ECN-European Chemical News articles from March 2004

ECN-European Chemical News archives from March 2004

Total greater than the sum of parts.(Comment)
March 1, 2004... Total's move to carve out a substantial art of its chemicals business and do away with Atofina is a logical step along a path of restructuring being followed by the western oil majors. But Total is taking a strikingly different approach by...

Letter to the editor.(Comment)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... Sir, I read with interest the article by Will Beacham regarding trade associations (26 January). The findings are not only true in the chemicals sector, but in our own, lubricants. We have a similar situation with a multiplicity of...

BASF buys.
March 1, 2004... BASF has agreed to acquire the Munster, Germany-based foil coatings business of German wood coatings company Treffert. In a separate transaction, Treffert has agreed to acquire BASF's fibre board coatings business in Spain and Italy. Financial...

Hungary sells slice.
March 1, 2004... Hungary's state privatisation agency APV will sell 492 000 shares in Mol in a public offering between 1-5 March. The sale price of Mol shares has been set at Forint6500 (about 24.9 [euro]/$31.3) each. Domestic retail investors will be allowed...

Pay award.
March 1, 2004... AstraZeneca's chief executive officer Tom McKillop received a 21% increase to 1.79m [pounds sterling] (2.6m [euro]/$3.3m) in total pay and benefits last year. After McKillop, the other two top earners in the board of directors last year were...

Paints agreement.
March 1, 2004... UK paints company HMG and US paint company IVC hope to generate a turnover in excess of 2m [pounds sterling] (2.9m [euro]/ $3.7m) by selling speciality coatings to the teletronics market under a cooperative agreement signed last week. IVC will...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2004... In our article 'Small is beautiful' published on 16 February, we said Moroccan mining firm Managem produces a zinc oxide nanoparticle measuring 2500nm when in fact the firm makes a particle less than 250nm. We also stated that cobalt output had...

Rhodia managers disclose more refinancing hurdles.(6-K SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION)
March 1, 2004... Rhodia must achieve 400m [euro] in gains from its divestment programme by 30 June--half in cash--to satisfy its creditor banks, according to its latest 6-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Rhodia launched the...

Shell to partner for Unipetrol?(CZECH REPUBLIC KMG/SHELL)
March 1, 2004... Shell has invited KazMunai-Gaz (KMG), the Kazakh national oil and gas company, to inspect confidential data on Unipetrol, the Czech oil and petrochemical company in which a 63% stake is being privatised, sources say. One source close to...

DuPont on track for savings.(PRODUCTIVITY TRENDS)
March 1, 2004... DuPont is 'on track' to achieve productivity and cost-savings of $900m by 2005, the company's top official said last week. Charles Holliday, DuPont chairman and chief executive officer, told industry analysts and investors at the Morgan...

Clariant to slash 15% of workforce.
March 1, 2004... Clariant announced last week that it plans to cut 4000 jobs over the next two years as part of a global restructuring programme aimed at boosting operating profits by around SF700m-900m (443m [euro]-570m/ $558m-717m) a year. The cuts,...

Aventis files second appeal.(FRANCE BID DEFENCE)
March 1, 2004... Aventis has lodged a second appeal against the approval by French stock market regulator, Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF), of rival Sanofi-Synthe1abo's hostile takeover bid. The AMF has agreed to prevent the Sanofi bid from closing...

Coatings jv to start up.(KOREA JOINT VENTURE)
March 1, 2004... Samsung Fine Chemicals (SFC) and SigmaKalon have put their South Korean coatings operations together into a joint-venture company. The joint venture is 40% owned by SFC and 60% by SigmaKalon, through one of its affiliates. The firm will be...

CEE rate will rocket.(Central and Eastern Europe, polymers consumption)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Consumption of polymers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is expected to grow as much as twice the rate in western Europe thanks to European Union expansion this May, faster growing economies and a concentration of the automotive industry in...

