The past week has demonstrated that the war in Iran is still directly impacting the chemical industry. Petrochemical facilities in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have been attacked by drones (see below), while a major Iranian petrochemical hub was the target of airstrikes.
And secondary effects have been worsening for weeks. Some refineries and petrochemical facilities in Asia, for example, have turned down their operations by 10% or more because they depend on petroleum-based feedstocks that go through the Strait of Hormuz, now effectively shuttered.
Now comes an early indication of tertiary effects: finished goods will become more expensive and scarce because polymer and petrochemical raw materials are in short supply. The Malaysian Glove Manufacturers Association is asking the country’s government for relief because of a shortage of nitrile butadiene rubber latex. Malaysia makes 45% of the world’s rubber gloves.
C&EN is on the watch for other shortages. Tires also incorporate lots of synthetic rubber; might they their production be interrupted soon too? And if petrochemical plants in Asia are slowing production and making less of the polyester precursor p-xylene, higher textile prices could be in our future.
Questions? Comments? Tips? Email C&EN senior correspondent Alex Tullo at a_tullo@acs.org.
Top stories from C&EN
Uncoiled 35-mm photographic firm on a white table.
Photographic film is back in style.
Credit:
Craig Bettenhausen/C&EN
Business in brief
Warring parties trade shots at petrochemical plants
A polymer plant with piping, reaction vessels, and scaffolding.
This new polypropylene plant is part of Borouge’s complex in Ruwais, United Arab Emirates, which recently came under attack.
Credit:
Borouge
In an escalation that puts the chemical industry directly in the line of fire, petrochemical plants have come under attack in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Iran over the past week. The Abu Dhabi–based petrochemical maker Borouge says debris from an intercepted attack on April 5 landed on its production facilities in Ruwais, causing fires that were subsequently brought under control. The company has suspended production as it assesses damage and makes repairs. Borouge makes 5 million metric tons (t) per year of polyethylene and polypropylene at the complex. Separately, Kuwait Petroleum confirmed on April 5 that a drone strike hit its headquarters as well as facilities belonging to its affiliates Kuwait National Petroleum and Petrochemical Industries Co. In Iran, a reported Israeli airstrike hit the country’s complex in Mahshahr. According to Iran’s National Petrochemical Co., the facility has the capacity to make 25.8 million t of petrochemical products annually, including ethylene, polyethylene, polyolefins, chlorovinyl, and aromatics.
—Alex Tullo
Arclin completes purchase of DuPont’s aramid fiber business
Arclin, a materials and chemical company backed by the private equity firm TJC, has completed its $1.8 billion purchase of DuPont’s aramid business. Famous for its Kevlar and Nomex fibers, the business had sales of $1.3 billion in 2025. With the acquisition, Arclin will have sales of $2.7 billion–$2.8 billion annually, according to S&P Global. DuPont is retaining a minority stake in the business. The purchase comes as the aramid business has been rolling out Kevlar EXO, a next-generation aramid based on a new terpolymer structure. The new Kevlar is 30–40% stronger than traditional Kevlar, allowing for lighter ballistics materials.
—Alex Tullo
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical to close polycarbonate plant in Japan
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical says it will close its polycarbonate plant in Kashima, Japan, by March 2028. The facility, which has a production capacity of 120,000 metric tons per year, faces profitability challenges because oversupply has caused prices for the engineering polymer to fall, the firm says. Petrochemical and polymer plants in Japan have been closing as supplies from China swamp the Asian market. Earlier this year, for example, three big firms announced that they will integrate their ethylene operations in western Japan and close one ethylene facility.
—Michael McCoy
KKR to take Japan’s Taiyo private in $3 billion deal
The US investment firm KKR will take the Japanese electronic materials maker Taiyo Holdings private in a transaction that values Taiyo at about $3.2 billion. The deal has been approved by Taiyo’s founding family and by Oasis Management, an activist investor that owns close to 16% of Taiyo and has advocated for leadership change at the firm. Taiyo is a leading maker of solder resist for printed circuit boards. It also sells dyes, pigments, and other fine chemicals. Another Taiyo business produces prescription drugs and provides pharmaceutical contract manufacturing services. KKR says it already owns businesses in Japan worth more than $20 billion, including the finished drug contract manufacturer Bushu Pharma.
—Michael McCoy
World Bank issues $125 million loan for polysilicon plant in Malaysia
The World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has agreed to loan $125 million to a subsidiary of OCI Holdings for the construction of a semiconductor-grade polysilicon plant in Bintulu, Malaysia. OCI is primarily a chemical and materials science company based in South Korea. In a press release, OCI says the plant will be powered entirely by renewable energy. The finished facility will be a joint venture with the Japanese chemical firm Tokuyama.
—Craig Bettenhausen
Dutch textile recycler secures funding windfall
An artist’s rendering of Reju’s petrochemical plant includes industrial equipment and a white building with colored blocks.
Reju has received a grant from the Dutch government to build a textile recycling plant in the Netherlands (artist’s rendering shown above).
Credit:
Reju
The Dutch textile recycling firm Reju has been awarded $156 million by the Dutch government, money the firm will put toward the construction of a planned industrial-scale textile recycling plant at Chemelot industrial park, in Sittard-Geleen, the Netherlands. Reju’s technology converts difficult-to-recycle textiles containing polyester into an intermediate material for new polyester production. The company claims that its process generates 50% less carbon dioxide emissions than virgin polyester. The funding is one of a number of signals that textile recycling is regaining traction after a difficult period. “At Chemelot, we will deliver circular raw materials at scale, reduce emissions across textile value chains, and establish a replicable blueprint for circular textiles in Europe,” CEO Patrik Frisk says in a press release.
