produced at the planned
tolling facility.
BASF and SINOPEC
Break Ground on World-
Scale Isononanol Plant in
Maoming, China
BASF and China Petroleum & Chemical
Corporation (SINOPEC) broke
ground today on the construction
of its world-scale isononanol (INA)
plant in Maoming Hi-tech Industrial
Development Zone, Maoming, China.
