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Americas

US chemical activity moves higher in December

The Chemical Activity Barometer has four primary components: 1) production; 2) equity prices; 3) product prices; and 4) inventories and other indicators.

Lotte Chemical awards $365MM contract to CB&I for Louisiana MEG project

The monoethylene glycol (MEG) facility will be located adjacent to the new ethane cracker, as recently announced by a joint venture between Axiall and Lotte Chemical.

CB&I wins $100MM of work for US chemical plants

"CB&I has long supported our customer through both maintenance and capital projects," said Chip Ray, president of CB&I's capital services operating group.

Pemex contracts Samsung to upgrade Salamanca refinery to low-sulfur diesel

The Salamanca refinery plant scope includes a new HDS (hydro desulfurization) unit with a capacity of 38,000 bpd, a SWS (sour water stripper) unit with a capacity of 5,000 bpd and the revamping of three existing HDS units, with a total capacity of 53,000 bpd.

Dow Chemical opens world-scale Texas PDH plant

Capacity for the new propylene production facility is 750,000 tpy, making it the largest on-demand propylene facility of its kind, and the largest and most advanced Honeywell UOP Oleflex unit ever built.

Axiall, Lotte greenlight Louisiana ethane cracker, select CB&I for EPC work

CB&I will provide engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction for the LACC ethane cracker project in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The cracker will produce 1 MMtpy of ethylene.

CF starts up new urea plant at Louisiana complex

This is the first plant to be commissioned as part of CF’s major capacity expansion projects in North America, and the first new world-scale urea plant to be completed in North America since 1998.

Sunoco buys US fuels distributor from Alta East

The business distributes 55 million gal/year of branded and unbranded gasolines, including Sunoco-branded fuels. The transaction also included supply contracts with the dealer-owned and operated sites.

Latin American chemical sector buoyed by low oil, strong end markets in 2016

Latin American chemical groups will likely maintain high capex relative to cash flow generation through 2016, while aggregate investments for rated chemical companies should remain high.

American Petroleum Institute names new leader of global industry services

GIS is the API organization’s division responsible for certification, standards, training, events, publications and safety programs for onshore, offshore and refinery operations.