OQ Chemicals has begun an optimisation and debottlenecking project for carboxylic acids at its plants in Germany. Structural work has already commenced, with completion planned before the end of the Q1. The acids are used as building blocks for lubricants, cosmetic ingredients and animal feed additives, among other things.
CordenPharma has signed a multi-year agreement for the contract manufacture of a large-volume launch peptide at its former Roche facility in Boulder, Colorado. This will begin in 2023 and will potentially be worth about $1 billion, depending on actual production levels required. The customer has not been named and no further details are being disclosed.
In response to an increasing number of projects, notably in oncology, Indian CRDMO Sai Life Sciences, has opened a 1,485 m2 high potency API (HPAPI) facility at its cGMP API campus in Bidar. This follows on from the opening of an HPAPI development facility at the Hyderabad R&D campus.
The company said that this expands its expertise “across HPAPI development and manufacturing, providing its customers with a streamlined pathway for NCE development”. It will now be able to handle all aspects of the product life cycle.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), the main trade body of the chemicals industry in the US, has issued a ‘9 in 9 Challenge’ to Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These challenges arise from the revision of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 2016.
The association is asking for action over the first nine months of 2023 to revise nine key policies, which, it says, are “weakening US chemicals management and the solutions to correct these problems”. They include:
* Fulfilling TSCA’s statutory obligations and meeting programme deadlines
Czech Republic-based J&T MS 1 SICAV has sent a public letter to the board of TiO2 producer Venator Materials highly critical of the firm’s strategic direction and demanding additional independent shareholder representation. J&T is the second largest shareholder in Venator, with a stake of 14.3%.
Since an IPO in August 2017, the letter states, Venator’s share price has fallen by about 96% from a peak of $25.50 to less than $1. In November 2022, the company was warned that it faces a potential delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.
A subsidiary of Indian speciality chemicals company Dorf Ketal has acquired Fluid Energy Group’s global modified and synthetic acid business, including the Triton industrial business. This business, which is based in Alberta and turned over about $60 million in 2022, makes these acids for sectors including water treatment, energy and petroleum, mining, industrial, consumer, and food and beverage.
The CABB Group has said that it will invest over €50 million by 2025 to expand facilities at its agrochemical manufacturing site in Kokkola, Finland. Eight new chemical reactors and a new packaging plant were commissioned in September, largely as a result of a long-term supply contract with a new customer from the crop protection industry. Further ‘double-digit millions’ investments are currently being made or in the pipeline.
