ECN-European Chemical News articles from February 2004

ECN-European Chemical News archives from February 2004

Grand French designs.(Comment)
February 2, 2004... A hostile bid in the pharma sector is a rarity. Which makes Sanofi-Synthelabo's 47bn [euro] move for its larger French compatriot Aventis something worth commenting on. Evidently the pressures in the sector are becoming intense. Delivery...

Clariant sheds jobs.
February 2, 2004... Clariant has shed around 500 of 1300 jobs at its Indian subsidiary, Colour-Chem in Thane as the company concentrates production at a single site in Roha. Around 60 new jobs will be created at the Roha site. The company makes colour chemicals...

British Vita sells.
February 2, 2004... British Vita has agreed to sell its remaining 18% stake in US speciality plastics company Spartech to institutional buyers. It will receive about $123m in cash from the deal, which it will use to fund selective organic and acquisitive growth...

Q4 special charges.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... PolyOne expects to take a $173m fourth quarter (Q4) charge on special items including restructuring, personnel reduction and discontinued operations. The charges related to three plant closures previously announced at Burlington, New Jersey;...

Dial future.
February 2, 2004... Henkel probably will not retain the food business it is acquiring with its $1.9bn takeover of US-based Dial, chairman Ulrich Lehner hinted in a German interview. The business, which Lehner said has no synergies with Henkers core activities,...

ExxonMobil excels.
February 2, 2004... Chemical division operating profits at ExxonMobil rose 73% to $1.4bn in 2003 on improved margins and favourable foreign exchange. Revenue from its chemical operations spiked 24% to $25.2bn. Chemicals generated 10% of group revenues. News...

Resilient US majors face record high energy costs.(US: RESULTS)
February 2, 2004... Record raw material and energy prices dampened signs of recovery for DuPont last year, but Dow Chemical improved through cost-cutting For the full year 2003, income at DuPont before cumulative effects of accounting changes was down to $1bn...

Lack of funding to hit growth.(chemical industries threat to face underinvestment )(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... European and US chemical industries face a medium- to long-term threat to growth from underinvestment in assets while capital expenditure flows to projects in Asia. David Thomas of Oxford Economic Forecasting gave the warning at the UK's...

Spolchemie slice up for grabs.(GOVERNMENT: PRIVATISATION)
February 2, 2004... The Czech Republic government has launched the sale of its 66% stake in chemical company Spolchemie after years of prolonged preparation. The stake is 54% held by Ceska Financni, a unit of state bailout agency Ceska Konsolidacni Agentura,...

Aventis' independence under threat.(PHARMACEUTICALS: CONSOLIDATION)(Cover Story)
February 2, 2004... Sanofi-Synthelabo last week made a 47bn [euro] cash and share hostile bid for its much larger rival Aventis. If successful, this will create Europe's second largest pharmaceutical business, and the world's number three. Sanofi said the...

A French-German venture.(AVENTIS: HISTORY)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Aventis was created from Hoechst and Rhone-Poulenc in 1999 after a year-long merger process. The French-German venture based at Strasbourg, 'a company with European roots and global reach', was the idea of Rhone-Poulenc chairman Jean-Rene...

Merger could be disastrous.(Sanofi-Synthelabo S.A., Aventis S.A., Confederation Francaise Democratique du Travail)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... French trade union CFDT said a 'lose-lose' situation for all could emerge from a Sanofi-Synthelabo/Aventis merger, especially if a 'white knight' stepped in and a battle ensued. CFDT spokesman Gilbert Piton argued that workers at both...

BASF gets Sunoco.
February 2, 2004... BASF has completed its purchase of Sunoco's phthalate plasticiser business paying $91m for assets, intellectual property and customer lists. The deal includes the transfer of Sunoco's plant in Pasadena, Texas, US, but does not include Sunoco's...

Major sells MDI.
February 2, 2004... US industrial gases giant Air Products has sold its methylene-diphenylene isocyanate (MDI) business for an undisclosed sum to ITWC, the US company that has been producing MDI for Air Products for eight years. As a result, the deal will not...

Record revenue.
February 2, 2004... German speciality chemical and pharmaceutical company Altana Chemic announced record sales of 2.73bn [euro] in 2003, up 5% on 2002, despite being negatively affected by the weaker dollar. Sales growth was stronger in the pharmaceutical division...

