Thailand-based polyester value chain producer Indorama Ventures (IVL) has started up its new PET Solid State Polymerisation (SSP) facility in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, with a capacity of 75,000 tonnes/year.

The facility produces bottle grade PET chips through SSP, the second stage of the PET production process after the initial chips formed by a polycondensation process, which can be sourced from the company’s facilities in Asia or Europe and shipped to Nigeria for final processing.

Nigeria has an estimated demand of approximately 53,000 tonnes of PET in a country of approximately 120 million people and is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. Port Harcourt is a port town in Southern Nigeria that is the centre of the country's large oil and petrochemicals industry.

The plant, which utilises Buhler SSP technology from Germany, is the first PET plant in West Africa and provides IVL with the ability to serve its major customers with global service on four continents.

US firm Huntsman Corp. has acquired the remaining stake of Huntsman NMG, its Russian PU joint venture with NMG, the manufacturer of PU in Russia and other areas of the former Soviet Union.

Shanghai Sinopec Mitsui Elastomers, a 50:50 joint-venture between Chinese firm Sinopec and Japan-based Mitsui Chemicals, will build an ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer (EPT) production plant in Shanghai Chemical Industry Park

Swiss speciality chemicals group Clariant is acquiring the remaining 40% share of a joint venture between Alvigo and Chemie.

Belgian firm Solvay has started up its EUR21 million speciality polymers compounding plant at Changshu, targeting the electronics, automotive, consumer and industrial applications markets.

German automotive Tier 1 supplier Faurecia has opened a major R&D centre in Pune, India. Employing 800 automotive engineers, the facility will serve interior systems, automotive seating and automotive exteriors.

US international aerospace and industrial manufacturing and service provider Barnes Group will acquire privately held hot runner maker Synventive Molding Solutions for US$335 million.

US firms Bermis has tied up with Norwegian Thin Film Electronics to develop the Bemis Intelligent Packaging Platform for the commercial development of functional sensor labels manufactured from new and emerging printed electronic technology made from Thin Film’s propriety read/writable printed memory and programme logic

Not only did German robot maker Krauss-Maffei Automation celebrate its 30th anniversary since its foundation, it also marked it with its 1,000th robot delivery from the “robot wharf” of its branch in Schwerin.