Acetex mulls future of films.(CANADA FILMS)
March 1, 2004... Canadian chemicals firm Acetex is assessing the future of its films division with officials saying it could either expand or divest the business. Acetex top executive Brooke Wade told analysts that the films business 'needs to change to...

Sale denied.
March 1, 2004... BP denied it has plans to divest its stake in China's Zhenhai Refining & Chemical following a news report which indicated that a sale to domestic investors would be of interest. There has also been market speculation that BP would sell its...

High losses.(SPOLANA a.s.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Spolana, the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) unit of Czech oil group Unipetrol, reported a more than fivefold increase in losses to Koruna2.6bn (81.4m [euro]/$103.1 m) last year from a Koruna491.0m deficit in 2002. The bulk of the losses was caused by...

Croda put back.
March 1, 2004... Tough markets and the weak dollar held back UK speciality chemical firm Croda's pre-tax earnings to a 1.6% improvement at 38.5m [pounds sterling] (57.3m [euro]/ $72m) from continuing activities in 2003. Revenues were steady at 285.3m [pounds...

Chinese food.
March 1, 2004... Danish food ingredients producer Danisco said it is growing at around 40% a year in China. Chief executive officer Alf Duch-Pedersen made the comment while giving a tour of Danisco's site in Kunshan to the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh...

ABB divestment.
March 1, 2004... The European Commission has approved the sale of ABB's upstream oil, gas and petrochemicals business to an Anglo-American private equity consortium. The ABB activities bought by the group include US-based Vetco Gray and Norway-based ABB...

Pharma dive causes more job losses at Akzo Nobel.(CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS RESTRUCTURE)
March 1, 2004... Akzo Nobel plans to eliminate 350 jobs at its pharmaceuticals intermediates business Diosynth and close the Mexico City production site this year as part of a major global restructuring. The group says the cutbacks, which will involve job...

Noveon proposes $345m IPO.(US INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING)
March 1, 2004... Noveon--the former chemicals unit of BF Goodrich--plans an initial public offering (IPO) worth $345m but cannot estimate a time frame for the sale. US-based Noveon was created in 2001 when the PMD investment group acquired the business...

Fertiberia ends production.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Spanish fertiliser producer Fertiberia has ended production at its loss-making Seville and Cartagena factories in south and eastern Spain and dismissed 100 workers, 8% of its staff. Gregorio Falero, a Fertiberia representative with major...

Total's speciality arm gives hedge for petchem cycles.(FRANCE PORTFOLIO)
March 1, 2004... Keeping Total's remaining speciality chemicals portfolio within the group will provide a balance against the more cyclical petrochemicals portfolio, it said last week. Total's decision to dissolve Atofina and hive off its chloro-chemicals,...

Huntsman man to get sale on its way.(US POLYURETHANE)
March 1, 2004... Huntsman Group has named company veteran Tony Hankins as the man who will help Jon Huntsman divest his interest in the company for his charitable foundation. In a statement released last week as Hankins was made president of the group's...

Syngenta boosts corn portfolio in US.(US AGROCHEMICALS)
March 1, 2004... Strengthening its presence in the US corn belt, Syngenta has acquired corn breeding products from CHS Research and entered into a new breeding collaboration with the US firm. Syngenta said it has bought corn germplasm, including breeding...

Big pharma silent on Roche courtship.(OVER-THE-COUNTER DIVESTMENT)
March 1, 2004... Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will neither confirm nor deny reports they are preparing bids for Roche's SF1.6bn (1bn [euro]/$1.3bn) sales over-the-counter (OTC) business, put up for sale in February, or other strategic changes. While a...

Dark horse in talks for bid.(SWEDEN PERGO)
March 1, 2004... Pergo is in talks with an unknown partner which could lead to a bid for the approximately SKr2.8bn (305m [euro]/ $383m) turnover Swedish laminate flooring group. In a statement, Pergo said it had been contacted by an investor who had...

BP closure may 'balance market'.(IPA: PLANT SHUTDOWN)
March 1, 2004... Players on the isopropanol (IPA) market are speculating on what effects the closure of BP's 90 000 tonne/year plant at Baglan Bay in the UK will have on the market (ECN 23 February). The plant will close on 31 March 2004 as small scale capacity...

GAA margins have eroded.(glacial acrylic acid )
March 1, 2004... Acrylic acid producers are preparing to battle for a quarter two (Q2) price hike after enduring three successive quarters in which their margins have been eroded by increased feedstock costs. Last summer, glacial acrylic acid (GAA) was...

Ammonia continues to slide.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Ammonia suppliers are still lowering their prices. Yuzhnyy offers at the end of February began to move closer to the expected $200/ tonne fob, $20/tonne down on the previous week and some $70/tonne down on the peak of three weeks earlier. ...

Styrene tumbles in long market; styrene prices fell amid plentiful supply, while olefins prices were stable in a quiet market. Asian demand in Taiwan and Thailand spurred on naphtha prices to $318-321/tonne cif NWE.(Market trends)
March 1, 2004... Naphtha climbed again to $318-321/tonne cif NWE. Numbers held up mainly on stable crude futures prices and healthy Asian activity in Taiwan and Thailand. Nevertheless, some feel that Asian demand is waning slightly. The ethylene spot...

Players push for further hikes; balanced markets allow plastic producers to look for further price increases to restore margins which were not recovered in January and February.(Plastics monitor)
March 1, 2004... European commodity plastics prices continued to rise in February. Industry sellers had targeted increases of 50 [euro]-120/tonne for last month. Values rose by 40 [euro]-80/tonne across a range of products. Plastic producers complain that...

Isopropanol: plant closures herald a new dawn for the European market. However, competitiveness remains key to survival with prices and margins still needing a boost.(Industry Overview)
March 1, 2004... Uses Isopropanol (IPA), also known as isopropyl alcohol, is a solvent used in many industrial and consumer products, and as an extractant. Outlets include cosmetics and personal care products, de-icers, paints and resins, pharmaceuticals,...

G-Log meets demand for web-based solution.(E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.)
March 1, 2004... After spending most of the 1990s developing its own logistics management function, DuPont is now a significant way towards replacing what became a legacy system with a web-based solution. The company spends $1.6bn annually on transportation and...

Netherlands no changing trains at Venlo.(Railion)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Railion has asked the Netherlands government to reconsider the granting of a ban to the City of Venlo to prevent rail operators changing train locomotives within its boundaries. Several other Dutch companies have supported Railion's request to...

TPU distribution.
March 1, 2004... Distrupol has been appointed sole distributor for Elastollan thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) in the UK and Ireland. Elastollan is manufactured by BASF subsidiary Elastogran. Meanwhile Distrupol continues to develop on the Iberian Peninsula...

Cyro outsources.
March 1, 2004... Degussa and Cytec Industries' acrylic and acrylic-based product joint venture Cyro Industries has outsourced all of its US logistics functions to Odyssey Logistics & Technology. Cyro aims to reduce transportation costs, improve asset...

Progress at FTA.(Freight Transport Association )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The UK Freight Transport Association (FTA) claims to have made significant progress for its members in negotiating the new carriage of dangerous goods regulations. The FTA believes that this will help to reduce the cost and administrative...

Aniline the builder: aniline is the simplest of the primary aromatic amines and has a wide range of end uses, Carl Haas of Nexant Chem Systems explores the available process technology.
March 1, 2004... Since the development of the first commercial process for aniline almost 150 years ago, the chemical has become one of the 100 most important building blocks in chemistry. It is used primarily (75-85% depending on world region) in the...

Stranded gas options: in stranded gas regions the proportion of natural gas going into feedstocks is much higher than average. It can be used to produce GTLs, ammonia or methanol and hence a range of materials. Latest technology has added olefins to the list.(Process technology: natural gas)(Cover Story)
March 1, 2004... Stranded natural gas reserves are much in the news as new technologies are being developed to exploit them. The bulk of natural gas used today goes directly into power generation (32%), residential and commercial heating (27%) and industrial...