Narrowing losses.
February 2, 2004... UK biotechnology firm Vernalis has cut its core half-year operating loss by 33% over 2002 to 12.3m [euro] (17.8m [euro]/$22.5m), excluding acquisitions. The improved results were due to administrative cost savings and lower research and...

BOC says goodbye to US packaqed qas business.(US: AIRGAS)
February 2, 2004... BOC is selling its unprofitable US packaged gas business to US firm Airgas for up to $200m in cash. A non-binding letter of intent has been signed for the deal although the final selling price will only be agreed after assessing the...

Managem looks to serve niche markets.(MOROCCO: DIVERSIFICATION)
February 2, 2004... With the aim of diversifying away from its traditional commodity mining and minerals processing business, Moroccan company Managem is aiming, within the next five years, to generate 25-30% of its turnover from hydrometallurgic derivatives. ...

Petrom tender date extended.(ROMANIA: PRIVATISATION)
February 2, 2004... The Romanian government as extended again to early April the deadline for preliminary bids in the sale of one third stake in the country's main oil and chemicals group Petrom. Russian oil firm Lukoil is in talks with one of the bidders for...

Cargill set to merge unit with IMC.(AGROCHEMICALS: NEW COMPANY)
February 2, 2004... Creating a company controlling around 15% of global phosphate and potash capacity, privately held Cargill is to merge its crop nutrition unit with IMC Global. The deal will create a new, publicly traded company with annual sales of $4.1bn....

Rhodia 'to double' job losses.(FRANCE: COST-CUTTING)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... The level of job cuts at Rhodia could be 2150, more than double the number previously announced in its recovery plan, a report says. The analysis, commissioned by Rhodia's European works council and carried out by consultancy Secafi Alpha,...

Novartis ups Roche holding.(NOVARTIS: INVESTMENT)
February 2, 2004... Novartis has upped its stake in Roche to just below the one-third holding, which would trigger a mandatory, full takeover offer. The company raised its stake in Roche from 32.7% in 2002 to just below 33.3% at the end of last year. He added...

Majors lobby on natural gas drain.(NATURAL GAS: SHORTAGE)
February 2, 2004... Chief executives of major chemical and plastics companies have urged US President George Bush and Congressional leaders to address the shortage of affordable natural gas in the US. The American Chemistry Council last week released a letter...

MOL takes 98% slice of Slovnaft.(HUNGARY: SLOVNAFT)
February 2, 2004... MOL has taken a further step towards the full takeover of Slovnaft by boosting its stake in the company to 98.5% through the acquisition of an additional 28% in a public offering. The Hungarian company was offered slightly more than 5.8...

Cyclohexane-benzene delta rolls into 2004.(Q1: CONTRACTS)
February 2, 2004... The delta between cyclohexane and benzene has rolled over from quarter four (Q4) 2003 to quarter one at 98 [euro]/tonne based on a benzene contract price of 416 [euro]/tonne FD. Players, however, are still operating a two-tier system for...

EO market enters period of uncertainty and change.(EUROPE: ETHYLENE OXIDE)
February 2, 2004... European ethylene oxide (EO) prices are firming as unscheduled outages and maintenance turnarounds take their toll. Availability is increasingly an issue, due to a combination of cracker shutdowns and scheduled maintenance programmes. ...

Low-cost feedstock profits ME.(MIDDLE EAST: PETROCHEMICALS)
February 2, 2004... Phil Hunt, vice president of Nexant Chem Systems, told delegates at the World Refining Association's Oil Refining and Petrochemicals in the Middle East conference in Dubai last week that the golden rule of petroleum is 'he who has the oil moves...

'Bad timing' chips MMA.(Methyl methacrylate)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... MMA contract prices slipped in quarter one (Q1) as a result of 'bad timing', according to a seller, despite an increase in raw material values. Negotiations resulted in a range from a rollover of quarter four values to a decrease of 40 [euro]/...

Enlargement offers scope.(FERTILISERS: TRENDS)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... The enlargement of the European Union this year will have a major impact on the regional fertiliser business. According to a study compiled by Integer Research on EU enlargement, supply competition will increase as producers from the ten...

