Aashi Mishra shares some highlights from a recent Research Nester study

Oleochemicals are chemicals that are obtained from fats and oils, both vegetable and animal. They find use across diverse industries and are gaining popularity owing to their eco-friendly and sustainable characteristics.

Oleochemicals have a range of qualities, including being biodegradable, low toxicity levels and being derived from renewable sources. Moreover, they can be customised to exhibit attributes like enhanced lubrication or increased solubility.

Clariant has agreed to acquire Lucas Meyer Cosmetics of Québec, Canada, a supplier of cosmetics and personal care ingredients from International Flavours & Fragrances. The $810 million, 16.3 x EBITDA deal is expected to close in Q1 2024, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Dow and Sasol both used this year’s SEPAWA Congress in Berlin on 25-27 October to launch surfactants that claim superior ecological profiles. In both cases, the products are based on collaboration with smaller, technology-based partners.

Dow developed EcoSense 2470 Surfactant with carbon recycling company LanzaTech Global, which recovers waste carbon then transforms into ethanol and on to surfactant ingredients. The company said that this is differentiated other biosurfactants and biobased surfactants in two ways: *

Croda International has broken ground for a low-carbon, multi-purpose production facility on a greenfield site in Guangzhou. This triples its manufacturing capacity for fragrances and establishes its fist production capability for beauty actives, mainly botanicals, in China. It is also part of the company’s plan to deliver fast growth in Asia. 

Kensing, an Illinois-based manufacturer of natural vitamin E, plant sterols, anionic surfactants and esters for applications in personal care among other things, has acquired Advanced Organic Materials (AOM). Terms were not disclosed. AOM supplies non-GMO plant-based vitamin E, mixed tocopherols and phytosterols derived from sunflower and rapeseed out of facilities in Spain and Argentina.

Wacker Chemie has held a kick-off event at its site at Zhangjiagang in China’s Jiangsu province to mark the start of construction of several new production lines for functional silicone fluids, silicone emulsions and silicone elastomer gels. It will invest about €150 million on the expansion project. The lines are due onstream in 2H 2025

Speciality chemicals company Elementis has come under pressure after an investor, Franklin Mutual Advisers, published an open letter to board chairman John O’Higgins, calling for it to put itself up for sale before its Q3 results on 31 October. Elementis has responded by saying it did not think this to be in shareholders’ best interests.