Pharmaceutical CDMO Sterling Pharma Solutions which is based near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, and was formerly owned by Rhodia and Shasun, has acquired Alcami’s facility at Germantown, Wisconsin (pictured). Terms were not disclosed.

Sterling said that this will boost its API development and manufacturing capacity, particularly for complex and hazardous requirements, and including high potency. Germantown has cGMP development, scale-up and manufacturing facilities with specialist expertise in handling technologies including plant-scale hydrogenation and cryogenic reactions.

Brenntag, the world’s largest distributor of chemicals and ingredients, has unveiled a new two-division operating model under two COOs, which it will operate from January 2021. This is described as part of the ongoing ‘Project Brenntag’ transformation programme.

Umicore has announced plans to streamline its cobalt activities in the Cobalt & Specialty Materials business unit in order to strengthen its competitive position. This will lead to about €55 million in charges.

The unit, which makes cobalt and nickel speciality chemicals for a wide-range of non-battery applications, has been facing increasing competition in many markets and in cobalt refining in recent years.

Japan’s Nippon Shokubai has decided to begin facility design for a new plant to make its Ionel brand of lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl) imide (LiFSI) electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries. The plant, at the site of the Nisshoku Techno Fine Chemical subsidiary, will have 2,000 tonnes/year of capacity. Construction will begin by the spring of 2023.

A loud explosion took place at FAR Chemicals’ site at Palm Bay, Florida, on the morning of 8 September, which witnesses compared to a sonic boom. Although there were no injuries, this has led to renewed controversy about the site, where the city rezoned the area for housing earlier this year in the teeth of warnings from the company itself.

Lanxess has announced plans to invest “a lower double-digit million euro sum” in order to expand oxone monopersulfate capacity at its site in Memphis, Tennessee, by 50% by the end of 2022. This comes in response to “continuous strong demand for disinfectants”, the company said.

Petronas Chemicals (PCG) has acquired PCC’s 50% stake in its Malaysian unit, PCC Oxyalkylates Malaysia. CEO Datuk Sazali Hamzah called this “another milestone for PCG in our quest to develop the group’s specialty chemicals business segment”.

PCG and German-based surfactants producer PCC are already planning an oxyalkylates facility at the Kerteh integrated petrochemical complex in Terengganu (pictured above), plus a joint R&D centre. This is due to begin construction in 2021 and enter production in 2023.