ECN-European Chemical News articles from August 2004

ECN-European Chemical News archives from August 2004

Innovation award--the final round.(Comment)
August 2, 2004... Innovation in the chemicals sector continues to attract the limelight, with EU, member state and industry initiatives proliferating in an attempt to drive up the spend and effectiveness of European R&D. This week, ECN is pleased to play...

Takeover cleared.
August 2, 2004... The US Federal Trade Commission has officially cleared Sanofi-Synthelabo's takeover of Aventis. The FTC insists that Sanofi-Synthelabo must divest a royalty interest that Aventis holds in the insomnia treatment Estorra, but Sanofi says the...

Firm favourite.
August 2, 2004... German chemical industry managers have nominated pharmaceuticals company Boehringer Ingelheim as their favourite employer. The list of 20 leading companies, compiled by staff association VAA, also included Clariant at number 20 and Bayer at...

New chief at PKN.
August 2, 2004... PKN Orlen, the Polish oil refining and petrochemicals group, has found a replacement for Zbigniew Wrobel, its former chairman and president who announced his resignation last month. He will be replaced by vice chairman Jacek Walczykowski.

Bondholder bonus.
August 2, 2004... US metals chemicals firm OM Group has succeeded in persuading its creditors not to cash in their bonds, despite its failure to file company accounts on time. The company says holders of more than 50% of its outstanding 9.25% long-term notes...

Healthy profits.(Cookson )(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... UK speciality materials firm Cookson lifted its first half pre-tax profits to 42m [pounds sterling] (64m [euro]/$77m) on sales from ongoing operations up 6% to 842m [pounds sterling]. Operating profits rose 72% to 55m [pounds sterling], as...

Chemical giants report boost in earnings for Q2.(US RESULTS)
August 2, 2004... US chemical industry giants Dew Chemical and DuPont have both reported strong second quarters, as demand rebounds in all world regions. Dow Chemical recorded a huge 19% boost in total sales to $9.8bn for the quarter. The increase reflected...

ICI profits in line with targets.(UK EARNINGS)(Imperial Chemical Industries PLC.)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... ICI has reported a 20% increase in second quarter pretax profits to 118m [pounds sterling] (178m [euro]/ $215m), despite a 6% fall in sales to 1.43bn [pounds sterling] However, taking into account the effect of currency translation...

Monsanto faces seeds lawsuit.(US BIOTECHNOLOGY)
August 2, 2004... SYngenta's US subsidiary Syngenta Seeds has launched a legal challenge against Monsanto's claim of a US monopoly on biotechnology corn seed. The lawsuit alleges the Monsanto has conducted 'illegal and improper activities to maintain its...

Basell up for sale, to complete 2005.(POLYOLEFINS DIVESTMENT)
August 2, 2004... Basell, the European polyolefins joint venture owned 50:50 by BASF and Shell, is up for sale. Last week the two companies announced they are 'reviewing strategic alternatives' for the joint venture, which with turnover of (6bn [euro] is...

'Challenging' times for Rhodia.(company is in huge debts)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Heavily-indebted Rhodia is taking urgent steps to get its spiralling interest payments under control. The company had to pay 82m [euro] ($100m) in financing charges in the second quarter, including 50m [euro] to service its 3.5bn [euro] of...

Shell margins upbeat for Q2.(PROFIT REPORT)(Shell Chemicals U.K. Ltd.)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Shell Chemicals' margins and profitability improved in the second quarter despite high energy and feedstock costs, as capacity utilisation increased and supply tightened. Increased petrochemicals demand enabled the business to lift its...

BASF staff get new pay plan.(GERMANY PERFORMANCE PAY)
August 2, 2004... BASF is implementing a performance-related variable pay plan for its 29 000 German workers who fall under the industry-wide collective agreement with the union IG BCE. The plan is similar to one launched four years ago for 5000 managerial...

Agrochem buy.
August 2, 2004... Israel's Makhteshim-Agan will acquire Australia's fourth largest agrochemical firm Farmoz for Aus$35m (20m [euro]/$24m). Makhteshim, a leading generic agrochemicals maker, says the agrochemicals market in Australia and New Zealand is worth...

