Caprolactam supplier Fibrant is winding down its US operations. The company, which was sold off by Netherlands firm DSM, will close its production site in Augusta, Georgia, with the loss of several hundred jobs.
The company said the closure was the ‘only viable course of action’ in the face of extended unfavourable market conditions caused by poor commodity chemical prices, as well as ‘global supply and demand dynamics’.
Fibrant will continue to produce caprolactam for nylon manufacture in the Netherlands and China. The company employs around 1200 staff across the three continents.
By Phillip Broadwith
Source: Chemistry World
France has launched an offshore green hydrogen production platform at the country’s Port of Saint-Nazaire this week, along with its first offshore wind farm. The hydrogen plant, which its operators say is the world’s first facility of its type, coincides with the launch of another “first of its kind” facility in Sweden dedicated to storing hydrogen in an underground lined rock cavern (LRC).
The project sets up the Hydrogen Valley in Rome, the first industrial-scale technological hub for the development of the national supply chain for the production, transport, storage and use of hydrogen for the decarbonization of industrial processes and for sustainable mobility.
At first glance, hydrogen seems to be the perfect solution to our energy needs. It doesn’t produce any carbon dioxide when used. It can store energy for long periods of time. It doesn’t leave behind hazardous waste materials, like nuclear does. And it doesn’t require large swathes of land to be flooded, like hydroelectricity. Seems too good to be true. So…what’s the catch?
