Nouryon announced it has started full-scale production at its new Expancel® expandable microspheres plant in Green Bay, Wisc. The new plant will serve specialty additives customers in North America in the packaging, construction, mining and automotive industries, as well as complement the company’s existing full-scale plant in Sundsvall, Sweden, and product expansion facilities in China and Brazil. Read More…

The Protech Group, developer and manufacturer of coatings, paints and specialty materials, has announced its acquisition of MF Paints Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of architectural paints and stains based in Laval, Quebec. Read More…

Dow and Evonik have announced the start-up and operation of a hydrogen peroxide to propylene glycol pilot plant at Evonik’s site in Hanau, Germany. Collaboratively developed by Dow-- — a producer of propylene glycol —and hydrogen peroxide manufacturer Evonik, the plant uses the HYPROSYN® method to enable the direct synthesis of propylene glycol from hydrogen peroxide and propylene. Read More…

Lubrizol and Grasim Industries Limited broke ground on the first phase of a 100,000 metric-ton CPVC resin plant in Vilayat, Gujarat, India. According to Lubrizol, the facility, located at the Grasim Industries’ site, will be the largest single-site capacity for CPVC resin production globally. The company says it is designed to meet rising CPVC demand for piping applications in India, as well as neighboring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Read More…

Arkema has begun production of Sartomer® specialty UV/LED curing resins at its expanded facility in Nansha, China, where it invested to double capacity. According to Arkema, this investment is intended to support development of more sustainable solutions for growing applications in Asian markets, such as solutions in electronics — driven by 5G technology — and in renewable energies. Read More…