Business Watch: Japan’s Eneos to acquire TPC; FDA approves twice-rejected melanoma drug

C&EN’s look at the second-quarter earnings of major US and European chemical makers, posted on Friday by senior correspondent Alex Tullo, reveals companies that are, perhaps surprisingly, benefiting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Profits at BASF, the world’s largest chemical maker, skyrocketed 167% in the quarter, and sales jumped 16%. The large polymer producers Dow and LyondellBasell Industries both posted double-digit increases in sales. Why? In short, these firms are making up for the chemical production capacity in the Middle East that has been damaged by the war and for the production in Asia that has been crimped by shortages of raw materials from the Middle East.

But in calls with Wall Street analysts to discuss the results, US and European company executives acknowledged that the boom is temporary. A new analysis by the debt rating firm Fitch Ratings shows why.

Despite the second-quarter pop, Fitch says it is maintaining its “deteriorating” outlook for the global chemical industry. The industry continues to be in oversupply globally, and the increased production costs created by the Strait of Hormuz disruption will likely dampen demand for chemicals in the months ahead.

“We expect higher production costs to hinder already weak demand in the remainder of 2026,” Fitch analysts write in the report. It seems that no amount of global disruption can negate the basic laws of supply and demand.

Questions? Comments? Tips? Send them to me, business editor Michael McCoy, at [email protected].

Top stories from C&EN

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• Despite slowing investment in cleantech companies overall, Lydian Labs was able to raise $43 million in series A funding to develop its route to sustainable aviation fuel.

Business in brief

Japan’s Eneos to buy C₄ chemical firm TPC

The Japanese refiner and materials company Eneos has agreed to purchase the C₄ chemical specialist TPC from the private equity firms Redwood Capital Management, Monarch Alternative Capital, and PGIM. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. TPC processes crude C₄ streams into butene and butadiene and makes C₄ derivatives such as polyisobutylene. TPC had sales of about $1.5 billion and operating income of $25 million in 2025. The Houston-based firm has encountered difficulties in recent years, including an explosion at its Port Neches, Texas, complex in 2019 and a cold snap that slowed production in 2021. It declared bankruptcy in 2022, emerging later that year. Eneos says it is looking to expand its materials business and to enlarge its presence in the US. It acquired JSR’s synthetic rubber business, a producer of styrene butadiene and polybutadiene rubber, in 2022.

—Alex Tullo

Idled UK TiO₂ plant to restart under Chinese firm

The Chinese titanium dioxide maker LB Group plans to restart production later this month at an idled TiO₂ plant in Greatham, England. LB says it has filled most of the 70 positions that opened after it purchased the site from Venator last year, bringing the workforce there to more than 200 employees. LB has christened the business Tioxide, the name it had held for decades starting in the 1970s. “Subject to the successful completion of key commissioning milestones, we expect single-stream production to resume in August,” Tioxide managing director Karen Askwith says in a statement. Venator shuttered the site last fall after years of losses, a move that threatened more than 270 jobs. But the deal with LB was controversial. In April, European TiO₂ producers lodged a complaint with the European Commission alleging unfair foreign subsidies for LB. Acquiring a plant in the UK allows the Chinese firm to export its products to the European market duty-free under the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, thus circumventing tariffs targeting low-priced imports into the European Union.

—Vanessa Zainzinger

Deepak to build bisphenol A plant in India

The Indian chemical maker Deepak Nitrite is moving forward with plans to build a bisphenol A plant in Dahej, India. The plant will cost about $260 million and have the capacity to make 250,000 metric tons per year of the monomer. The bisphenol A production will back integrate a polycarbonate plant in Stade, Germany, that Deepak bought from Trinseo in 2024. That plant is being dismantled and shipped to Dahej, where it will be reassembled and recommissioned. Meanwhile, the industrial gas maker Linde will build a plant in Dahej supplying carbon monoxide—which is used to make phosgene, the other main raw material for polycarbonate—and hydrogen. The completed project will be India’s first integrated polycarbonate facility.

