Umicore is to build a facility for cathode active materials and their precursors in Loyalist, Ontario. Construction is due to start in 2023 with operations beginning in 2025. By 2050, it will produce enough to power about one million electric vehicles. The plant will be run entirely on renewable energy.

WuXi AppTec has announced a plan to build a new R&D and manufacturing site in Singapore at a cost of up to $1.4 billion. It will be created in stages over the next ten years, depending on the company’s business needs.

The company added that the site will serve “a critical role in its global network across Asia, Europe and North America”. It ill include “laboratories and facilities that provide a broad portfolio of R&D and manufacturing services” for the pharmaceutical industry.

Oliver Cushing, CEO of RightsDD, looks at the possible impact of a new US law on the chemical industry

Bachem, the world market leader in peptides, has automated and digitalised one of its core business processes, solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). The company describes this as the start of its journey to Industry 4.0. The process is described in detail on the company website (www.bachem.com/news/bachem-journey-to-industry-4-0/).

Italian firm Olon has presented its new division, Olon Biotech, which will offer CDMO services at industrial scale. These based on microbial fermentation processes using bacteria, yeast and fungi and will include high potency. It will also have proprietary products for industries including health and pharma, food, cosmetics, flavours and fragrances.

Mitsubishi Chemical company Gelest, which specialises in silicones, organosilanes, metal-organics and acrylate monomers, has agreed a strategic collaboration with Lam Research, a supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry, and Entegris, the global leader in electronic materials for semiconductors.

A new study led by Dr Thomas G. Osimitz has concluded that smoke from the combustion of flame-retarded furnishings did not enhance potential chronic toxicity hazards, including cancer. Campaigners have repeatedly claimed that flame retardants in home furnishings and electronics increase the toxicity of smoke produced during combustion in house fires, thus putting firefighters at risk of major long-term health problems.