Skip to main content

Chemical companies suspend business with Russia

13th March 2022

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Clariant, Solvay, Chemours and Novozymes have all announced plans to suspend business with Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. They have all also pledged support for employees in the affected countries and made donations to support relief operations.

Clariant suspended operations with immediate effect. CEO Conrad Keijzer said: “Continuing to do business under these circumstances is incompatible with our purpose and values”. The company has a sales office and a laboratory in Moscow, which contribute about 2% of its sales. It also employs 146 people in Ukraine.

“Many employees of Clariant have taken personal initiative to help their colleagues in the Ukraine or to support aid organisations on the ground,” the firm added. “Clariant encourages these activities and is grateful that the Clariant Foundation has made a donation to UNICEF, which is working with communities in the Ukraine to ensure that children and families in need can be helped right away.”

Likewise, Solvay has decided to suspend its operations and new investments in Russia. It will also suspend dividend payments from Rusvinyl, an independent 50:50 joint venture in Russia and is taking action to support the ongoing humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. The Solvay Solidarity Fund, which was launched in 2020 at the start of the COVID pandemic, has donated €1 million to the Belgian and International Red Cross in support of relief efforts for civilians impacted in Ukraine. It has also committed to matching employees’ private donations to help address the growing humanitarian needs.

“Solvay is deeply saddened by the loss of life and suffering in Ukraine”, said CEO Dr Ilham Kadri. “Our top priority has been the safety of our colleagues in Ukraine. We are taking action to support the ongoing humanitarian efforts to ease the suffering of those impacted by this crisis.”

Chemours, which has a small office in Moscow, has suspended business with Russian entities in response to the crisis. It also announced a $100,000 donation to the International Committee of the Red Cross to support humanitarian efforts in the region.

“Chemours condemns the senseless violence taking place and views continuing business as inconsistent with our company values. As always, we will work to meet the needs of our global customers throughout this process, however, we believe suspending business with Russian entities is the right thing to do,” said Mark Newman, president and CEO.

Danish enzymes giant Novozymes has contributed to donations totalling DKK 55 million to emergency relief efforts in response to the war rhrough the Novo Nordisk Foundation. It will donate an additional DKK 1 million to support refugees coming to Denmark.

“The war has led to serious disruptions in supply chain and trading conditions and Novozymes is unable to deliver products to our customers in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. Further Novozymes will no longer ship products to our customers in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus,” the company stated.

UPL to split out specialities

Indian agrochemicals giant UPL has announced plans to transfer its speciality chemicals business, including agrochemical

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

AI for SAPs

Together with Algo Artis, Japan’s Nippon Shokubai has developed an algorithm-based means for the production

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Nippon Shokubai's API Facility in Japan

Nucleic acid API boost

Nippon Shokubai is to expand its GMP capacity for nucleic APIs tenfold It will install

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Flamma's facility in Dalian

Flamma opens in China

Italian CDMO Flamma Group has officially opened its new cGMP plant at Dalian, China, where

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

GL Chemtec has opened a new kilo lab

GL Chemtec completes kilo lab

CDMO GL Chemtec has announced the completion of a cGMP kilo lab at Oakville, Ontario

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Sterling's facility at Deeside, UK

CDMOs in ADC investments

Five CDMOs across the world have separately announced investments in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Piramal Pharma is

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Afyren Neoxy plant

Milestones for two greentech firms

Afyren has achieved continuous production at its Afyren Neoxy plant at Clermont-Ferrand (pictured)

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Origin by Ocean derives its materials from sargassum

CABB in algae biorefinery deal

CABB has agreed a strategic partnership to establish a first-in-kind algae biorefinery at its site at Kokkola

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

First waste-based biosurfactants

Belgian start-up AmphiStar has launched what it claims are the first fully upcycled biobased surfactants

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Aether to supply Seqens

Indian firm Aether Industries has entered into a manufacturing agreement with Chemoxy International, a UK-based

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

New model for biocatalysts

BASF, the Austrian Research Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (ACIB) and the University of Graz in

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

CBE JU funds 31 more projects

The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), a €2 billion partnership between the EU

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Ribbon cutting ceremony at Lubrizol's new office

Lubrizol opens London office

Lubrizol has opened a new office in Hammersmith, London. This will be home to a

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Sudarshan to buy Heubach

India’s Sudarshan Chemical Industries (SCIL) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Heubach

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Alliance in natural fragrances

Sensegen, a US-based specialist in biotech-enabled fragrances, notably a new class of natural musk raw

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Croda breaks ground in China

Croda International has broken ground for a low-carbon, multi-purpose production facility on a greenfield site

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

CCT collaboration for Givaudan

Flavours and fragrances giant Givaudan has agreed a research collaboration for the development of sustainable

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

REACH Authorisation

Candidate List ‘reaches’ 250

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has added three more substances to the Candidate List of

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Staff at Brenntag's newly acquired Czech site

CO2-free distribution site first

Brenntag has officially inaugurated what it claims to be the first CO2-emission-free chemical distribution site

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington