ECN-European Chemical News articles from July 2004

ECN-European Chemical News archives from July 2004

Time to embrace social responsibility.(Comment)
July 5, 2004... Industry in Europe still has a love-hate relationship with corporate social responsibility (CSR). On the one hand it continues, albeit gradually, to embrace the concept as part of the sustainable development agenda; but on the other, it...

Chairman resigns.
July 5, 2004... Zbigniew Wrobel has resigned as chairman and chief executive officer of Poland's PKN Orlen because of 'recent media speculation and political controversy surrounding the company'. Orlen is currently being investigated by a parliamentary...

Additives sale.(ACI Capital and Lion Chemical Capital acquires additives business )(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... US plastics manufacturer PolyOne has agreed to sell its elastomers and performance additives business for $120m to a private investor group led by New York-based ACI Capital and Lion Chemical Capital. The business, which generated sales of...

'Golden goodbye'.(Bjorn Sjaastad resigns from Odfjell)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Bjorn Sjaastad has left his job as chief executive officer of Norwegian chemicals shipping firm Odfjell. Sjaastad, who has been on leave since last September, has just completed a four-month prison sentence in the US for operating an illegal...

Rhodia divests.
July 5, 2004... Rhodia has completed the disposal of its European speciality phosphates business to Thermphos International on 1 July. The same day it completed the sale of its R&D site at Aubervilliers near Paris to the property development company EMG.

Animal health buy.
July 5, 2004... DuPont has acquired the animal health business of US-based disinfectant manufacturer BioSentry for an undisclosed sum.

Eastman restores salaries.(US: PAY RISE)
July 5, 2004... Eastman Chemical is to give all of its 15 000 employees worldwide a 3% pay rise, restoring the pay cut made last year, a company spokesman has confirmed. The US-based company cut all of its employees' pay by 3% in March 2003, promising...

Atofina reinvests, closing site.(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... French chemicals company Atofina has announced it will close its Dutch acrylic sheet site at Leeuwarden, Netherlands, with the loss of all 135 jobs and concentrate production at Carling-Saint Avold in France where it plans to invest in new...

German production picks up.(chemical )(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... After a disappointing first quarter, when output fell 0.6% against the strong 2003 first quarter, German chemical production picked up in the second quarter (Q2), with figures for the first half of 2004 being 0.5% ahead of the 2003 first half,...

Syngenta invests in US seed giant ...(CROP PROTECTION: ACQUISITION)
July 5, 2004... Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta has agreed to acquire a 90% stake in leading US seed company Golden Harvest for $180m. Golden Harvest, which last year had sales of $167m, has a 4% share of the US market for corn seeds and 3% of the...

Lanxess looks hard to cut costs.(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Bayer's new chemicals company Lanxess will have to cut back hard to be competitive, chief executive designate Axel Heitmann warned last week on the first day the company began trading as an independent entity. 'It is still important to...

Lurgi completes merger move.(MG TECHNOLOGIES: RESTRUCTURE)
July 5, 2004... MG Technologies has completed the restructuring of its Lurgi plant engineering subsidiaries. Lurgi Oel Gas Chemie and Lurgi Life Science have both been merged into their former holding company Lurgi AG, while Lurgi Shared Services and...

Wacker-Chemie sells subsidiary.(Wacker-Chemie GmbH. Wacker Ceramics Div. acquired by Ceradyne Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Wacker-Chemie is to sell its 100% subsidiary ESK Ceramics for an undisclosed sum to long-term customer California-based Ceradyne. Carved out of Wacker in 2003, ESK Ceramics has annual sales of 74.3bn [euro] with advanced, technical,...

... Decides to end UK R&D in favour of US.(BIOTECHNOLOGY: RESEARCH)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Syngenta is to close its remaining plant biotechnology research and development (R&D) activities at its Jealott's Hill site in the UK, with the loss of 130 jobs. The Swiss agrochemicals giant will, in future, focus work on genetically...

Drug divestment.
July 5, 2004... Sanofi-Synthelabo has agreed to sell the Aventis interests in cancer treatment Campto (irinotecan) to US drugs giant Pfizer for $620m. The Campto divestment was requested by the competition authorities as part of Sanofi-Synthelabo's takeover of...

Forecast up.
July 5, 2004... Monsanto is increasing its earnings estimate for the company's fiscal third quarter to 90 cent/share based on a strong US agricultural season. The increased estimate is up from the firm's previous guidance of 70 cent/share. The company reported...

Fines issued.
July 5, 2004... A NKr20m (2.4m [euro]/$2.9m) penalty notice has been issued to the Norwegian energy and petrochemicals company Statoil from Norway's anti-corruption authorities over alleged 'illegal trading in influence' in Iran. The National Authority for...

Yukos to appeal.
July 5, 2004... Russian oil company Yukos says it will appeal against a ruling by a Moscow court last Tuesday to uphold a $3.4bn tax claim against the company. Yukos reiterated its warning that the claim, which relates to back taxes from 2000, plus penalties...

BP appointments.
July 5, 2004... BP's board has appointed AstraZeneca chief executive officer (ceo) Tom McKillop as a non-executive director, while Iain Conn, most recently ceo of BP's petrochemicals segment, has been made an executive director.

BASF ups selling prices as costs are passed on.(GERMANY: CONFERENCE)
July 5, 2004... BASF sees good chances to increase selling prices for its products this year, chief financial officer Kurt Bock said at a BW Bank-sponsored investor's conference in Frankfurt last week. Bock said the chemical group's customers realise that...

$21m lost to economic crime.(CHEMICALS: SURVEY)
July 5, 2004... Chemical company executives estimate the industry has lost nearly $21m to economic crime over the past two years. And, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey * of executives from 115 chemical companies in 37 countries, the total...

Yara reshuffles top managers.(NORWAY: FERTILISERS)(Terje Bakken and Jon Reutz)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Yara, the recent fertiliser spin-off from Norwegian energy group Norsk Hydro, is reshuffling several key management positions in a bid to boost performance. Terje Bakken, currently head of ammonia trade and shipping, will become head of...

Akzo Nobel to slash jobs.(Akzo Nobel N.V.)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Akzo Nobel has announced plans to cut 600 full-time jobs under a major restructuring of its car refinishes business. The Dutch chemicals, coatings and healthcare group said the cuts will take place over the next two years, with most being...

UK surfactants site set to close.(AKZO NOBEL: DECLINING PROFITS)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Akzo Nobel's Littleborough surfactants facility is to cease production in September. The site, located near Manchester, UK, employs 54 full-time Akzo Nobel employees and 14 personnel employed by contractors. All are expected to lose their...

Borealis merges management.(SCANDINAVIA: RESTRUCTURE)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Danish polyolefins producer Borealis last week launched a cost-savings and restructuring exercise across its Norwegian and Swedish plants, begining with a merger of the two sites' management teams. The move, aimed at improving the company's...

Paint dealer acquired by Akzo Nobel.(GERMANY: ACQUISITION)
July 5, 2004... Akzo Nobel has extended its presence in the German paint market with the acquisition of Timpe & Mock, the country's second largest decorative paint wholesaler. Timpe & Mock supplies Germany's professional trade and paint sector as well as...

EC approves Dow-PIC jvs.(PET/PTA: MEG/DEG)(joint venture)(Dow Chemical and Petrochemical Industries Co )
July 5, 2004... The European Commission (EC) has approved formation of two 50:50 joint ventures for polyethylene terephthalate/ purified teraphthalic acid (PET/ PTA) and monoethylene glycol/ diethylene glycol (MEG/DEG) by US firm Dow Chemical and Petrochemical...

MMA demand taking off in US.(METHYL METHACRYLATE)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... US methyl methacrylate (MMA) suppliers are posting increases of 10-12 cent/lb from 1 July in a bid to keep up with rising raw material costs. Second quarter contracts for medium-sized buyers are quoted in a range of 73-77.5 cent/lb for...