Fertiliser growth.(Saudi Arabian Fertiliser Co.'s profit growth)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... First-half net profits at Saudi Arabian Fertilizers jumped 50% to Riya1201m ($53.6m), due to a 'high rise in prices across most products'. Revenues per tonne of ammonia increased by 34% and urea was up 9%, the company said. The company noted...

Sales rise by 10%.(Air Liquide America L.P.)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Air Liquide raised its first-half sales by almost 10% to 4.47bn [euro]. However, fluctuating exchange rates and natural gas prices were responsible for almost half the improvement, while the consolidation of the recently acquired Messer...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
August 2, 2004... The person pictured on page 7 in the ECN issue of 19 July and captioned as being Niels Stolt-Nielsen was in fact Niels Nielsen of Basell's Alastian e-business venture. We apologise to both persons for the mix up.

Sartomer buys.
August 2, 2004... Sartomer has bought out Nippon Kayaku's share of their Japanese liquid monomers and oligomers jv Kayaku Sartomer. The business is renamed Sartomer Japan.

Clariant sells AZ electronics.(US PRIVATE EQUITY)
August 2, 2004... Clariant has sold its AZ Electronic Materials business unit to US-based private equity firm Carlyle Group for SF518m (336m [euro]/$405m). AZ supplies materials to the semiconductor and flat panel display industries. It has 800 staff at...

Radici moves out of PET sector.(polyethylene terephthalate )(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Radici has exited the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sector with the sale of its Aussapol manufacturing operation to Portugal's Selenis for an undisclosed sum. Aussapol produces PET for bottles and fibres at two plants in Udine, Italy....

Merck makes sales from LCDs.(GERMANY FLAT-SCREEN TECHNOLOGY)
August 2, 2004... Germany's Merck KGaA is cashing in on the boom in liquid crystal-based screens for flat-screen televisions. The company normally relies on pharmaceuticals for its profit growth. But the second quarter (Q2) of 2004 saw its sales of liquid...

BP to fold chemicals arm into group.(UK REORGANISATION)
August 2, 2004... UK-based oil giant BP will fold the rump of its chemicals operations into its refining and marketing business, after divesting its olefins and derivatives (O&D) activities next year. Following the spin-off--probably by a stock market...

Profits up but recovery slow.(NETHERLANDS DSM)
August 2, 2004... DSM chairman Peter Elverding has warned against over-optimistic assumptions about a European recovery, despite improved trading results for the second quarter. The Dutch chemicals group posted a second quarter operating profit of 133m...

Rockwood snaps up pigments.(UK SALE)
August 2, 2004... UK group Johnson Matthey is to sell its pigments and dispersions business to Rockwood Specialties for 27m [pounds sterlrling] (41m [euro]/$50m) in cash. The business employs about 280 people at two plants in the UK and one in Australia. It...

Croda notes strong Asian demand.(UK OLEOCHEMICALS)(Croda International PLC.)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... UK oleochemicals maker Croda says it is seeing firm underlying demand for its products, with Asia looking especially bright. The company's Asian sales increased by nearly 9% to 20m [pounds sterling] (30m [euro]/$37m) for the second quarter,...

Solvent prices remain volatile.(PRICES TURBULENCE)
August 2, 2004... Solvent hydrocarbon producers have experienced a rocky ride over the last few months trying to keep up with the highs of the oil markets. Manufacturers of light solvent naphtha, white spirit and hexane are directly affected by the...

ACN price riles consumers.(EUROPE ACRYLONITRILE)
August 2, 2004... European acrylonitrile (ACN) producers are seeking price increases of 90 [euro]-l20 [euro]/tonne for quarter three (Q3) contracts. But ACN consumers, particularly those from the acrylic fibre sector, are strongly resisting this call for...

