Business Watch: Westlake to close PVC plant in Cologne, and more

Chemical executives might remember—and not fondly, either—the logistics snarls that followed the COVID-19 outbreak. These were a drag on chemical earnings at the time. We may be in for a repeat after the Iran War.

Freight rates for large shipping containers from East Asia to the US West Coast have quadrupled since the war began in late February and are approaching records set in 2022. Rates from Asia to the East Coast have been even more volatile.

According to a blog post from the logistics analytics firm Xeneta, freight rates have been increasing for a lot of reasons—“death by a thousand paper cuts,” as the post puts it. Part of the rise is due to high oil prices and fuel costs. A significant variable has nothing to do with the war at all: the Pacific is experiencing a particularly bad typhoon season.

Questions? Comments? Tips? Send them to me, senior correspondent Alex Tullo, at [email protected].

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Business in brief

Westlake to close PVC in Cologne because of high costs

Citing continued high energy costs, weak demand, and pressure from Asian imports, the Houston-based petrochemical and building materials maker Westlake plans to close its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant in Cologne, Germany, during the first quarter of 2027. The facility has an annual PVC capacity of 165,000 metric tons (t). Westlake says in its announcement that the unit has higher production costs than its other European PVC plants because of its “smaller scale and higher logistical burden.” The company will serve customers from its remaining German PVC plants, including a facility in Wilhelmshaven with 380,000 t of annual capacity, which it purchased from the insolvent Vynova this past June. Due to the Cologne closure, Westlake will record pretax charges to its earnings in upcoming quarters of $205 million. Energy costs have been increasing for European chemical producers since the Iran War started at the end of February. Earlier this month, Ineos announced that it would close three acetyls plants in Hull, England.

—Alex Tullo

Chemours seeks to slow fluorinated refrigerant phaseout in Europe

The chemical maker Chemours has joined several automative industry groups in calling for a slower European phaseout of hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) refrigerants from automobile air-conditioning systems. Over the past several years, the industry has largely switched to HFOs, especially 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (R-1234yf), to reduce the climate impact of refrigerant leakage compared with previous HFC refrigerants such as 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R-134a). HFOs have a smaller greenhouse gas impact because they break down in the atmosphere. But a major breakdown product is trifluoroacetic acid, a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS). Chemours and automakers say switching to non-PFAS refrigerants such as propane (R-290) and CO₂ (R-744) would take at least 13 years for light-duty electric vehicles and 20 years for all other vehicle types.

—Craig Bettenhausen

Corteva to spin off Vylor seed business this week

Corteva Agriscience is set to complete the separation of its seed business as the independent firm Vylor on Oct. 1. Corteva shareholders will receive one share of Vylor stock for every share of their Corteva stock. Vylor, which claims to be the leading supplier of corn and soybean seeds in North America, will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol VYLR. The new firm had sales of $10.1 billion, about 58% of Corteva’s total, and operating income of $1.7 billion in 2025.

—Alex Tullo

Former Asahi Kasei employee arrested in Japan

Police in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, have arrested a former Asahi Kasei employee for stealing confidential information and passing it to a Chinese company. The information was related to an Asahi latent curing agent, used to harden epoxy resins, and was given to Shandong Shengquan New Materials, Asahi says. The company promises to start civil proceedings against the former employee and Shandong Shengquan, demanding that the firm destroy and restrain from using the confidential information. Asahi also plans to implement greater controls over its trade secrets.

—Alex Tullo

Wacker reduces Siltronic stake to 15%

The German specialty chemical maker Wacker Chemie has sold 2.2 million shares in the silicon wafer firm Siltronic, netting proceeds of $194 million. Wacker spun off Siltronic in 2015 and at the beginning of this year still owned 30.1% of the firm. A sale of Siltronic shares earlier this year brought in $211 million for Wacker. After the most recent sale, which represents about 6.7% of Siltronic’s equity, Wacker retains a 15% stake. Driven by tough business conditions in Europe, Wacker announced last year that it was cutting annual costs by about $350 million.

