ECN-European Chemical News articles from November 2004

ECN-European Chemical News archives from November 2004

K's obsessions futures fears.(Comment)
November 1, 2004... Kunststoffe comes but once every three years and gives those involved in polymers a chance to take stock. Over the years, obsessions at the K meeting in Dusseldorf, Germany, have changed, although price and technology are two constant themes....

Giants' fusion appeases shareholders.(RESTRUCTURING: ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL)
November 1, 2004... Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch/Shell has bowed to intense shareholder pressure and announced plans to simplify its management structure and merge the two holding companies: Royal Dutch and Shell Transport and Trading. Executive...

Dow/DuPont swell.(US: MAJORS)
November 1, 2004... The US' two biggest chemical firms Dow Chemical and DuPont reported substantial earnings growth in the third quarter (Q3) despite a surge in feedstock and energy costs. Dow, which experienced an unprecedented $1.2bn escalation in feedstock...

BASF/Shell jv woos.(BASELL: BIDDERS)
November 1, 2004... The number of bidders for the BASF and Shell 50:50 polyolefins joint venture Basell has "far exceeded' expectations, Basell chief executive officer Volker Trautz told journalists at the plastics trade fair K 2004 in Dusseldorf, Germany. ...

Blackstone buys.(ACETEX: CELENESE)(Blackstone Capital Partners acquires Acetex Corp.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... In the week that Celanese Acetate said up to 1100 staff could lose their jobs, parent firm Blackstone Crystal Holdings Capital Partners (Cayman) is buying Canada's Acetex for Can$600m (385m [euro]/$492m). Blackstone plans to operate Acetex...

Hydrogen: filling station.(Business)
November 1, 2004... As Berlin, Germany, welcomes its first public hydrogen fuel filling station, Europe's largest chemical firm warns that the energy source does not come without environmental costs. Hermann Putter, BASF research fellow of electrochemical methods...

ICI forewarns price rises for profits.(PRE-TAX: EARNINGS)
November 1, 2004... ICI reported an 11% rise in third-quarter (Q3) pre-tax profits, but warned that further price rises were essential to offset higher raw material costs and meet full-year expectations. Pre-tax earnings (before exceptional items and goodwill...

Commission continues with US sanctions despite repeal.(TARIFFS: EXPORTS)
November 1, 2004... The European Commission will continue punitive tariff sanctions against US exports despite US action to revoke its Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC) tax benefit. As the current US law will stay in place until 1 January 2005, the 1%...

BASF reviews Germany staff.(EMPLOYMENT: CUTS)
November 1, 2004... BASF plans to slow the pace of future job cuts at its Ludwigshafen, Germany, site, according to press reports. BASF's human resources management and the central works council met last week to discuss how employment at Ludwigshafen may...

Huntsman to scrap 320 jobs.(EUROPE: SURFACTANTS)
November 1, 2004... US chemicals group Huntsman announced plans to restructure the European surfactants business and eliminate 320 of 900 jobs over the next nine to 15 months. The UK is suffering the biggest impact with at least 100 of the 200 UK posts set to...

MG appoints Oleas as boss.(GERMANY: PERSONNEL)(appointment of Jurg Oleas in MG Technologies AG)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The supervisory board of MG Technologies has appointed Swiss native Jurg Oleas, former ceo of subsidiary Dynamit Nobel, to replace Udo Stark. Stark was forced to step down, effective 31 October, after locking horns with MG's largest...

Liquid crystal growth in Q3.(MERCK: RESULTS)
November 1, 2004... Sales at Merck KGaA rose 8% to 464m [euro] in the third quarter (Q3) against Q3 2003, led by liquid crystals. Operating profit, at 89m [euro], was 7.8% higher. From January to September, overall chemicals turnover rose 15% to 1.44 bn...

DSM warns of slowdown.(PROFITS: FOURTH-QUARTER FORECAST)(DSM N.V.)
November 1, 2004... DSM reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter (Q3) profits, but warned of a sharp slowdown in the final quarter. Operating profits soared five-fold to 133m [euro] ($168m) compared with 1726m in Q3 of 2003, but DSM cautioned that Q4...