Paraxylene prediction is good.(PROFIT MARGIN RECOVERY)
August 2, 2004... After five years of depressed pricing, the rate of paraxylene (PX) capacity build has finally fallen behind demand growth by a considerable margin. According to The future supplies of paraxylene feedstock, a joint study by Jacobs Consultancy...

BPA price hike expected as market remains tight.(AUGUST PRICE INCREASE)
August 2, 2004... Bisphenol A (BPA) producers are looking for a 150 [euro]/tonne increase for August, following hikes of up to 150 [euro]-200/tonne in July. With the market described as tight and demand strong, producers are taking the opportunity to firm...

Producers hope to lift margins.(European purified isophthalic acid price hike)(Flint Hills Resources is acquiring BP Chemicals International Ltd.)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... As European purified isophthalic acid (PIA) producers strive to recoup lost margins, greater demand from downstream markets has given them increased optimism for achieving price hikes. Players say that although the PIA market has already shown...

Titanium dioxide.
August 2, 2004... Sachtleben Chemie plans to increase its Hombitan Ti[O.sub.2] prices by 130 [euro]/tonne from 15 August. The hike will include both anatase and rutile products, and reflects rising raw material and energy costs. Limited availability also means...

Sulphuric acid line.
August 2, 2004... A Ti[O.sub.2] pigment producer owned by the Ukranian goverment has built a second sulphuric acid production line, increasing its capacity by 50%. The UAH26m (3.9m [euro]/$4.1m) project means the facility's output now totals 45 000 tonne/ month....

Resins prices up.
August 2, 2004... Dow Chemical has announced August price hikes on its polyethylene and polypropylene resins in response to strong demand from resin converters and the tightness in the market. A 50 [euro]/tonne increase will affect all low-density polyethylene...

Nitrogen supply.
August 2, 2004... Air Liquide has signed a 15-year contract with Borealis and the OMV refinery in Schwechat, Austria, to supply around 9000[m.sup.3]/hr of nitrogen. The plant will use the nitrogen to reduce the risk of explosion during manufacturing and...

Modifier hike.
August 2, 2004... Crompton Europe is targeting an 8% increase for all Blendex and Royaltuf polymer modifiers from 1 August. jane.gibson@rbi.co.uk

Benzene slips after nervous peak: benzene heightened following global market edginess after an Asian outage. Prices then slid to $1090-1110/tonne. Toluene prices drifted down with benzene.(Market trends)
August 2, 2004... Naphtha numbers rose to $370-374/tonne cif NWE, after lower gasoline values caused a dip in naphtha prices. Rising crude oil has since pulled naphtha back up. Asian demand is rising due to refinery production problems in the region, which is...

Prices rise in line with sellers' strategy: sound sales combined with tight availability in July helped push up prices. Sellers and producers had similar expectations for August, despite the possibility of a cyclical summer lull.(Plastics monitor)
August 2, 2004... Commodity plastic producers in Europe raised prices by up to 40 [euro]-50/tonne in July, as continuing healthy volume sales throughout the month supported sellers' price strategy. Supply and demand dynamics also contributed to sellers' ability...

EPS: the construction industry will spur on growth in central and eastern Europe, but new investment is sparse. Rationalisation is still needed, but unlikely to happen in the short term.(Product profile)
August 2, 2004... Uses Expandable polystyrene (EPS) is a rigid cellular form of polystyrene (PS) with good thermal insulation and shock absorbing properties, high compressive strength, very low weight and resistance to moisture. Uses include heat and sound...

Shippers forced to chew over taking pollution cover.(EU DIRECTIVE)(proposed to prevent chemical pollution)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Shipping companies are being urged to consider taking out extra insurance cover ahead of the European Union directive likely to come into force later this year that targets polluters. A draft of the proposed directive, which could make...

Univar signs exclusive deal.(with ExxonMobil Chemical Co.)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... ExxonMobil has chosen Univar as exclusive distributor for its range of packed white oils, process oils and waxes in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The agreement reflects recent moves by ExxonMobil to develop...