'No surprise' at PX drop.(PARAXYLENE: JULY CONTRACT)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... European paraxylene (PX) producers say they 'are not surprised' that July's contract price has dropped $5/tonne to $630/tonne, although there is still some uncertainty as to whether all players are on board. With the PX market remaining...

Methanol price sparks debate among players.(Q3: AGREEMENT)
July 5, 2004... The third quarter (Q3) methanol contract has been confirmed at 230 [euro]/tonne fob NWE, an increase of 30 [euro]/tonne over the previous quarter. The initial agreement came in the first half of June. However, some producers did not agree to...

EO sellers seek more increases.(EUROPE: ETHYLENE OXIDE)
July 5, 2004... European ethylene oxide (EO) producers are keen to pass on the recent increase in the quarter three (Q3) ethylene contract price to their customers. Ethylene has risen by 28 [euro]/tonne, in Q3 to 635 [euro]/tonne (see page 12). EO sellers say...

BASF ups price.
July 5, 2004... BASF has announced a global 10% price increase for its acid chlorides, chloroformates and related specialities from 1 July. The hike is a result of unsatisfactory margins and rising costs. Markets editor jane.gibson@rbi.co.uk

Rubber costs rise.
July 5, 2004... Dow Europe plans to raise the price of its synthetic rubber products by 150 [euro]/tonne from the start of July. Higher demand as well as volatile feedstock and energy costs have led to the increase. Markets editor jane.gibson@rbi.co.uk

Highs and lows.(chlorine production)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... West European chlorine production reached a ten-year high of 853 253 tonne in May, an 8% increase on April and also on May 2003. Caustic soda stocks fell 5.3% compared with April, dropping to 307 609 tonne as a result of improved demand. This...

Titanium dioxide.
July 5, 2004... Kerr-McGee Chemical has announced a $150/tonne price increase on its Tronox titanium dioxide pigments sold in Latin America from 1 July. There will also be an increase of $100/tonne on all grades in Asia-Pacific. Markets editor...

Acetic increase.
July 5, 2004... Celanese has announced an increase of 75 [euro]/tonne for acetic acid and acetic anhydride in Europe for its off-list selling prices, with $90/tonne targeted in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. US hikes are set at 4 cent/lb for both. ...

Kuraray seeks hike.
July 5, 2004... Kuraray Specialties Europe is seeking an increase of 150 [euro]/tonne for Mowiol and Kuraray-POVAL polyvinyl alcohol and also for Exceval from the beginning of July. The increases are needed as a result of rising feedstock costs including vinyl...

Olefins settle early for Q3.(CONTRACTS: ETHYLENE PROPYLENE BUTADIENE)
July 5, 2004... The European olefins market as caught by surprise by the swift settlement of quarter three (Q3) ethylene, propylene and butadiene contracts. Players note that the initial agreements were reached before the new quarter had begun, which offers...

MTBE prices are 'more realistic'.(EUROPE: PRICING)
July 5, 2004... The volatile European methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) market is starting to stabilise, with producers saying prices are finally becoming 'more realistic'. MTBE spot business is reported at $430-440/tonne, down $30/tonne on last week's...

Benzene slides on back of crude: benzene values have dropped in the last week due to a quiet market and weakening crude oil and naphtha prices, Styrene and MTBE prices have also fallen, although demand is still healthy.(Market trends)
July 5, 2004... Naphtha prices have fallen to $336-338/tonne cif NWE; the lack of an arbitrage to the US or Asia has contributed to the downward pressure on prices. Increased availability of north African product has also helped push price ideas lower, as has...

Producers carry out price push: plastic producers edged up June prices down the chain and are seeking even higher prices in July. The hikes are supported by a tightness in the market and escalating feedstock costs.(Plastics monitor)
July 5, 2004... European plastic producers successfully achieved higher prices in June. Sellers are largely disappointed with the level of the increases and polymer suppliers say higher oil and feedstock costs justified larger increases. They have vowed to...

Bulk chemical prices.(Market trends)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
July 5, 2004... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] EUROPEAN Q2 2003-Q3 2004 QUARTERLY AND MONTHLY CONTRACTS, [euro]/TONNE Ethylene Propylene Butadiene Benzene Toluene Q2 2003 575 530 590 525 368...