Wacker restructures.(GERMANY: EXPANSION)(Wacker-Chemie GmbH)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Germany's Wacker-Chemie is restructuring to concentrate on chemicals and 'new growth sectors' from 1 January 2005. The company believes that expansion will come in areas such as biotechnology, solar-grade polysilicon, fumed silica and...

South Africa probes Sasol cracker blast.(SECUNDA: INQUIRY)
November 1, 2004... South Africa has started its official investigation into last month's fatal blast at Sasol's Secunda ethylene cracker. It is being headed by the Department of Labour and includes trades union and Sasol representatives. It aims to discover...

Robust margins boost BP.(PROFITS: PETROCHEMICALS)
November 1, 2004... Higher margins allowed BP to shake off rapidly rising feedstock and energy costs and see a leap in petrochemical third-quarter earnings. Proforma replacement cost profits before interest and tax more than doubled to $188m in July to...

Yorkshire falls into receivership.(UK: DYES)(Yorkshire Group PLC)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Yorkshire Group, the struggling UK-headquartered speciality chemicals maker, went into receivership in mid-October Yorkshire, which makes and distributes dyes and auxiliary chemicals for the textiles industry, could see its Hunslet, Leeds,...

Oltchim nets profits in 2004.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Romanian pesticide and plastics manufacturer Oltchim Rimnicu Vilcea says it has made a net profit of Leu687.8bn (16.7m [euro]/$21.1m) for the first nine months of 2004, compared with losses of Leu173bn in the same period last year. ...

Asbestos jury ruling.(UNION CARBIDE: LAWSUIT)
November 1, 2004... Union Carbide defeated a $1.3bn asbestos lawsuit after a Texas, US, jury declared the firm not guilty of failing to disclose the dangers of asbestos in products it sold to US paint company Kelly-Moore Paint in the late 1960s and early 1970s....

Goods seized.
November 1, 2004... Counterfeit household chemical products, with an estimated value of $3m had they been genuine, were seized by officers from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The RIA-Novosti news agency was told by a ministry spokesman that more than 40...

Sniace wins appeal.(Sociedad Nacionale Industrias Aplicaciones Celulosa Espanola S.A.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... A Spanish fibres maker has won its appeal against an order to repay Pesetas 8bn (48m [euro]/$61m) it received in state aid in the 1990s. Sniace, which makes synthetic fibres, viscose fibres and sodium sulphate, had been ordered by the European...

Explosion fatalities.(Nitron-Erg)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Two people died during an explosion at a plastic materials factory in Poland. Korneliusz Duda, the president of the Nitron factory at Krupski Mlyn, told the PAP news agency the accident happened 'following a defect in the material during...

Pharma acquisition.
November 1, 2004... Ukraine's Kievmedpreparat has reportedly acquired Akrikhin, one of Russia's largest pharma plants for $40m. Retail sales in Russia from Akrikhin, which is 90% owned by Alfa-bank, in the first half of 2004 were around $22.9m. News editor...

MCAA prices feel effect of various forces.(MONOCHLOROACETIC: MARKET)
November 1, 2004... A combination of factors may force higher prices for monochloroacetic acid (MCAA). One producer told ECN: 'The supply/ demand balance has changed due to rationalisation in Europe. There are also fewer imports into Europe, higher feedstock...

Players assess fallout after spate of cracker outages.(OLEFINS: PRODUCTION)
November 1, 2004... European olefin producers are assessing the market impact of a spate of unscheduled cracker outages. The cracker production problems have seen ethylene spot prices soar to $1030-1070/ tonne cif NWE. Although it is unclear whether any new...

EO producers pass on costs.(ETHYLENE OXIDE: PRICES)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... European ethylene oxide (EO) producers managed to raise prices by 55-65 [euro]/tonne in October, after posting price hikes of 50-100 [euro]/tonne. Prices are now quoted in the range of 970-990 [euro]/tonne. Sellers say they have largely passed...

Vinamul tries rise.
November 1, 2004... Vinamul Polymers Europe, part of National Starch and Chemical, is attempting to hike prices by 70 [euro]/tonne for all vinyl acetate homopolymer and copolymer emulsions, vinyl acetate-ethylene emulsions and all acrylic emulsions. The emulsions...