Tough times for caprolactam.(EUROPE: SUPPLY AND DEMAND)
February 2, 2004... With capacity growth at 2%/ year and demand at 2.4%, global caprolactam operating rates are set to improve from 92% in 2000 to 97% in 2010, according to Peter Driscoll of PCI Fibres and Raw Materials. In the medium term however, they are...

Styrene soars on healthy demand; a significant outage contributed to a surge in styrene spot activity with prices now at $830-840/tonne fob NWE. Benzene numbers also moved up on strong US prices.(Market trends)
February 2, 2004... European naphtha prices have fallen to $310-315/tonne cif NWE. Reduced demand from the petrochemical sector due to cracker outages has contributed to the downward shift in prices. Lower crude oil values have also added to the downward price...

Plastics prices gain momentum; price increases were achieved in most markets in January with producers pushing for firmer prices later in the month. Further price hikes are likely as higher feedstock costs put pressure on margins.(Plastics monitor)
February 2, 2004... European commodity plastic producers generally achieved price increases in January. Sellers admit that the month started slowly, due in part to the extended holiday period, with many players not getting back to their offices until 12 January....

Isophthalic acid: strong PET growth is the driving force for PIA. However, excess supply continues to undermine the health of the sector and will take some years to be absorbed.(Product profile)
February 2, 2004... Uses Purified isophthalic acid (PIA) is mainly used as an intermediate in the production of unsaturated polyester resins, followed by polyester and alkyd resins (mainly for surface coatings) and inks, reinforced plastics and packaging...

Vessels ordered.
February 2, 2004... Tsakos Energy Navigation of Athens, Greece, has ordered two double hull 1A ice-class tankers, with carrying capacity of 37 000 dwt each, from Hyundai Heavy Industries to be constructed at its Mipo shipyard in Korea. The vessels are designed to...

Maritime accord.
February 2, 2004... European Commission vice president Loyola de Palacio, responsible for energy and transport, and the recently appointed secretary general of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Efthimios Mitropoulus, met earlier this month to discuss...

Increased cranage.(at Port of Le Havre)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Two new gantry cranes have arrived at the port of Le Havre for installation at its Bougainville terminal. The units, delivered aboard Tern, owned by Dockwise of Breda, the Nethedands, were constructed by Fantuzzi-Reggiane in Italy. Each has a...

Share sale takes heat off debt-laden shipping firm.(NORWAY: STOLT-NIELSEN)
February 2, 2004... Stolt-Nielsen SA (SNSA) has made significant moves towards securing its long-term financial security, following the $104m sale of 7.7m common shares through a private placement to non-affiliated institutional investors. At the time, the...

IBS Logistics finds G-Log solution.(SUPPLY CHAIN: SOFTWARE)
February 2, 2004... Supply chain management specialist IBS Logistics has adopted G-Log global command and control centre (GC3) software for its services to and from China. The web-based system offers collaborative logistics solutions across all modes. The...

Precision on the TRA/X.(TRADE: SOLUTIONS)
February 2, 2004... Precision Software, provider of global parcel logistics and trade compliance solutions, has released TRA/X version 6. The enhanced software includes additional trade content in the data repository, additional screening lists for trade...

Rubber banding: consolidation of the global BR and SBR sector could create clear benefits in markets that are fragmented and suffering from overcapacity. Gunter Festel and Andreas Mader examine some possible scenarios and how the costs could be met.(Rubber)
February 2, 2004... The global butadiene rubber (BR) and styrene butadience rubber (SBR) industry is fragmented, with the largest producer accounting for just 10% of the market. Consolidation offers significant value creation potential. Worldwide rubber...

Conferences.(Diary)(Calendar)
February 2, 2004... Petrochemical industry--economics & technology 1-2 March Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel +1 603 2162 7322 Fax +1 603 2162 6393 Website www.cmtevents.com Iraq: focusing on the future 2-3 March Dubai, UAE Tel +44 20...

Crompton.(People on the move)
February 2, 2004... Speciality chemical producer Crompton has appointed former Dow Chemical executive Robert Wood to be its president and chief executive officer, replacing Vincent Calarco, who will remain as chairman until his retirement later this year. ...