Hydrogen peroxide: new capacity will be needed to meet growing demand. But poor profitability means that investment will be restricted to low-cost debottleneckings rather than new plants.(Product profile)
July 5, 2004... Uses Hydrogen peroxide ([H.sub.2][O.sub.2]) is a powerful oxidant and its largest volume use is in pulp and paper bleaching. Another major application is in the manufacture of sodium per-carbonate for detergents. High purity...

Port agrees Maasvlakte 2.(ROTTERDAM: EXPANSION)
July 5, 2004... Funding for the construction of Maasvlakte 2, the planned expansion of the Port of Rotterdam, has been agreed between the Dutch State, the municipality of Rotterdam and the Port of Rotterdam. The expansion will cost 2.575bn [euro], with the...

Solvent safety scheme piloted.(ESIG: UNIVAR)(European Solvents Industry Group and Univar Europe colaborate to deliver solvent safety information )(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... The European Solvents Industry Group (Esig) and distributor Univar are collaborating in a pilot scheme to deliver solvent safety information to users in Belgium, France, Italy and the UK. The initiative is part of Esig's Responsible...

Simon picked to store biofuel.(UK: BIODIESEL)
July 5, 2004... Biofuels has placed a 30-year contract for the storage and handling of biodiesel at Seal Sands Terminal, Teesside, UK, with Simon Storage. Once the biofuels plant is in full production, Simon Storage will handle up to 250 000 tonne/ year of...

Le havre: loading power.(Logistics & Distribution)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... The first of three over-panamax gantries is unloaded from Dock Express 10 at the north terminal in the port of Le Havre, France. The gantries were supplied by Italy's Fantuzzi-Reggiane; two were supplied to Europe Atlantique Terminal (EAT) and...

SBR supply deal.
July 5, 2004... ISP Elastomers has entered a distribution agreement with Ravago Group company Resin Express, to distribute its hot emulsion styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) polymers throughout Europe. ISP's SBR range includes cold emulsion, hot emulsion, high...

China service.(Odfjell and Garson Group agreement on tank terminal construction)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Odfjell and Garson Group have jointly agreed to build a tank terminal in Jiangyin, China. The facility will be located on the south bank of the Yangtze river, around 12 hours by ship from the river mouth. An 80 000[m.sup.a] storage facility...

French expansion.
July 5, 2004... Distrupol has agreed to undertake the management and operation of the facilities and staff of Sabic-owned polymer distributor Aime Vistalli in France. According to David Jukes, Distrupol chief executive officer, the agreement will 'virtually...

S[O.sub.2] emissions.(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... The EU Environment Council has agreed to reduce ships' S[O.sub.2] emissions by over 500 000 tonne/year from 2007. Marine fuel currently has a maximum sulphur content of 5%; this will reduce to 1.5% for all vessels in the Baltic and North Seas...

Assessing the risks: the use of biomonitoring to detect levels of chemicals in the human body is about to proliferate and, at the same time, larger numbers of chemicals are being examined for their health risks. Julia Hatcher and William Rawson look at the effects this biomonitoring increase will have on the chemical industry.(Biomonitoring)(Cover Story)
July 5, 2004... Increased attention has been given recently to the detection of commercial chemicals in the human body. In the US, federal and state governments are making significant investments in biomonitoring programmes designed to assess the body burden...

25 years ago: ECN 2 July 1979.(Diary)
July 5, 2004... Enzyme technology has made massive strides in the last five years, according to M D Lilly of University College, London, UK. In 1973 there were virtually no examples of commercial use, but since then the number of products manufactured has...

Biofuels.(People on the move)
July 5, 2004... John Moseley has joined the UK biodiesel and glycerine producer Biofuels as project director and will be involved in the building of Europe's largest biodiesel plant in Teesside, northeast UK. Moseley was recently project director of a...