Venture kicks off.
November 1, 2004... The 50:50 vinyl compounds joint venture Soligran between Solvay and the Nikos Group is now fully operational. Located in Tver, 170km north of Moscow, Russia, the plant is capable of producing 40 000-45 000 tonne/year of vinyl compounds. It...

PET price increase.
November 1, 2004... Equipolymers has announced a 120 [euro]/tonne increase for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to be implemented from 1 November. This is due to higher raw material costs and a tight supply/demand balance. Markets editor jane.gibson@rbi.co.uk

Eval in big league.
November 1, 2004... Eval Europe's Antwerp, Belgium, plant has become the largest ethylene vinyl-alcohol production site in the world following an 80m [euro] expansion that has boosted production to 24 000 tonne/ year. Expanded production began running in the...

Attempted hike.
November 1, 2004... Ticona is trying to hike the prices of its GUR ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene by 15% in Europe from the beginning of November. This is due to higher energy and logistics costs. Markets editor jane.gibson@rbi.co.uk

Supply/demand imbalance.(ETHANOLAMINES: DYNAMICS)
November 1, 2004... Strong demand for ethanolamines is pushing plant utilisation rates up and additional capacity will soon be required to keep up with consumption. 'Plants will need to run flat out for the rest of 2004 and 2005 in order to meet growing...

DSM mulls closure.(NETHERLANDS: PHENOL)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... DSM is taking advantage of the current turnaround at its phenol plant at Botlek in the Netherlands. It is to research the possibilities for sourcing phenol for its downstream fine chemical production at the site if it were to permanently close...

Polystyrene pricing switch.(PRODUCERS: CONTRACTS)
November 1, 2004... Certain polystyrene producers are looking to switch customers to 'proactive pricing' by discussing contracts at the beginning and not the end of the month. 'We are looking for something simple and to be able to influence the price,' one...

Cracker shutdowns cause hiccups: ethylene and propylene have both experienced tightening supply as cracker outages take their toll. Benzene remains strong, while surprise has been expressed at high mixed xylene prices.(Market trends)
November 1, 2004... Naphtha spot prices have risen to $465-470/tonne cif NWE, generally tracking developments in crude oil. Markets are described as slow with few physical deals reported. European supply is said to be plentiful. Ethylene spot prices have...

Plastics producers boost prices: polystyrene sellers raise their values, hdPE buyers' efforts to fight price hikes flounder towards the end of the month and force majeure at two ethylene units means the PVC market tightens.(Plastics monitor)
November 1, 2004... European commodity plastics producers successfully achieved price increases across a range of materials last month. Strong demand and tight availability supported industry sellers' capacity to raise prices by 50100 [euro]/tonne in October. PVC...

Supply chain innovations key to global strategy.(DOW CORNING: Smart Innovation series brought to you by Dow Corning)(Interview)
November 1, 2004... Innovations in many industries, as well as infrastructure requirements and economic development in emerging markets, are creating unprecedented demand for raw materials around the world. That's why it is now so crucial to have supply chain...

Ethanolamines: strong demand is pushing up plant utilisation and margins. New investment will be needed to keep pace with market growth.(Product profile)
November 1, 2004... Uses There are three main ethanolamines: monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA), which is available as two types depending on purity and colour--TEA85% and TEA99%. MENs major use is in ethylene amines and...

Sectors need to coordinate.(SECURITY: OPERATIONS)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The chemical industry's efforts to ensure the security of its logistics operations are commendable, but are of little value unless they are coordinated with work by other sectors, according to Paul Gooch of Dow Chemical and CDI Marine Packed....

Calls for logistics overhaul.(EPCA/CEFIC: SUPPLY CHAIN)
November 1, 2004... The European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) and Cefic have joined forces in calling for urgent and radical action by the European chemical industry to restructure its supply chains. This, it says, will help the sector resist the threat of...

Newbuild ships fall short of expectations.(MARITIME: SHIPOWNERS)
November 1, 2004... Pressures on charterers to reduce the age of ships involved in chemicals transportation are leading to the design and building of cheaper and less satisfactory vessels, maritime industry experts say. Although such newbuildings will...

