Indian agrochemicals giant UPL has announced plans to transfer its speciality chemicals business, including agrochemical active ingredient (AI) manufacturing to its wholly owned subsidiary UPL Speciality Chemicals. This is subject to shareholder approval and should be completed in three to four months.
Origin Materials, which describes itself as a carbon-negative materials company has started up the first commercial-scale biobased chloromethyl furfural (CMF) plant at Sarnia, Ontario. CEO John Bissell said that he expects the products “to be transformative for the chemical industry and how the world generally makes things”.
A kick-off meeting took place on 13 June at Hervás in the Extremadura region of Spain for the Sustainext project. This is the first flagship project to be funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) and aims “to revolutionise the botanical extracts industry with a unique model that can then be replicated by the European bio-based industry”.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has announced a new tool designed the progress of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) New Chemicals Program under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). “We want this tool to encourage more accountability and increased transparency in new chemical reviews,” the association stated.
Solvay has announced the names of the two companies that will emerge after its planned separation into ‘essentials’ and ‘speciality’ businesses. This process is on track to be completed in December 2023, subject to customary conditions. Further updates will follow.
The ‘essentials’ business will continue under the name Solvay and will comprise the existing mono-technology businesses including Soda Ash, Peroxides, Silica, Coatis and Special Chem. These had combined net sales of about €5.6 billion in 2022.
At their AGM on 15 June, Brenntag shareholders voted for the company’s supervisory board candidates and rejected alternatives from ‘activist’ investor PrimeStone Capital, which has been agitating for a radical change in strategy. All of the motions proposed by the board were also approved, including a €2/share divided payout.
Richard Ridinger was re-elected as a member of the supervisory board with 62.71% of the votes cast, while Sujatha Chandrasekaran was newly elected with 61.79%. At its constituent meeting following the AGM, the supervisory board elected Ridinger as chairman.
Posco Holdings has held the groundbreaking ceremony for the first lithium hydroxide factory in South Korea, at the Yulchon Industrial Complex in South Jeolla province. The company will invest over $450 million up to completion in 2025. It will be able to produce about 25,000 tonnes/year, enough for some 600,000 electric vehicles.
Yulchon is already home to the Posco Future M subsidiary’s cathode material facility. A lithium ore plant is also being built there and it will eventually host a secondary battery material facility.