Dow Corning.(People on the move)
July 5, 2004... Dow Corning has named Thierry Materne global technology and business development manager for the company's new surface and interface solutions centre (SISC) in Seneffe, Belgium. Materne will help develop innovative technologies and...

DuPont.(People on the move)
July 5, 2004... A former deputy administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency has become vice president and chief sustainability officer at DuPont. Linda Fisher will have responsibility for DuPont's environmental and health programmes and product...

Royal Dutch/Shell.(People on the move)
July 5, 2004... Royal Dutch/Shell has appointed Peter Voser as chief financial officer (cfo). Voser, who is currently cfo of Swiss-headquartered engineering group ABB, will join Shell on 4 October where he will also act as group managing director. He will...

Sartomer.(People on the move)
July 5, 2004... Speciality chemicals manufacturer Sartomer has promoted Thierry Razat to business manager, hydrocarbon resins. Razat will oversee sales and marketing activities for Sartomer's Norsolene hydrocarbon resins in North and Latin America.

Total.(People on the move)
July 5, 2004... Atofina's vice president of industrial safety Jean-Marc Jaubert has been appointed senior vice president of industrial safety at Total and will join the group's management committee. He succeeds Pierre Guyonnet, who has been appointed chairman...

Conferences.(Diary)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
July 5, 2004... Polymers in aggressive and corrosive environments 8-9 September Cologne, Germany Tel +44 1939 252435 Fax +44 1939 252416 E-mail gpritchard@hallow. freeserve.co.uk Polypropylene 2004 13-15 September Zurich,...

Call for innovative future.(Bayer AG research investments )(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Bayer's ceo Werner Wenning has expressed concern and disappointment over 'certain political developments at European level' that have impacted the chemical sector. While stressing Bayer was not against reasonable regulations, he said the...

Industry can help in terror fight.(US: SECURITY SUMMIT)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... The chemical industry can have a positive effect on the 'struggle to contain and eliminate terrorism', according to Keith Martin, director of Pennsylvania's Office of Homeland Security. Speaking at the second annual Chemical Security...

Public concern.(EUROPE: CHEMICALS)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... According to a study conducted by global research firm IPSOS on behalf of the WWF, 83% of Europeans are concerned about the build-up of chemicals on both human and animal health. The study revealed that of 6082 Europeans interviewed, 31%...

GM import fails vote.(EUROPE: MAIZE)(Genetically modified maize)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... The Environment Council of Ministers has failed to reach a qualified majority vote to approve genetically modified maize (NK603) for import, feed use and industrial processing in the EU. The maize in question, produced by Monsanto, has been...

July landfill ban.
July 5, 2004... The UK's Environment Agency is reminding businesses involved in the chemical sector that the practice of disposing both hazardous and non-hazardous waste in landfill sites will be banned from 16 July this year. In addition, hazardous waste will...

Public image up.
July 5, 2004... According to a report published by the opinion research agency Mori, the public image and reputation of the UK's chemical industry has improved by two percentage points. The Mori report, commissioned by the UK's Chemical Industries Association...

Emission initiative.(fluorocarbons produces environmental initiative)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Producers of fluorocarbons are committing more than $300 000 to help fund the Mobile Air Conditioning Climate Protection Partnership, which is seeking to reduce dramatically greenhouse gas emissions from automotive air conditioning systems. The...

Development deal.
July 5, 2004... Ultrafine, the Manchester, UK-based pharmaceutical development services subsidiary of Sigma-Aldrich, has signed a deal with Pharmagene, whereby Ultrafine will provide development chemistry services for Pharmagene's R1 and R4 programmes for the...

Electrolytes.
July 5, 2004... Honeywell has launched an Electrolyte Systems range of electrolytes and electrolyte solvents for use in super-capacitors. These ultra-high-purity products are part of the Honeywell Chemicals' portfolio and build on the firm's experience of...

Research tie-up.(Amaethon enters into a research agreement with Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Amaethon, the UK-based technology commercialisation business formed out of York University, has formed a multi-year relationship with The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, a plant biology and agricultural research centre based in Oklahoma, US....