Degussa.(People on the move)
February 2, 2004... Bernd Pfeiffer has taken over as president of Degussa's business unit Plexiglas. He has also been made a member of the management board of Rohm in Darmstadt, Germany. Pfeiffer was previously in charge of Degussa's advanced fillers and...

DuPont.(People on the move)
February 2, 2004... DuPont Sabanci Polyester Europe has appointed its vice president of integrated operations Wahid Tawfik as chief executive officer. Tawfik moved into the top position at the leading European polyester producer at the beginning of the year. ...

European Colour.(People on the move)
February 2, 2004... KPMG executive Mike Quayle has joined UK-headquartered speciality pigments producer European Colour as an executive director and finance director. Quayle's appointment marks a new role for the company, which has not had a finance director...

Sika.(People on the move)
February 2, 2004... Peter Krebser has been made chief of corporate operations at Sika--a role in which he will oversee production, logistics and purchasing at the Swiss construction chemicals and materials group. Krebser, who is presently director of global...

20 years ago: ECN 6 February 1984.(Diary)
February 2, 2004... West Germany's chemical industry association VCI is predicting 'real growth' of 2-3% in 1984. In the second half of 1983, the German chemical industry's recovery from the deep economic slump of 1980-82 was faster than that of German...

Syngenta on top: though the crop protection sector continues to be lacklustre, Syngenta remains stalwart with a steady supply of innovative product offerings. John Baker talks to chief executive officer Michael Pragnell about what has been achieved in the three years since Syngenta's creation.
February 2, 2004... The success of an acquisition or merger is by no means assured. Indeed, a large proportion in the chemicals sector fail to achieve their desired ends, especially in financial and cultural terms. Which is why Michael Pragnell, chief executive...

South Africa joins.(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development membership)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... South Africa will be the first non-member country to sign up to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) agreement covering mutual acceptance of data (Mad) in the assessment of chemicals when it takes part in the...

Pesticide rap.
February 2, 2004... Four producers of pesticides have been ordered by the Canadian authorities to change the way they promote their products in advertising. The ruling was made following a complaint by environmental group Earth Action. The companies involved are...

China signs up.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... China is the 48th country to sign up as a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development's regional network. China's Business Council for Sustainable Development is the result of a joint effort with the Chinese Enterprise...

Clear solvent label.
February 2, 2004... The European Solvents Industry Group has designed a solvent safety label with clear visual messages emphasising the 'do's and don'ts' of solvent handling, targeted at workers in small and medium-size enterprises. The label will be available in...

Farmer approval is crucial to success of GM wheat.(MONSANTO: ROUNDUP READY)
February 2, 2004... Monsanto said early last week that its genetically modified wheat seed should soon receive its first regulatory approvals from the US government. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is assessing the safety of Monsanto's Roundup Ready...

EC focuses on eco-technology.(ENVIRONMENTAL: ACTION PLAN)
February 2, 2004... The European Commission last week adopted an 'ambitious' action plan to improve the development and wider use of environmental technologies. The wide ranging proposals, covering the chemical industry and stretching to vehicle emissions, soil...

Germany faces recycling crisis.(PLASTIC: SHORTAGE)
February 2, 2004... German plastics recyclers are facing a material shortage--in particular of PET--thanks in part to the compulsory deposit imposed by the federal environment ministry on single-trip packaging last year. Under the revised system, consumers...

Cambrex: highs and lows.(CAMBREX: RESULTS)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... US fine chemical and life sciences firm Cambrex saw its 2003 income from continuing operations fall 83% to $7.2m after a loss from a unit sale and a legal settlement over pricing. For the year ended 31 December, the Rutherford, New...

Wacker signs Prokaria deal.(GERMANY: R&D)
February 2, 2004... German speciality chemicals group Wacker has signed a research and development (R&D) agreement for chiral alcohols with Icelandic biotechnology firm Prokaria. The deal builds on Wacker's 2003 chirals collaboration with Germany's Julich Fine...

JFC to build multiuse unit in Ningbo.(CHINA: INVESTMENT)(JFC Technologies )(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... New Jersey-based fine chemicals company JFC Technologies will construct a multipurpose pharmaceutical facility in Ningbo, 100km south of Shanghai, as part of a $2.3m investment in China. JFC's president and chief executive officer James...

