Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 11 December.

US private-equity firm sets up potential proxy fight with ExxonMobil
A US private-equity firm is seeking to replace four members of energy major ExxonMobil’s board of directors in a potential proxy fight backed by the nation’s second largest pension-fund owner and holder of $300m of the company’s stock.

Mitsubishi mulls Louisiana site for MMA-from-ethylene plant
Mitsubishi Chemical Corp (MCC) is studying the feasibility of building a methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant, using the company’s Alpha technology that produces the material from ethylene instead of acetone.

West Virginia blast occurred at Optima unit – US Chemours
The explosion at a chemicals production facility in Belle, West Virginia, took place at a plant operated on the site by Optima Chemical leased from Chemours, according to the US-headquartered producer.

US safety agency sends investigative team to site of West Virginia explosion
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has sent a team to investigate the explosion earlier this week at a chemicals production facility in Belle, West Virginia, operated by Optima Chemical, the safety agency confirmed on Thursday.

Rates for shipping containers continue to skyrocket amid shortage in Asia
A continued shortage of shipping containers in Asia is putting upward pressure on freight costs – where some importers are paying three times more than normal – and delaying delivery times as securing space to ship goods has become more difficult.