Tight supply keeps firms on their toes.(CONTAINER: SHIPPERS)
November 1, 2004... Container shipping firms will need to move quickly to implement changes necessary to keep pace with tightening supply/demand generated by the rise in exports from Asia. A widening imbalance of trade fuelled by the growth in exports to the...

The formula for R&D success: over the past year, ECN has been campaigning for companies to 'innovate for growth', explaining how best to focus on innovation. If you haven't been persuaded yet, a recent survey may just convince you of our way of thinking.(Campaign)(Cover Story)
November 1, 2004... ECN began its campaign urging companies to 'innovate for growth' in March (ECN 15 March). Through the intervening months it has explored how producers should best focus on this important element in their growth agenda. We have explored issues...

A united front: if science is to take a more prominent role in the UK, the various sectors of the chemical industry need to show a united leadership. The formation of the Chemistry Leadership Council in 2003 means the industry now has this.(Campaign)(Cover Story)
November 1, 2004... The words 'coherent', 'joined-up' and 'strategy' have long been used in relation to what the industry of chemistry lacks. Disparate sectors, symbiotically linked but having no real idea about what each is doing or the effect they have on each...

Less is more: by slimming down its businesses and products, BASF's agricultural products division is already improving on last year's performance.(Agriculture)
November 1, 2004... Technology and innovation drive the agrochemical sector, but 'irrational fears' could jeopardise future success, warns Hans Reiners, president of BASF's agricultural products division. Speaking of the company's achievements so far this year,...

Conferences.(Calendar)
November 1, 2004... European fine chemicals 23-24 November Newcastle, UK Tel +44 20 8652 8718 Fax +44 20 8652 3482 E-mail sallie.edwards@rbi.co.uk Third European aromatics and derivative conference 23-24 November Antwerp, Belgium ...

Celanese.(People on the move)
November 1, 2004... German chemicals and plastics producer Celanese is restructuring its management board following the planned departure of chairman Claudio Sonder and chief financial officer Perry Premdas on 31 October. The board shake-up, a result of the...

GAC.(People on the move)
November 1, 2004... Global shipping and logisticscompany GAC has appointed Kenneth Bybjerg to head its fast growing logistics business in Singapore. As manager for GAC Logistics, Singapore, Bybjerg will focus on growing new and existing businesses. Prior to...

PKN Orlen.(People on the move)
November 1, 2004... Three members have been dropped from the management board of PKN Orlen in a further shake-up of senior executives following the appointment last month of new company president and chief executive officer Igor Chalupec. At the same time,...

25 years ago: ECN 29 October 1979.(Diary)(USA market of chemical industry)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Despite the information clampdown that has settled since last week's leak of the European chemical industry's plans to counteract the threat of cheap US chemical and fibres imports, more ideas of the main thrust of the strategy now being...

EC accepts plans.(European Commission)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The European Commission has accepted a further eight national allocation plans for C[O.sub.2] emission trading. Six have been accepted unconditionally, while the other two have been approved on condition that technical changes are made. The EU...

Kyoto for Russia.
November 1, 2004... Russia's Parliament has voted to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. The move will clear the way for the treaty on global climate change to become international law in early 2005. To date, 127 countries have ratified the treaty, which sets binding...

Brazil permits GM.
November 1, 2004... Brazil's president Luiz Lula has approved a controversial executive order allowing farmers to plant genetically modified soya beans. Environmentalists have contested the decision, fearing the GM seeds could harm the environment. The seed will...

EPA reschedules.
November 1, 2004... The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rescheduled the legal hearings proceedings concerning its complaint against DuPont. In July, it filed three counts against DuPont for failing to report information on the substantial risk to...

UK's Defra moves to ban bioaccumulative toxin.(PHASE OUT: PFOS)(perflurooctane sulphonate)(Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The UK government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said it is taking steps to ban the use of perflurooctane sulphonate (PFOS). Defra believes the move, which follows a 14-week consultation, may spur wider...

Germany faces European court over packaging rules.(RECYCLING: FREE TRADE BARRIERS)
November 1, 2004... The European Commission has decided to refer Germany to the European Court of Justice over its national deposit-and-return rules on one-way packaging. The Commission believes the way the deposit-and-return system functions in Germany...