—Alex Tullo

Syngenta develops microRNA products for farming

Syngenta is planning to release a suite of products for farmers based on microRNA technology. MicroRNAs are tiny, single-stranded RNA molecules that bind with messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules to reduce the translation of mRNA into proteins. In nature, plants can use microRNAs to better respond to stresses like drought. Syngenta says its microRNA products will provide farmers with a biological option to increase yields for rice, soy, corn, cotton, and other crops. The first products will be available in 2027. Other firms are also hoping to use microRNAs for agriculture. In July, Micropep Technologies, one of C&EN’s 10 Start-Ups to Watch in 2022, submitted for US and European regulatory approval of micropeptide products that stimulate production of microRNAs in plants.

—Matt Blois

Refinyx acquires Northvolt’s recycling business

The start-up Refinyx is acquiring a recycling business from Northvolt, a Swedish battery producer that filed for bankruptcy in 2025. The new company, founded by the team behind Northvolt’s recycling business, acquired a portfolio of 134 Northvolt patents and a 1,200 m² recycling pilot plant in Västerås, Sweden. The technology developed by Northvolt doesn’t go through a solvent extraction step, which Refinyx claims will help the firm compete with well-established Asian battery recyclers. Refinyx says it has already lined up a major customer in the US. Next, the company wants to expand its mineral recovery platform to produce rare earths, phosphorus, and other minerals. Refinyx’s acquisition follows a similar move by veterans from the battery material firm Ascend Elements, who recently formed R3 Lithium to revive Ascend’s battery-recycling business.

—Matt Blois

Century Lithium wants to build chlorine plant

The lithium miner Century Lithium plans to build a chlor-alkali plant to supply chlorine for its planned lithium mining project in Nevada. The proposed plant, which would be in Utah or Nevada, will use saltwater and electricity to make 272–544 metric tons of chlorine per day. The plant will also make hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. The company uses HCl to extract lithium from claystone. Century also uses sodium hydroxide in its process. The company is also talking to additional customers who would buy excess supplies.

—Matt Blois

Quote of the week

CordenPharma breaks ground to expand US peptide manufacturing

Amid the continued boom in weight-loss drugs, the drug services firm CordenPharma has broken ground in North Augusta, South Carolina, to expand peptide manufacturing. The company plans to spend over $200 million to add 6,300 m² of capacity for molecules and commercial drugs containing peptide-based active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The unit will contain equipment for solid- and liquid-phase peptide synthesis. “The expansion will support growing demand for peptide APIs used in therapies addressing obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other serious diseases,” CordenPharma says in a press release.

—Aayushi Pratap

European drugmakers make urgent call for regulatory change

The chairs of nine European Union–based pharmaceutical companies have published an open letter claiming that the EU’s pharmaceutical industry is in decline and that urgent change is necessary. The letter states that European drugmakers are losing their business to firms in the US and China, which have invested $600 billion in new drug development over the past 2 years. China now exceeds the EU in the number of clinical trials, pharmaceutical patents, and new medicines, according to the letter. But the authors also claim that this trend could be reversed if the EU and national governments were to invest in new clinical trials and better protect European intellectual property. Investment in new medicines, they say, brings a sixfold return to the economy. Less than a week after the letter was published, the EU Council adopted its “pharma package,” which gives EU drugmakers greater market protections when developing new medicines.

—Max Barnhart

Roche and Genentech sign deals with Atavistik and Erendil

Roche and its Genentech subsidiary have inked two deals, with Atavistik Bio and with Earendil Labs. Atavistik will use its AMPS platform to discover and develop small-molecule, allosteric therapies for cardiometabolic disease targets. The collaboration is worth up to $1.9 billion; Atavistik will receive $70 million up front. The other deal stipulates that Earendil will leverage its artificial intelligence–based drug discovery platform toward bispecific antibodies for oncology targets. The arrangement is potentially worth more than $1.5 billion; Earendil will receive $55 million up front.

—Sarah Braner

Novartis buys up radiopharma asset from Chinese biotech BoomRay

Novartis has bought the rights to a preclinical radioligand therapy from BoomRay, a radiopharma firm in China. The deal doesn’t specify the therapy, but BoomRay is eligible for up to $900 million in up front and milestone payments. Novartis has maintained a steady clip on partnerships and seems to prefer buying specific assets rather than entire firms. This deal is yet another example of Big Pharma’s growing interest in Chinese bioscience.

—Sarah Braner

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