—Alex Tullo

Epoch Biodesign acquires factory to scale recycled nylon production

Epoch Biodesign has acquired a nylon 6,6 polymerization plant in Blanes, Spain, gaining commercial-scale polymer production capacity for its recycled nylon. The former Domo Chemicals facility can produce 52,000 metric tons per year—about 10% of nylon 6,6 production capacity across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Epoch is using enzymes designed via artificial intelligence to break down postconsumer nylon 6,6 into its raw materials, adipic acid and hexamethylenediamine. The company is also building a facility in London that will extract monomers from hard-to-recycle materials such as multilayer laminates and tire cord yarn. The monomers will be shipped to Spain for processing into finished polymers. Production there is scheduled to restart in October, while construction of the London plant is due to be completed later this year.

—Vanessa Zainzinger

Distributors Univar and Brenntag expand via acquisition

The big chemical distributors Univar Solutions and Brenntag are buying up smaller rivals. Univar has acquired Interpur Chemicals, a European distributor of polyurethanes and powder coating materials, and H.M. Royal, a 101-year-old US distributor of rubber, plastics, and adhesives. Univar did not disclose financial details of either purchase. Nick Powell, who leads Univar’s specialties and ingredients division, says the deals reflect the firm’s emphasis on growth in the coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers sector. “As we look ahead, we will continue to pursue disciplined M&A opportunities that strengthen our portfolio while preserving the strengths and relationships that have made these businesses successful,” Powell says. Separately, Brenntag has agreed to buy the South Korean beauty and personal care ingredient distributor Woojin Trading, also for an undisclosed sum.

—Craig Bettenhausen

Inorganics firms William Blythe and MAC to combine

William Blythe, the former inorganic chemical arm of the specialty chemical producer Synthomer, is merging with the US-based holding company Metals and Additives. The deal will combine the two firms into an international entity that offers flame retardants, smoke suppressants, catalysts, absorbents, foam technologies, polymer additives, and other inorganic chemicals. “The Group will benefit from a complementary product portfolio and global customer reach,” William Blythe says in a LinkedIn post. The Accrington, England–based firm has 180 years of experience in inorganic derivatives. Synthomer sold it in 2025 to management and an investment firm.

—Vanessa Zainzinger

Idaho National Lab opens pilot plant for domestic antimony production

The Idaho National Laboratory has commissioned a pilot plant to process antimony ore from Perpetua Resources’ Stibnite Gold Project. The modular facility will process about 1 metric ton of ore per day to characterize and separate antimony. The data collected by researchers could help establish commercial-scale US production. The project is funded through the US Department of Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium. Antimony is used in military applications such as primers, pyrotechnic compositions, and ammunition, but the US relies on foreign sources of the material. China and Russia dominate antimony supply (PDF), and the former imposed export restrictions in 2024. The project is one of several recent Pentagon investments aimed at strengthening domestic supplies of chemicals and materials used in weapons. In July, the German chemical maker Alzchem announced plans for a $150 million plant in South Carolina, backed by the Pentagon, to make nitroguanidine, an ingredient used in artillery propellants.

—Ana Georgescu

Quote of the week

Posco enters the iron-based battery materials market

South Korea’s Posco Future M is getting into the iron-based battery materials market. The firm, which previously focused on nickel-based materials, says it will supply 190,000 metric tons of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode material to a South Korean battery maker. Posco is converting nickel-based production lines at a plant in Pohang, South Korea, to make LFP. Nickel-based cathode materials can store more energy than the same volume of LFP, so they are often used for electric vehicles; LFP is cheaper, so it has become the chemistry of choice for stationary batteries, where size and weight aren’t major considerations. While electric vehicle sales have slowed in North America, the demand for stationary batteries is surging, Posco says. The company, which has a large steel business, says it will start with the steelmaking by-product iron oxide instead of iron sulfate, which is commonly used in China.

—Matt Blois

US offers loans to Sila, Niron to secure materials for defense

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is offering loans to companies making materials usually produced in China that are needed for military equipment. Sila Nanotechnologies has received a conditional commitment for $1.4 billion to scale up production of its silicon-based anode materials. Most graphite anode materials are processed in China. Adding silicon to the materials increases the energy density of batteries but can also raise the cost. In addition, Niron Magnetics has secured $150 million to scale up production of rare earth–free magnets. Rare earth magnets are used in electric car motors and several key pieces of military equipment, including missiles, drones, and radar. Most rare earth magnets are made in China, and Niron’s iron nitride magnets are made from materials that are easier to source domestically. The DoD has been looking for ways to reduce its dependence on a geopolitical adversary and has made major investments into firms making rare earth magnets and their components in the US.

