Gatemore Capital Management has published an open letter to John O’Higgins, chairman of the board at UK-based speciality chemicals company Elementis, stating that there is “an urgent need for change”. This echoes a letter from another ‘activist’ shareholder in late 2023.

Elementis mainly supplies the personal care sector, notably cosmetic and antiperspirant actives – it is the world market leader in the latter field. 85% of its products are of natural origin. Coatings and paper are other key markets.

Lonza has launched its AI-enabled route scouting service offering for small molecules, which combines AI-enabled computer-aided synthesis planning technology from Elsevier operation Reaxys with its own process R&D expertise and supply chain databases. This aims to streamline synthetic route identification.

Chicago-based CC Industries (CCI) has acquired Foremark Performance Chemicals from SK Capital Partners. No financial details were disclosed. CEO Randy Owens and the rest of the management team will stay in place and Foremark will continue to operate as a stand-alone entity.

Foremark produces proprietary natural gas sweeteners, chemical building blocks and slow-release fertilisers from a highly automated, vertically integrated facility at League, Texas. Its customer base is mainly the Gulf Coast region of the US.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken two separate actions on per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), both being part of its PFAS strategic roadmap, which aims to implement legislation by Q4 to reduce and destroy PFAS contamination in water, air and soil.

Under the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, the agency has laid down new standards with legally enforceable maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) on five individual PFAS. These are more stringent than previously mooted limits:

The first joint Europe-wide assessment of the drivers and impact of chemical pollution by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has concluded that, despite progress in some areas, “more work is still needed to reduce the impact of harmful substances on human health and the environment”. Key findings include:

* The transition towards safer and more sustainable chemicals is progressing in some areas but just getting started in others

Lubrizol has opened a new Global Capability Centre (GCC) in Pune, India, as “a strategic hub to accelerate its growth in the region and enable closer collaboration for its customers and employees”. It has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to renew its strategic partnership with Proya Cosmetics in China.

International Process Plants (IPP), which buys and sells industrial plants and equipment, has acquired Henkel’s detergent plant in Lomazzo, Italy, in partnership with Maynards, a specialist in industrial liquidation auction services. The plant, which sits on a 4.4-hectare site with 43,000 m² of building space, had been scheduled for closure, despite the Lombardy Region’s attempts to work with Henkel to save it.