Bayer/Bertschi get connected.(ELEMICA DATA EXCHANGE)
August 2, 2004... Bayer MaterialScience is now electronically linked to the logistics company Bertschi by business-to-business (B2B) provider Elemica. Founded in February 2001 by 22 chemical companies, including Bayer, Elemica provides an Internet connection...

Ammonia contract.
August 2, 2004... Uhde of Dortmund, Germany, has won a 9m [euro] contract to build a new ammonia storage tank facility for Lithuanian company AB Achema. Completion of the 15 000 tonne capacity tank, to be built about 100km northwest of Vilnius, is scheduled for...

MSDS online.
August 2, 2004... MSDSOnline of Chicago, US, has upgraded its website to include a more powerful search engine, streamlined navigation and improved look and feel. The site hosts millions of indexed and searchable MSDS documents. Users can store documents in a...

A-200 reaches UK.
August 2, 2004... Lambda Advanced Technology is now offering the A-200 amino acid analyser from aminoNova to UK customers. The A-200 simplifies and speeds analysis by using the same column, eluent and buffer system for both physiological fluids and hydrolysates,...

DSM picks ECDA.
August 2, 2004... DSM has chosen the European Chemical Distributor Alliance (ECDA) as the preferred supplier for chemicals and raw materials purchased by DSM sites in Europe. The partnership will significantly reduce the number of distributors supplying these...

Piracy report.(report of International Maritime Bureau )(piracy attacks against chemical industry)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... In the first six months of 2004, the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based International Maritime Bureau reported 33 cases of piracy attacks on chemical tankers and cargo ships around the world. This was up from 28 in the first half of 2003. Overall,...

Innovation Awards 2004.(ECN awards for chemical industry)(Cover Story)
August 2, 2004... After 14 weeks of anticipation, we reveal the finalists for the ECN Innovation Award 2004. Launched in mid-April, and sponsored by Dow Corning, the award seeks to reward the best of innovation in the chemicals sector, Seven innovations...

Wanted: more chemists: attracting more students to study chemistry is imperative if the European chemical industry is to sustain future developments.(Campaign)(Industry Overview)
August 2, 2004... Scientific advances have made the way we live almost unrecognisable compared with previous generations. Even within generations, developments in materials and medicines are having a profound impact. But while modern technology is widespread,...

Smart moves pay: a chemicals company takes the lead and demonstrates how applying a clever blend of caution and commitment to its customer strategy helped turn Afrox's fortunes around.(Strategy)
August 2, 2004... Consider the BOC Group's subsidiary, Afrox. In the late 1990s Afrox's management faced a future of managed decline. The principal customers of its industrial gases--mines and heavy industry--were cutting spend. Competitors responded by dropping...

25 years ago: ECN 30 July 1979.(Soviet chemical and fertilizer industry)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The Soviet chemicals and fertilisers industry is still beset by serious problems and will not meet even its revised targets in several major sectors this year. On a month-to-month basis, production of plastics, fertilisers and man-made fibres...

DuPont/Air Products.(People on the move)
August 2, 2004... DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials, a 50:50 joint venture of DuPont Electronic Technologies and Air Products, has announced the creation of its new executive leadership team. The team will be responsible for setting the strategic direction of...

Elementis.(People on the move)
August 2, 2004... UK speciality chemicals group Elementis has appointed Keith Hopkins as a board director from 1 August. He will become non-executive chairman on 7 October. Hopkins is currently chairman of compatriot speciality tapes company Scapa and a...

National Starch.(People on the move)
August 2, 2004... National Starch Personal Care has appointed Joseph Gardner as senior research associate with responsibility for the R&D of new compounds and processes for personal care products. As senior research associate, Gardner will work in the early...

Refco.(People on the move)
August 2, 2004... London Metal Exchange (LME) ring trader Refco Overseas has announced the appointment of David Paul as global head of plastics. His appointment comes roughly ten months ahead of the planned introduction of a plastics futures market on the LME,...

