2017 Chemical News From Around the World

CHINA

Air Pollution-China

After air pollution reached record levels in Beijing early this year, Chinese authorities closed, temporarily or permanently, hundreds—if not thousands—of chemical plants throughout the country. Meanwhile, thousands of chemical plants operating near residential areas are being told to relocate to industrial parks outside cities.

US

Hurricane Harvey-US

Hurricanes pummeled the Gulf Coast and Caribbean islands in August 2017. Massive flooding in the Houston area from Harvey shuttered dozens of refineries and chemical facilities located in low-lying areas and caused flammable organic peroxides at Arkema’s site in Crosby, Texas, to ignite.

A few weeks later, Hurricane Maria devastated utilities infrastructure and damaged universities and pharmaceutical production facilities in Puerto Rico.

BRAZIL

Advancement of Science-Brazil

Although Brazil’s economy seemed to turn from recession to recovery, the government nevertheless cut its Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations & Communications budget by 44% in 2017 and plans further cuts in 2018. Scientists and their supporters took to the streets several times to protest.

U.K.

European Medicines Agency-UK

“We must now ensure Brexit does not disrupt the safe supply of vital medicines to tens of millions of families in the EU 27 and the U.K.”

—Steve Bates, CEO, BioIndustry Association, a U.K. trade group

Bates spoke on Nov. 20, shortly after the European Commission decided to relocate the European Medicines Agency, the European equivalent of FDA, from London to Amsterdam. The U.K. has yet to finalize how it will approve drugs after it leaves the EU in March 2019.

EUROPE

Clariant and Huntsman Merger Cancelled-Europe

A potential $20 billion merger of Clariant and Huntsman led by Clariant CEO Hariolf Kottmann and Huntsman CEO Peter Huntsman was torn apart by activist investor White Tale Holdings, a 20% shareholder of Clariant. White Tale calculated that the deal undervalued the Swiss firm and was a “complete reversal of the company’s long-standing strategy to become a pure-play specialty chemicals company.”

Meanwhile, AkzoNobel ducked and dived and, despite shareholder grumbling, escaped from being acquired by its U.S. rival, PPG Industries. Instead of rolling over, AkzoNobel rolled out a plan to exit its chemicals business and become a stand-alone paint maker. But AkzoNobel’s bullish growth projections have yet to materialize.

RUSSIA

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia

Russia destroyed the last of the chemical weapons stockpile, including artillery projectiles filled with the VX nerve agent, that it inherited from the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Globally, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says that 96% of declared stockpiles have been eliminated by its 192 member nations.

INDIA

National Chemical Laboratory-India

India’s largest and premier R&D organization, the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), declared a fiscal emergency in June. Implementing a commission’s recommendations for higher pay and other benefits chewed up most of CSIR’s $630 million budget, leaving it with merely $31.3 million to pay for instruments, supplies, utilities, travel, and maintenance.

MIDDLE EAST

SESAME-Middle East

The Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME), the first such user facility in the region, transmitted light for the first time through one of its three beamlines on Nov. 22. The $90 million project will primarily serve scientists from Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority, and Turkey.

AFRICA

ACS Nigeria International Chemical Sciences Chapter-Africa

The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) announced a partnership with F1000 to create an open access research platform, AAS Open Research, to launch in 2018. AAS hopes that the platform will benefit the scientific community, especially early career researchers such as student members of the ACS Nigeria International Chemical Sciences Chapter.