UK: Lancaster Catalogue.(Fine chemicals)
February 2, 2004... A range of rare boronic molecules is included in more than 800 novel and difficult to source products added to the established range of 14 000 items in the new Lancaster Catalogue just published. This image shows a micrograph of the molecule...

Specialities fine.
February 2, 2004... UK speciality chemicals firm European Colour (Pigments) has been fined [pounds sterling]5000 ([euro]7230/$9170) with [pounds sterling]11 200 costs over information failures related to a potential fire incident. The firm pleaded guilty to...

Fatty alcohols.(Procter & Gamble Co. Chemicals Div. singed PT Domas Agrointi Prima)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Procter & Gamble Chemicals has signed a long-term agreement with PT Domas Agrointi Prima of the Indonesian Sawit Mas Group for the supply of fatty alcohol from PT DAP's new facility at Kuala Tanjung in Sumatra. The deal is valued at close to...

Kilo Lab.(ISP Fine Chemicals to invest in an expansion )(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... ISP Fine Chemicals of New Jersey, US, plans to invest in an expansion of its Kilo Lab capabilities. It will add a new low-temperature system to existing kilogram capabilities at its cGMP fine chemicals plant in Columbus, Ohio. The Low...

Microbials.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Dowpharma, a business unit of Dow Chemical, has launched its next generation of microbial expression technologies for the production of recombinant proteins. This new technology is built around specially designed strains of Pseudomonas...

Improved PP.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... ExxonMobil Chemical has extended its range of Achieve metallocene-catalysed polypropylenes, with the initial focus on non-wovens. The products represent 'the next leap forward in metallocene technology in that we've developed an additional...

Biomass plastic.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... NEC, of Tokyo, Japan, has developed a flame-resistant biomass-source polylactic acid plastic, which has passed standards allowing it to be used in electronics applications. The product uses no halogen and phosphorus in production and offers...

Flame resistance.
February 2, 2004... Great Lakes Chemical of Indianapolis in Indiana, US, has launched Firemaster BP411, a brominated polystyrene flame retardant additive for electrical components.

Bosch quenched.
February 2, 2004... Air Liquide has commissioned a comprehensive gas supply installation for Bosch at its diesel injection systems plant in Bari, Italy. The system allows Bosch to use high pressure nitrogen quenching for fast cooling of metal parts after heat...

Altair signs heavy mineral jv with Western Oil Sands.(US: TITANIUM DIOXIDE)
February 2, 2004... Altair Nanotechnologies of Reno, Nevada, US, has signed a technology licensing agreement with Western Oil Sands for the use of Altair's hydrochloride pigment process (AHPP) to extract heavy minerals from oil sands in Alberta, Canada, and...

University gets patent donation.(US: VINYL ACETATE)
February 2, 2004... The University of California, Davis, has been 'donated' a technology portfolio consisting of patents involving processes and the catalytic materials required for producing vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) by Air Products of LeHigh Valley,...

Coatings: Wearing your colours.(Technology)
February 2, 2004... Cabot of Leuven, Belgium, is launching two materials at the Middle East Coatings Show in Dubai, UAE, in March. Emperor carbon black pigment is a successor to Emperor 2000, a high jet pigment used in finishing the iconic London black cab. It...

TEC contract will use OCT technology.(JAPAN: PROPYLENE)
February 2, 2004... Toyo Engineering (TEC) has on a contract from Nippon Petrochemicals to expand propylene capacity using ABB Lummus' olefins conversion technology (OCT). The project will lift output at Kawasaki, Japan, from 300 000 tonne/year to 450 000...

Carmel cash boost to hike PP capacity.(ISRAEL: POLYMERS)
February 2, 2004... Carmel Olefins, jointly owned by Israel Petrochemical Enterprises (IPE) and Oil Refineries, is investing $232m to double capacity of its polypropylene plant. Production at Haifa, Israel is expected to rise from 200 000 tonne/year to 400 000-425...