Conferences.(Diary)
August 2, 2004... EPCA annual meeting 25-29 September Monaco Tel +32 2 741 8660 Fax +32 2 741 8680 E-mail meetings@epca.be Commercial applications for inherently conductive polymers 6-7 October Pennsylvania, US Tel +1 412 423 2030 ext 220 Fax +44 20...

Cognis gets award.
August 2, 2004... A range of surfactants produced by Cognis has been selected as the only nomination to go forward for the German Chemical Industry Association's (VCI) Deutscher Umweltpreis environmental award. Cognis said the surfactant Disponil AFX will help...

CIA/HSE initiative.(Chemical Industries Association and Health and Safety Executive's initiative)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The UK's Chemical Industries Association (CIA) and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) have launched an initiative to encourage CIA members to develop process safety performance measures. Additionally the HSE is looking to encourage members to...

A nod for security.(chemical security legislation)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has reiterated its support for chemical security legislation as the US Congress begins debating the Department of Homeland Security Authorisation Bill. The ACC says its members spent in excess of $800m...

UK/Hungary call for easier chemicals registration.(Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals legislation)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... The governments of Hungary and the UK have put forward a joint proposal to improve and simplify the 'one substance, one registration' component of the draft EU Reach legislation. The proposal calls for a phased approach to registration...

Minister puts Reach fears aside.(UK secretary of state Margaret Beckett)(Green Alliance's Environment Forum)(Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals )(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... UK secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs, Margaret Beckett, does not believe that the impending Reach chemicals legislation will be detrimental to the health of the UK chemical sector. Speaking at the Green...

French AFSSA questions GMOs.(FOOD STANDARDS REPORT)
August 2, 2004... France's food safety agency (L'Agence francaise de securite sanitaire des aliments--AFSSA) says it remains uncertain about both the risks and the benefits associated with GMOs following a study carried out on four types of GM plants. Two...

Codexis inks key deals with pharma majors.(US BIOSCIENCES)
August 2, 2004... US-based biosciences firm Codexis has signed key collaboration deals with US pharmaceutical major Pfizer and Swiss-based fine chemicals and biotech firm Lonza, as well as securing an equity investment of $10m from Pfizer. In the Pfizer...

Scavenger resin joins Avecia.(AVECIA CATALYST TECHNOLOGIES)
August 2, 2004... Avecia has added a new product to its range of pharmaceutical catalyst technologies. QuadraPure TU is a precious metal scavenging resin based on a macroporous resin bead with thiourea functionality. Avecia Research associate David Pears...

UK: modern chemistry facility.(Fine chemicals)
August 2, 2004... Prince Andrew the UK's Duke of York, has opened the Tripos Discovery Research Centre (TDRC) at Bude in Cornwall. He was acting in his capacity as UK Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. A past recipient of two...

Antisoma gains.
August 2, 2004... UK-based cancer drug development company Antisoma has gained exclusive rights over the drug BC1-IL12 and will now accelerate its development, following its purchase of EMD Lexigen's half stake in the programme. BC1-IL2, which will now be known...

Cambrex down.(company sales and earnings)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... US-based fine chemicals and biosciences firm Cambrex reported second quarter (Q2) 2004 income from continuing operations of $6.1m, down from $7.5m in the same period of 2003. Worldwide sales from continuing operations for Q2 2004 grew 5.7% to...

Cancer drugs.
August 2, 2004... The US government has proposed cutting reimbursements for cancer drugs and making other Medicare rate changes, putting additional pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to lower domestic prices. The Bush administration regulations would cut...

Urea firms team up.(UREA SCR ADBLUE)
August 2, 2004... Europe's urea suppliers, developers of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology, refiners and diesel vehicle producers are collaborating to accelerate the establishment of a urea-SCR infrastructure. At the same time, chemical and oil...

Anti-VOC advances.(PENTANE EMISSION REDUCTION)
August 2, 2004... Nova Chemicals' technology centre in the Netherlands and German firm Teubert Machinenbau are developing a process for expandable polystyrene production that reduces the use of pentane--a VOC--in its manufacture. Pentane is largely retained...

