Dow’s headquarters site at Midland, Michigan, was hit by flooding on the morning of 20 May following the collapse of two dams. The company has now stated that “significant progress continues to be made on clean-up and recovery”, including the restoration of utilities, infrastructure, and logistics across the site to normal operations.

DSM, Bayer, Symrise, Henkel and Takasago International are among 155 companies signing a joint release by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the UN Global Compact, and the We Mean Business coalition. This urged governments “to align their Covid-19 economic aid and recovery efforts with the latest climate science” and “prioritise a faster and fairer transition from a grey to a green economy”, with net zero carbon emissions.

Clariant is expanding its capabilities for the Hostapon SCI brand of isethionate derivatives at its site in Mount Holly, US, and Tarragona, Spain. This will comprise both capacity increases and modernisation via optimised energy consumption and aggregate options for new SI grades. It should come onstream during Q1 2021.

Six days after the US and the UK began formal negotiations for a post-Brexit bilateral trade deal on 5 May, representatives from the respective industry associations, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) jointly published some comments outlining their priorities.

“With the uncertainty swirling around Brexit and the COVID-19 crisis, a trade agreement between the UK and the USA will help ensure both countries maintain critical market access during this unprecedented and challenging time,” said Steve Elliott, chief executive of the CIA.

Several of the world’s major pharmaceutical CDMOS have recently made announcements relating to their participation in projects to develop treatment for the Covid-19 virus. Many involve chloroquines, in anticipation of their large-scale use.

Skin care giant Beiersdorf and Evonik have agreed a research partnership to develop sustainable raw materials for personal care products via artificial photosynthesis, using CO₂ as the starting material, along with water, solar energy and bacteria. The two companies described this part of their ongoing efforts to reduce their carbon footprints and becoming carbon-positive.  

Bachem, the world’s largest producer of pharmaceutical peptides and ologonucleotides, has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Japanese firm Jitsubo related to the latter’s liquid-phase peptide technology. Molecular Hiving. Financial terms were not disclosed. The two firms have already worked together on APIs and cosmetic peptides.