Global health sector tough.(PHARMACEUTICALS: FINE CHEMICALS)
July 5, 2004... A new report says pharmaceutical companies will have to strive harder to juggle the conflicting demands they encounter in the global health sciences market successfully, although prospects for the fine chemicals industry will brighten as...

EC funds research.(ANTIBIOTICS: DEVELOPMENT)
July 5, 2004... Swiss firm Basilea Pharmaceutica is to receive funding as part of a European Commission (EC) scheme to develop novel antibiotics through combinatorial biosynthesis. Basilea is a member of the Combigyrase consortium, which was formed under...

Sigma aids screening.(PEPTIDES: SYNTHESIS)
July 5, 2004... Sigma-Genosys, a division of Sigma-Aldrich of the US, has developed a proprietary, high-throughput, custom peptide-synthesis platform. The PEPscreen technology allows high-throughput synthesis of custom peptide libraries (six to 20 amino...

Crucell finds Sars antibody, reveals Lancet.(RESEARCH: SARS PROTECTION)
July 5, 2004... Dutch biotechnology company Crucell claims to have discovered an antibody that protects against the Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) infection, which last year caused havoc across much of Asia. The 26 June issue of The Lancet...

UK backs innovation of organic materials polymers.(UK: TECHNOLOGY CENTRE)
July 5, 2004... The Organic Materials Innovation Centre (OMIC) was officially launched during the last week of June. The centre, located in Manchester, is one of five state-sponsored university innovation centres in the UK, and the only one involved in...

Packaging to include inbuilt sun protection.(SWITZERLAND: CIBA)
July 5, 2004... Swiss company Ciba Specialty Chemicals will soon be launching a new UV-filter for packaging. The next generation product in the Shelfplus range, Shelfplus UV4100, was developed to help meet the increasing demand for transparent packaging. ...

Bayer debuts new technology centre.(GERMANY: POLYCARBONATE FILMS)
July 5, 2004... Bayer MaterialScience has established a technical service centre for polycarbonate films at its site in Leverkusen, Germany. The centre, which was opened last month, allows the polycarbonates business unit to study application engineering...

BASF links to China.(CHINA: TEST LABORATORY)
July 5, 2004... BASF and the Chinese Research Academy for Environmental Science (Craes) have signed a joint agreement to build an engine test laboratory in Beijing, China. The laboratory will house a dynamometer, which will test the quality of Chinese...

UK biotech boost.
July 5, 2004... UK's Oxford Chemicals (OCL) has established its second R&D partnership with the University of Durham to develop biotechnological solutions to enhance its presence in the natural products flavours and fragrances market. Funding from the UK's...

Aromatics jv.
July 5, 2004... Texas Aromatics and GTC Technology have announced plans to establish a joint venture to pursue aromatics recovery investments in the US. According to Texas Aromatics the venture will only pursue opportunities to upgrade fully hydrotreated...

Colour coordinated.(ColorWorks design and technology centre)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Clariant Masterbatches has opened its latest ColorWorks design and technology centre in Holden, Massachusetts, US. The design centre offers customers specialised services for a range of polymer-based consumer goods. Clariant added that this...

Styrene unit for Al-Jubail.(SAUDI ARABIA: INVESTMENT)
July 5, 2004... Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) and Saudi Industrial Investment Group (SIIG) have obtained approval for a $1.2bn project to construct an integrated styrene facility and expand an adjacent aromatics plant at Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia. ...

CB&I wins plant orders.(US: HYDROGEN)(hydrogen plant construction contract)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... ConocoPhillips has selected CB&I to provide technology, engineering and fabrication services for four hydrogen plants at refineries in the US. At a cost of $110m the hydrogen plants will be built at refineries in Billings, Montana; Bayway,...

Debottlenecking to hike [H.sub.2][O.sub.2] output.(SWEDEN: HYDROGEN PEROXIDE)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Kemira has plans to increase the capacity of its hydrogen peroxide plant in Helsingborg, Sweden, through a debottlenecking programme. The expansion will be completed by the year-end and, when added to a smaller improvement carried out this...