Hey, big spenders: increasing demand for polyester textiles is triggering growth in the market for PTA. As a result, UK centrifuge maker Broadbent has orders worth more than 12m [pounds sterling].(Process technology: natural gas)
March 1, 2004... With increasing Far East demand for pure terephthalic acid (PTA), several projects in excess of 500 000 tonne/year are now going ahead, including plants in northern India; Hengshen, China; and Thailand. To help meet the demand for this...

Conferences.(Diary)(Calendar)
March 1, 2004... 29th Annual world petrochemical review 23-25 March Houston, US Tel +1 281 878 7299 E-mail conferences@dewittworld.com 3rd International fresenius conference--detergergents & cleaning products 24-25 March Cologne, Germany Tel +49 231 75 89...

Air products.(Air Products and Chemicals Inc. appoints Paul Huck )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Paul Huck has been elected vice president and chief financial officer at US industrial gases group Air Products. Huck will be responsible for all aspects of the worldwide financial organisation of the group reporting to chairman and chief...

Clariant.(Hubert Bader appointed)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Hubert Bader is to head Clariant Custom Synthesis, the custom synthesis business unit of Clariant's life sciences and electronic chemicals division, which serves industrial and agrochemical customers. Bader has filled a wide range of...

Honeywell.(People on the move)
March 1, 2004... Honeywell is strengthening its chemicals customer support for blowing agents in Europe with additional technical support. Sadkia Walraedt has joined as technical service manager for the European foam segment and Mario Maccarrone will serve as...

Huntsman.(People on the move)
March 1, 2004... Huntsman has named two new division presidents. Tony Hankins is to be president of Huntsman Polyurethanes, succeeding Patrick Thomas who led the business unit for over seven years. Hankins joined Huntsman in 1999, with its acquisition of four...

20 years ago: ECN 5 March 1984.(Imperial Chemical Industries PLC)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... 'Improving, but could do better.' That is how ICI chairman John Harvey1 Jones describes the group's results for 1983. It is, perhaps, a little over modest for a company which has more than doubled its pre-tax profits to around 619m [pounds...

New recruits.(Quality control inspectors for classified installations)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A modernisation plan for the inspection of classified installations in France, already tightened after the 2001 AZF explosion at Toulouse, will increase the number of inspectors by 400 from 2004 to 2007, bringing their number to 1419. This is...

EU notifies WTO.
March 1, 2004... The European Commission has formally notified its Reach (registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals) regulation to the World Trade Organisation ONTO). The notification was made in the context of the WTO agreement on technical...

A bid to be host.
March 1, 2004... The German government is bidding for Bonn to host the secretariat for the United Nations Rotterdam Convention on the prior informed consent procedure for international trade in chemicals which has now entered into force. ...

EPA reassesses.
March 1, 2004... The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to reassess methylene chloride under the Integrated Risk System, an EPA database that contains the EPA's scientific consensus positions on human health effects from exposure to chemical substances...

Waste guidelines.
March 1, 2004... Several plastics industry associations and the ACCR, an association of more than 70 European cities and regions, have published a set of guidelines on the management of plastics waste for local and regional authorities.

Majors face fire over fipronil.(BASF Agro, Bayer CropScience AG under investigation)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... BASF Agro and Bayer CropScience France and their president Emmanuel Butstraen and general manager Franck Garnier respectively have been formally summoned in an investigation over the fipronil pesticide Regent by a French court. The pesticide is...

EU launches emission register.(European Environment Agency)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The first Europe-wide register of industrial emissions into air and water has been launched by the European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA). The European Pollutant Emission Register includes all medium and large...

Long-awaited green directive firms up.(European Commission )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Agreement has been reached on the European Commission's long-awaited Environmental Liability Directive in conciliation with the Parliament and Council. Welcoming the agreement, environment commissioner Margot Wallstrom said: 'I am...