—Alex Scott
Via Separations wins investment to expand into chemicals
The membrane firm Via Separations has landed $36 million in funding from a coalition of petroleum, energy, and cleantech investors. Via uses graphene oxide membranes to replace distillation and evaporation in industrial separation processes. The firm says it will use the funds to expand into separations for the chemical and petroleum industries from its existing base in pulp and paper. CEO Shreya Dave says the system uses just 10% of the energy of thermal separations and could lead to increased electrification in refining and chemical production.
—Craig Bettenhausen
Kimia launches to unlock corporate chemical expertise
Kimia has launched with $7 million in seed funding that it will use to advance an artificial intelligence–based tool intended to unlock corporate chemical intelligence. The Australia-based start-up says decades of formulation expertise and application knowledge sit inside the heads of chemical company specialists, many of whom are approaching retirement. Kimia says its tool draws on a company’s own product data, documentation, and institutional expertise to provide commercial teams with answers so they can respond to customers quickly. The tool is already being used by chemical industry customers including Bostik, Univar Solutions, and Stahl, Kimia says.
—Michael McCoy
Quote of the week
“Biomass gasification isn’t as mature as everyone thinks it is.”
Steve Slome, principal, FGE NexantECA, on the technological readiness of timber as a feedstock for syngas and Fischer-Tropsch
Stipple Bio launches with $100 million to make ADCs
Stipple Bio, a biotechnology start-up based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has emerged from stealth with $100 million in a series A funding round to develop antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Major investors include RA Capital, a16z Bio + Health, and Nextech Invest. With the new funds, the company plans to leverage its platform, Pointillist, which can distinguish regions of specific tumor cells from those of healthy cells. Stipple was founded in 2022 by two cancer researchers: Aaron Ring at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and Aashish Manglik at the University of California, San Francisco. Stipple will also use the funds to progress its lead candidate, STP-100, an ADC for an undisclosed indication, into clinical studies in 2027. The cash infusion will fund the company into 2029, Stipple says.
—Aayushi Pratap
Generare raises $23 million to discover novel drugs
Generare, a French start-up that aims to discover novel drugs by studying microbial DNA, has raised $23 million in a series A financing round co-led by venture capital firms Alven and Daphni. The company’s platform is geared toward generating data from microbial genomes, 97% of which have never been explored before, according to Generare’s website. The company claims to have discovered 200 new molecules in 2025 using its platform; the new financing will help it scale its platform by 2027, Generare says in a LinkedIn post.
—Aayushi Pratap
Trump imposes 100% tariff on pharmaceutical imports
President Donald J. Trump is putting a 100% tariff on imported, brand-name drugs in an unsurprising but unwelcome move for the pharmaceutical industry. But drugmakers that have already announced plans to onshore manufacturing in the US won’t be affected: those companies will pay only a 20% rate for the next 4 years. Drug manufacturers also have 180 days to strike deals with the administration to lower their tariffs, according to the White House. Still, industry representatives are not happy. “While we appreciate the Administration’s recognition of the need for tariff exemptions for certain critical biotech products, the reality is that any tariffs on America’s medicines will raise costs, impede domestic manufacturing, and delay the development of new treatments—all while doing nothing to enhance our national security,” John Crowley, CEO of the trade group Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), says in a statement.
—Rowan Walrath
Blackstone closes $6.3 billion life sciences investment fund
The investment giant Blackstone has closed a $6.3 billion fund to invest in life sciences. Blackstone says it is the largest-ever private fund dedicated to the sector. It is Blackstone Life Sciences’ sixth fund—raising about 40% more than its fifth fund and blowing well past its $5 billion target. Blackstone has historically invested in a range of life sciences transactions, including serving as a founding investor. In the past year, it has financed several Phase 3 drug candidates developed by Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., and others.
—Rowan Walrath
Gilead to spend $3.2 billion to acquire German ADC developer
Pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences is getting into the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) race with the multibillion-dollar purchase of Tubulis, a German biotechnology start-up. Gilead will pay $3.2 billion up front and possibly another $1.85 billion in milestone outlays. Tubulis’s lead drug candidate is a NaPi2b-directed topoisomerase-I inhibitor (TOPO1i) ADC in early-stage clinical trials for ovarian cancer and non-small-cell lung cancer. Tubulis raised $360 million in a series C financing in October, which it said at the time was the largest-ever raise for an ADC developer and the biggest series C for a European biotech.
—Rowan Walrath
Neurocrine to buy small-molecule drug maker Soleno for $2.9 billion
A structure of diazoxide choline.
Neurocrine Biosciences will acquire Soleno Therapeutics in a deal worth $2.9 billion. This purchase will grant Neurocrine access to VYKAT XR, a small-molecule drug that treats hyperphagia, or excessive appetite, in people with Prader-Willi syndrome. VYKAT XR, an extended-release formulation of diazoxide choline, may work by suppressing appetite signals in neurons. It was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2025.
—Sarah Braner
What we’re reading
The war in Iran is creating windfalls for US chemical makers: The Wall Street JournalAn FDA delay forced Kezar Life Sciences to wind down operations: STATnewsThe Artemis II astronaut suits are the same International Orange that was used on the Golden Gate bridge and Chuck Yeager’s sound-barrier-breaking Bell X-1: The New York Times
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