Three major Japanese petrochemical companies announced that have agreed to merge their domestic plastics production operations, as they look to improve their competitiveness due to oversupply and growing competition from Chinese manufacturers. Mitsui Chemicals Inc, Idemitsu Kosan Company, and Sumitomo Chemical Company have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to merge their polyolefins operations, as they look to share costs and develop synergies in areas such as R&D, production, sales and distribut ...

DevOps—the close collaboration between software development and operations functions within an enterprise—is a perennial headache for CIOs. The work required to take automated processes from development to full operation often has to follow executive directives that don’t always account for the complexities of enterprise IT modernisation. When successful, a highly functioning and effective DevOps function has the potential to significantly cut costs, increase productivity and streamline tasks by creating ...

Czech producer of generic medications Zentiva is poised for a change in ownership as Advent has agreed to sell the company to GTCR, another private equity investor with a focus on the healthcare sector. The sale, initially reported by the Financial Times according to Reuters, is estimated to be worth €4.1bn ($4.8bn). Zentiva's operations span the development, production and distribution of medicines in more than 30 countries across Europe and beyond. The company has four completely-owned manufacturing f ...

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) has confirmed that it expects the raid by US immigration authorities on the construction site of its new electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing JVe with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, in the US state of Georgia, will likely delay completion of the plant by up to three months. The HL-GA Battery Company plant was scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, to supply batteries to the newly-built Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America nearby, which ...

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK), the world’s largest asset manager, is reportedly exploring ways to tokenize its exchange-traded funds, the latest in a broader Wall Street effort to bring real-world assets onto blockchains. BLK is showing upward movement. Review the technical setup here. ETFs To Be Available 24×7? The move would be subject to regulatory approval, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Put simply, this would mean that the fund shares, which are normally traded on stock ex ...

Key Points Stablecoin deposits have soared, but banks and brokerages are still by far the dominant players. If stablecoin transaction volume maintains this growth rate, they could overtake existing payment systems in a decade. There are still a lot of unknowns about how the industry will develop and which approach will dominate. 10 stocks we like better than Circle Internet Group › A decade ago, many people hadn't even heard of stablecoins. Now Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) predicts the market c ...

Nine crypto startups raised over $869 million this week, according to DefiLlama data. That brings the total funding for crypto companies to just shy of $16 billion so far in 2025, outpacing 2024’s total by about $6 billion. Twenty-two industry players have already raised just under $1 billion in September alone. PitchBook predicts that the industry will raise $18 billion this year. Investors from Galaxy Ventures and Codebase expect it to go even higher and that investors will plough over $25 billion int ...

Southeastern US commercial printing and packaging company SunDance has launched a cube-shaped pouch packaging, POUCH³, that reduces material usage by 30% compared to traditional stand-up pouches. The packaging is based on a low-density polyethylene that ensures flexibility and durability. It maximises content volume by minimising headspace. The patent-pending POUCH³ cube packaging is produced using in-line equipment and operator training provided by Sun Centre. In addition to its reduced material usage ...

In many ways, it's the same kind of thinking at work now. There's a small handful of technology companies producing -- or at least promising -- incredible growth. Only now, rather than the advent of the internet, it's the advent of artificial intelligence that's driving the bullishness. (In the interest of fairness, unlike far too many dot-com companies then, most of today's AI-related outfits at least have a shot at eventually becoming profitable.)What gives? Why are investors willing to pay premium prices ...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union's aluminium sector is urging the European Commission to impose duties of around 30% on exports of scrap metal to stop it flooding out of the bloc and leaving domestic producers short. EU aluminium scrap exports hit a record 1.26 million metric tons in 2024, according to industry group European Aluminium, around 50% higher than five years ago, with most heading to Asia. The EU industry says the situation has since worsened due to U.S. President Donald Trump's import ...