Reach review date penned.(European Union)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The European Parliament's first reading of the Reach (registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals) proposal will not be completed until after the parliament's elections in June. A Conference of Presidents meeting last month...

NovImmune pact.(LONZA MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES)
March 1, 2004... Geneva, Switzerland-based NovImmune has chosen Lonza to manufacture clinical-grade monoclonal antibody drugs, right up to commercial supply scale. An agreement between the two firms gives Lonza access to NovImmune's whole pipeline, including...

GTC restructures.(GTC Biotherapeutics Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... GTC Biotherapeutics of Framingham, Massachusetts, US, is restructuring with the loss of 32 jobs, around 20% of its workforce. The company will take a $950 000 charge against its finances in quarter one this year. At the same time it is...

Amersham takes on China with NMP.(RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS VENTURE)
March 1, 2004... Diagnostics and life science specialist Amersham is to enter the Chinese radiopharmaceuticals market through a joint venture with its Japanese affiliate Nihon-Medi Physics (NMP). Two Chinese partners, China Xinxing and Shanghai Nuclear...

Uhdenora signs bleach deal in US.(Powell Fabrication)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Uhdenora of Milan, Italy, and Powell Fabrication and Manufacturing of St Louis, Michigan, US, have reached agreement on a deal to make Uhdenora's sodium hypochlorite production technology available in the US. It is anticipated that the plants...

Dow has more Insite.(ADVANCED COPOLYMERS)
March 1, 2004... Dow Chemical has combined new catalysts with its proprietary Insite technology to produce a range of speciality propylene-ethylene copolymers. The molecular structure of Versify plastomers and elastomers differentiates them from typical...

Paint guzzles toxins.(Millennium Chemicals Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A Paint, which is claimed to absorb nitrogen oxide gases, has been launched by Millennium Chemicals. Ecopaint contains nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and calcium carbonate in a silicon-based polymer. The titanium dioxide nano-particles...

Robust growth forecast for nanoporous materials.(Freedonia Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Demand for nanoporous materials in the US is set to grow by 4%/year to $1.9bn in 2007, down from 5% for 1997-2002, according to a report, Nanoporous Materials', from Freedonia Group of Cleveland, Ohio, US. The materials offer the ability to...

Nanotech sets up EP barrier.(KOREA ENGINEERING PLASTICS)
March 1, 2004... The application of nanotechology has contributed to the development of a high barrier engineering plastics (EP) material by LG Chem of Korea. Hyperier offers high barrier performance with solvents, water and gas and has applications in food,...

PlantWeb proves its worth.(ITALY VINAVIL)
March 1, 2004... Italian adhesives manufacturer Vinavil says it made a 15% saving in costs following the installation of Emerson Process Management's PlantWeb digital plant architecture. Savings have been made in project costs, streamlined maintenance...

Self-initiating resin.
March 1, 2004... Ashland Specialty Chemical of Dublin, Ohio, US, has introduced a range of self-initiating resins which utilises energy-curable acrylic resin chemistry. Unlike conventional UV-cured resins, when FlexCure is exposed to typical commercial UV...

GM row settled.
March 1, 2004... Syngenta and Monsanto have reached an agreement to resolve the patent interference proceeding in the US Patent and Trademark Office involving transgenic broad leaf crops. Under the agreement the companies will provide each other with...

Leather colours.
March 1, 2004... Bayer Chemicals has launched an expanded range of Euderm colours for aqueous leather finishes.

Light R&D contract.
March 1, 2004... Konarka Technologies of Lowell, Massachusetts, US, has been awarded a contract worth over $6m by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for basic research into new materials for hybrid photovoltaic cells, Konarka will lead a...

