Recent developments
Intermediates and supply
BASF increased BDO production in Ludwigshafen to reinforce European supply security, leveraging its acetylene Verbund for THF, PolyTHF, and NMP. In China, NEXTCHEM’s CONSER secured a licensing and Process Design Package in China for NX CONSER MAN and Duetto co‑production of DMS and BDO, enabling downstream PBS and setting up tenders for catalysts and proprietary equipment.
CASE expansion
Avantium and Will & Co partnered to promote FDCA in CASE applications, leveraging YXY Technology and the Delfzijl FDCA plant to introduce bio‑based building blocks for alkyds, polyols, and surfactants. Brenntag and Westlake Epoxy expanded their partnership to South and West India, adding EPON, EPIKOTE, EPIKURE, and EPI‑REZ with local technical service for coatings and construction.
Standards and compliance
Stahl achieved full compliance with the German Printing Ink Ordinance for its food‑packaging coatings, giving customers earlier qualification certainty. Stahl also won the 2025 adiFORMULATOR Award from adidas for progress toward ZDHC MRSL Level 3 and supply‑chain transparency. Nouryon received Henkel’s 2025 sustainability award for a degradable hard‑water solution enabling EU Ecolabel and EPA Safer Choice detergents.
Decarbonization moves
UBE Corporation invested in Immaterial Ltd to scale densified monolithic MOFs for lower‑cost CO2 capture in hard‑to‑abate sectors. ElevenEs completed the first closing of its Series B with Caterpillar Venture Capital to launch a 1 GWh LFP cell plant in Serbia for industrial and mobility uses.
Portfolio and outlook
Elkem reported weaker Q4 results and entered a definitive agreement to sell the majority of its Silicones division to Bluestar, while investigating a fatal Lyon pilot‑plant accident and trimming capacity amid trade‑driven uncertainty.