—Matt Blois

Wacker and Eclipse to develop RNA therapies

The drug services firm Wacker Biotech, owned by the chemical company Wacker Chemie, is partnering with Eclipse Bioinnovations to use artificial intelligence to help drug industry customers develop RNA-based therapeutics. Eclipse says its platform can be used to design RNA sequences that lead to high yield, integrity, purity and other characteristics needed for manufacturing. Meanwhile, Wacker’s strength lies in large-scale manufacturing. “Together, the companies will improve the options for drug developers to produce RNA ready for the clinic,” Wacker says in a press statement.

—Aayushi Pratap

BMS to build drug manufacturing complex in Houston

Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has chosen Houston’s Generation Park as the site for a $2.3 billion drug manufacturing campus, part of the company’s $40 billion plan for ramping up US-based research and manufacturing capacity. BMS is just one of the many pharmaceutical companies that have announced US investments after President Donald J. Trump threatened to impose tariffs on imported drugs. For example, Eli Lilly and Company is spending $6.5 billion on a plant—also in Generation Park—to make the weight-loss drug ingredient orforglipron. For BMS, the Houston campus will have capabilities needed to manufacture small molecules, biologics, and antibody-drug conjugates for a range of disease indications, the company says in a press release. The site will create nearly 500 jobs.

—Aayushi Pratap

In WuXi AppTec versus Pentagon, US court sides with WuXi

The beleaguered Chinese drug services firm WuXi AppTec finally has relief in court. The US District Court for the District of Columbia has issued a preliminary injunction temporarily barring the US Department of Defense from listing WuXi in 1260H, a compilation of firms with ties to the Chinese military. The Pentagon had listed WuXi in June. WuXi’s inclusion subjects it to the Biosecure Act, which prohibits companies with federally funded projects from hiring companies on the list. WuXi, which has denied all allegations, welcomes the court ruling. “This ruling relieves the Company from the immediate adverse consequences of the 1260H Designation during the judicial process challenging such designation,” it says in a note to investors.

—Aayushi Pratap

FDA approves Replimune’s twice-rejected melanoma drug

The US Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to an injected viral therapy for advanced melanoma after previously rejecting it twice over efficacy concerns. The Massachusetts drugmaker Replimune makes the drug, which will be marketed as Tudriqev. It’s designed to be used in combination with the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab, or Opdivo. The FDA first rejected Replimune’s application in July 2025 and again in April over concerns that the clinical data (PDF) were insufficient and did not prove that improvements—seen only in about one-quarter of patients in a Phase 1/2 trial—could be attributed to Tudriqev and not Opdivo. But the White House intervened after the second rejection, the Wall Street Journal reported, ultimately leading the FDA to convene a panel of outside advisers. The advisers voted 10–3 last month in favor of approving Tudriqev. Replimune will still need to conduct a confirmatory study as a condition of the approval.

—Rowan Walrath

Tarsus will buy Alkeus and its eye disease drug

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire Alkeus Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth up to $800 million. Tarsus will pay $450 million in cash and common stock up front and possibly up to $350 million in milestone payments. Alkeus’s main drug candidate, gildeuretinol (ALK-001), is currently in Phase 3 trials to treat Stargardt disease. The disease causes fatty buildup on the macula, a part of the retina. The condition damages cells and eventually leads to vision loss. Gildeuretinol is intended to reduce this buildup and slow the progression of the disease.

—Sarah Braner

Jazz will buy Actio for small molecule that may treat rare form of epilepsy

Jazz Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy Actio Biosciences in a deal worth as much as $1.3 billion. Jazz will pay $850 million up front and up to $500 million in regulatory and sales milestones. The acquisition brings Actio’s oral small-molecule drug candidate ABS-1230, which is in Phase 1b/2a trials for KCNT1+ epilepsy, a rare type of epilepsy that has no approved treatments. When the deal closes, Actio will spin out a new firm focused on genetic rare neurological diseases. Yet to be named, it will include a clinical-stage small-molecule TRPV4 inhibitor, ABS-0871, for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2C and other early-stage programs. Jazz will receive a minority stake in the new firm.

—Sarah Braner

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