Celanese’s Nanjing-based Chinese subsidiary has signed a tri-party agreement to test the industrial-scale production of acrylic acid using acetic acid as the main raw material. Commercial details are not being disclosed.

The company’s partners in this project are: the Southwest Institute of Chemical, a Ministry of Chemical Industry R&D institute based in Chengdu and known as SW Chem; and Yankuang Lunan of Teng Zhou, a privately owned chemical company which mainly makes urea, methanol, acetic acid and polyoxymethylene.

Nippon Shokubai and Sanyo Chemical Industries have completed the merger of equals they announced in May, forming a new company called Synfomix.

Arkema has announced that it has brought a new 90,000 tonnes/year acrylic acid reactor at its site in Clear Lake, Texas, at a cost of about $90 million. This replaces two 45,000 tonnes/year reactors, which have been decommissioned.