Big plans for NPC olefins.(THAILAND EXPANSION)
March 1, 2004... Thailand's National Petrochemical Company (NPC) is planning to boost its olefins capacity to over 1m tonne/year by 2006. The company plans to spend about $400m over the next three years to raise ethylene output and add a polyethylene (PE) plant...

Cabot builds to meet demand.(BRAZIL CARBON BLACK)
March 1, 2004... Cabot Brasil, a subsidiary of the US's Cabot Corporation, has revealed plans to build a state-of-the-art carbon black unit in Maua Sao Paulo, Brazil. When completed this will be the third carbon black unit Cabot has in Maua, boosting the site...

Sinopec chooses BP for acetic acid build in Nanjing.(CHINA JOINT VENTURE)
March 1, 2004... Sinopec has chosen BP over Celanese to jointly develop a $120m acetic acid plant in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. The 500 000 tonne/year plant will be built on the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park and be run 50:50 by BP and the Sinopec...

Caltex strives for improvement.(AUSTRALIA REFINERY UPGRADES)
March 1, 2004... Caltex of Australia has revealed plans to invest Aus$295m (182.3m [euro]/$229.2m) in upgrading its Kurnell, New South Wales, and Lytton, Queensand, refineries by 2006. The cost of the project, which will begin in October and end early in...

Gail plans two major complexes.(Gas Authority of India Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Gail India is to set two new petrochemical complexes in Assam and Kerala, India. Detailed feasibility studies are currently being prepared. Both Dhuliajan and Shivsagar are being considered as sites in Assam, while Kochi was chosen in...

BASF/Toray partnership to produce PBT in Malaysia.(ASIA JOINT VENTURE)
March 1, 2004... BASF and Toray have formed a 50:50 joint venture to build a $40m polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) plant in Malaysia. BASF announced it was in negotiations with potential investors last year towards building a PBT production plant on the...

Repsol builds LNG first in West Mexico.(PACIFIC COAST TERMINAL)
March 1, 2004... Repsol YPF will build the first liquified natural gas terminal in West Mexico, with an initial capacity of 4bn [m.sup.2]/ year. The $350m plant in Port Lazaro Cardenas, which will go onstream in 2008, will have a revamp potential of up to...

Fortron kicks off study for PPS plant.(EUROPE/US POLYPHENYLENE SULPHIDE)
March 1, 2004... Fortron Industries has begun work on the feasibility and conceptual design of a polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) plant. No further details were revealed about the cost or location of the plant, but Fortron has previously said it wanted a new...

Technip scoops Total contract.(TOTAL America Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Total has awarded Technip a 260m [euro] turnkey engineering, procurement and construction contract to increase the conversion capacity of its refinery in Normandy, France. The work includes the installation of a 2.4m tonne/year distillate...

Piping gas.
March 1, 2004... Gail (India) has invited bids for the supply of pipes for the Rs14.16bn (249m [euro]/ $313m) Dahej-Uran pipeline project. Gall is introducing the concept of 'bi-directional flow', allowing gas to flow either from north to south, by connecting...

Aromatics bids.
March 1, 2004... Nine contractors have applied to Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Corporation (PIC) for an engineering, procurement and construction contract for a petrochemical plant in Shuaiba (ECN 20 May 2002), according to a report in Middle East Economic...

Tech park for UK.
March 1, 2004... Wates Construction will build a new technology centre for Infineum, the global additives and lubricants company. Work will begin immediately on the facility in Milton Hill, Oxfordshire, UK, and complete in July 2005. The development includes...

SCIP crackers.
March 1, 2004... The Shanghai Chemical Industry Park is expected to submit shortly a proposal to the authorities of Shanghai for a 10m tonne/year refinery and 1m tonne/year cracker complex. Preliminary talks are ongoing with potential investors. Sinopec and...

Can the law courts rule on science?(herbicide paraquat usage is authorised by European Commission)
March 8, 2004... The European Commission's decision in December to authorise the use of the herbicide paraquat in all EU member states has created a storm of protest from environmental groups. It is a protest that has been joined by member states that have...