Kvaerner signs 1m [euro] VCM plant deal with Finolex.(INDIA: VINYL CHLORIDE)(Aker Kvaerner ASA)
February 2, 2004... Aker Kvaerner has signed a contract with India's Finolex Industries for a new vinyl chloride (VCM) plant. The plant will be built at Finolex's complex in Ratnagiri on the west coast of Maharashtra. Aker Kvaerner is supplying basic...

NPC seeks olefins contractors.(IRAN: OLEFINS)
February 2, 2004... Iran's National Petrochemical (NPC) has invited interested contractors to bid for its llth olefins project. The complex at Assaluyeh consists of a 1.2m tonne/year ethylene cracker and downstream units of 300 000 tonne/year high density...

Saudi Arabia: EPC contracts.(New projects)
February 2, 2004... Saudi Arabia's first n-paraffin and linear alkyl benzene (LAB) project took a step forward last week as Gulf Farabi Petrochemical signed the technology and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts (ECN 21 October 2002). ...

Iraqi gas may be used to feed Equate III.(KUWAIT: DOW/PIC)
February 2, 2004... Kuwait's Equate Petrochemicals, a joint venture between Dow Chemical and Petrochemical Industries Co (PIC), has revealed plans for a $4m ethane maximisation project, along with plans for Equate III. Construction of the KD500m 1.3bn...

Geoplastics come to Linz.(Polyfelt Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Austria's Polyfelt, a wholly-owned subsidiary of OMV, is investing 11m [euro] in new geoplastics production at its site in Einz. An additional line with a capacity of 4000 tonne/year will be commissioned in the first quarter of 2005, taking...

BASF puts brakes on projects.(BRAZIL: CAPACITY)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... BASF has put two major projects on hold in Brazil as part of its global cost-cutting programme, chairman Jurgen Hambrecht told ECN last week. A partnership with Dow Chemical was under consideration for a $250m styrene monomer and ethyl...

SK Chemicals-Honeywell deal.(KOREA: HIGH PURITY SOLVENT TECHNOLOGY)(licensing agreements)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Honeywell Burdick & Jackson is to license its high-purity solvent technology to SK Chemicals in South Korea. The plant at Ulsan is in the very early stages of construction and production is expected to start in late 2004. SK Chemicals will...

Looking backward: looking forward: for NPC, life does not quietly begin at 40 but continues apace as it shows the vision to transform itself into a truly international company.(OVERVIEW)
February 2, 2004... Iran's National Petrochemical Company (NPC) has travelled a great distance since it was formed in 1964. But Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, the company's president and also Iran's deputy oil minister, stresses that the journey is far from complete...

Value added stacks up; NPC's objective is not just to build plant upon plant without adding value for customers. It is, however, keen to set up features for a national value added by incorporating sophisticated infrastructures and solid training.(INTERVIEW)
February 2, 2004... National Petrochemical Company's (NPC) objective is to create what its director of planning and development Mohammad Hassan Peyvandi describes as a 'national value added'. It would be far easier for the company to merely build...

Proud pat for Petzone: commitment and drive are the qualities that spur on the Petzone project, and investors may benefit yet further from the long-term drive to turn the area into an economic free zone.(BANDAR IMAM)
February 2, 2004... One cannot fail but be impressed by what is happening at the Petrochemical Special Economic Zone (Petzone) on Iran's western Persian Gulf coast. What is impressive is not just the scale of the site--for instance, all the numerous...

Mammoth proportions: when complete, the sheer magnitude of the Assaluyeh petrochemical projects, with their highly sophisticated infrastructure, is set to provide potential investors with a host of amenities.(ASSALUYEH)
February 2, 2004... The projects under execution at Assaluyeh, on Iran's Persian Gulf Coast directly across the water from Qatar, are almost mind-boggling in their scale and complexity. Assaluyeh is within the Pars Special Economic/Energy Zone. One foreign...

Makings of a masterclass: finding innovative solutions for graduates of a chemical industry masterclass can mean many things. The unleashing of the group's creative faculties is seemingly one of them. It's a far cry from petrochemicals, but it works.(RPC TRAINING)
February 2, 2004... I was asked after a three-hour visit to the Rahbaran Petrochemical Company (RPC) training centre whether I had been surprised to see such a place in Iran. I replied that I had not been surprised, given that I had already seen some of the other...