Nova plans pipeline.(CANADA PROPANE AND NGL)
August 2, 2004... Nova Chemicals is planning to build a Can$55m (34m [euro]/$42m) pipeline from Fort Saskatchewan to Joffre in Alberta, Canada, that will carry propane and natural gas liquids (NGLs) to feed ethylene production in Joffre. The pipeline is...

Hydrogen growth.(Air Products Canada to build a hydrogen plant)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Air Products Canada is to build a hydrogen plant in Sarnia, Ontario, to supply refineries owned by Suncor Energy and Shell Canada. The 80m f[t.sup.3]/day unit is expected to be onstream in May 2006 and will be located on land owned by Shell....

Uhde to build Helwan plant.(ammonia/ urea complex)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Germany's Uhde has been commissioned by Helwan Fertilizer to build an ammonia/ urea complex in Helwan, about 30km south of Cairo, Egypt. The complex will produce 396 000 tonne/year of ammonia and 635 250 tonne/year of urea at its start-up...

Constructus wins jv contract.(LITHUANIA POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE)
August 2, 2004... Austria's Petrochemical Holding and Lithuania's Nemuno Banga have awarded the construction contract for their joint-venture polyester project to Constructus, a leading Lithuanian contractor (ECN 29 March). The deal is worth Litas102m (129.5m...

Gail signs licence deal.(INDIA HIGH-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE)
August 2, 2004... Gail (India) has signed a technology licence agreement with Mitsui Chemicals for a second high-density polyethylene (hdPE) plant at its Pata petrochemical complex in Uttar Pradesh, India. The 100 000 tonne/year unit is scheduled for completion...

VOC control.
August 2, 2004... Crop-protection specialist Syngenta is investing in a new volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions control system developed by Air Products. CryoCondap ExStream will be used to recover VOCs from process gas streams to near 100% efficiency even...

Australian gases.(Air Liquide Australia installing air separation unit)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Air Liquide Australia will install a 70 tonne/day air separation unit at Comalco Aluminium's new refinery in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia. The plant will deliver oxygen and nitrogen under a 15-year contract to the Rio Tinto subsidiary. The...

Fluoropolymer hike.
August 2, 2004... Asahi Glass is to increase capacity for ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) copolymer at its Kashima plant in Japan. The Yen2bn (15m [euro]/$18m) investment, due onstream in August 2005, will hike output by 25%. ETFE is used in insulation for...

Vaccines booster.
August 2, 2004... Jacobs Engineering is expanding Chiron's vaccines production unit in Marburg, Germany. It will carry out engineering, procurement, construction management and validation of the project. The work follows a previous contract with Chiron in Italy....

Clean fuels in India.
August 2, 2004... UOP is to supply India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals with a PenexPlus unit with DIH column to enable its naphtha complex to produce premium high-octane isomerate for ultra-clean gasoline. michael.gordon@rbi.co.uk

New projects summary.
August 2, 2004... REPORTED IN ECN 28 JUNE AND 5 JULY 2004 Company Product Capacity Process Air Products Guangzhou, liquid atmospheric (x)264 000T -- China gases Borealis Ronningen,...

How to get ahead?--with advertising!(Comment)
August 9, 2004... The global chemical industry has been in the doldrums for a number of years, and the pinch has been felt particularly hard in North America, with escalating natural gas and oil prices. This week's special focus is on North America (pages 18...

Technology deal.
August 9, 2004... Engelhard of the US has bought The Collaborative Group, a high growth company that provides products and services to the personal care sector. No price was disclosed for the deal which will join Engelhard's surface and materials science...

Dow swaps EDS.
August 9, 2004... Dow Chemical has terminated its $1.4bn information technology outsourcing deal with EDS, halfway through the contract's seven-year term, and switched it to IBM instead. The contract includes the construction of a voice, data, and video network...

Halliburton pays.
August 9, 2004... Halliburton will pay a $7.5m charge to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, over accusations that the oil engineering firm changed its accounting methods in 1998 without telling anyone. The change made Halliburton's 1998 and 1999 income...