Triclosan research extended.(UK: ANTI-BACTERIAL AGENT)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The UK's Environment Agency has asked manufacturers of the anti-bacterial agent triclosan to extend their research to look at whether the chemical might be having an effect on the environment and wildlife. Triclosan is used in a wide range...

Sigma-Aldrich reads profit.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Sigma-Aldrich has reported a 20% increase in third-quarter net income to $56.3m on an 8% boost in sales, with the firm crediting favourable currency rates for much of the rise. The firm is also grouping its fine chemicals business and two...

Croda clocks up 13% profits rise pre-tax.(UK: SPECIALITY CHEMICALS)(Croda Chemicals International Ltd.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... UK speciality chemicals company Croda has come in with a 13% rise in pre-tax profits for the first nine months of 2004. The company cited improved sales volumes across all business areas and in the personal care sector in particular for the...

Great Lakes fuses.(FLAME RETARDANTS: JOINT VENTURE)
November 1, 2004... Great Lakes Chemical is forming a joint venture with Japan's Teijin Chemicals to market brominated carbonate oligomer flame retardants for polybutylene terephthalate and polycarbonate resins used in electrical applications. The joint...

Union makes strides.(ASTEX/SCHERING: DRUG DISCOVERY)
November 1, 2004... Astex Technology, the fragment-based drug discovery and development company, said it has completed a significant goal in its multi-target drug discovery collaboration with Schering of Germany. The collaboration is a four-year,...

Catalyst prices.(Engelhard Corp.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Engelhard will seek to raise its prices for fine chemical catalysts by 10% from 1 January 2005 due to a rise in production costs and demand, the firm said. 'Despite Engelhard's productivity gains, these price increases are necessary due to...

Profit fall at Cytec.
November 1, 2004... Speciality chemicals manufacturer Cytec has reported a 12.6% decline in third quarter (Q3) profit to $19.3m, despite an 18% boost in sales to $443.5m. The firm cited special charges for settlement of price fixing allegations and a financial...

Antimicrobials.(AirQual uses antimicrobial technology)(DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... AirQual of the US has acquired silver-based antimicrobial technology for paints and coatings from DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise. AirQual will market the technology under its ACT brand to manufacturers of products like paints, coatings...

Micros sale.
November 1, 2004... Arch Chemicals has signed a deal to sell the majority of its microelectronic materials business to Fuji Photo Film for about $160m. The sale includes Arch's microelectronics manufacturing facilities and R&D units in North America, Europe and...

US GTL patent.
November 1, 2004... Rentech says it has been awarded its 18th US patent relating to its Fischer-Tropsch gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology. The patent covers production of both hydrogen and liquid hydrocarbons from feedstocks low in hydrogen. The method allows for...

Two coats in one.
November 1, 2004... BASF NOF Coatings, a joint venture between BASF Coatings and Japan's NOF Corporation is to deliver its one-coat, high-gloss metallic paint to Toyoda Gosei, a car-parts system supplying subsidiaries of Toyota Motor. BASF claims the paint is a...

GM approved.
November 1, 2004... The European Food Safety Authority has said that Monsanto's genetically modified maize NK603 is as safe as conventional maize and is now placing it on the market for processing and food or feed use. The safety assessment took into account the...

Student of the year.
November 1, 2004... A student from Sheffield University in the UK has won this year's BOC Science Engineering & Technology Student of the Year award. The prize recognises work carried out by Heledd Charles-Williams on the granulation of zinc oxide using borate...

Bimodal polyethylene to be made in single reactor.(RUSSIA: UNIVATION TECHNOLOGIES)
November 1, 2004... Univation Technologies has revealed its latest polymerisation catalyst family, which can produce bimodal polyethylene in a single reactor rather than the usual two, will be demonstrated commercially at a plant in Tatarstan, Russia. ...

SolVin rewards PVC innovation.(PLASTICS: AWARDS)(Klockner Pentaplast GmbH, Omnova Wallcovering)(Polyvinyl chloride)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Last week SolVin announced the winners of its 2004 SolVin Awards for PVC innovation. Having considered 108 projects from 14 countries the judges awarded seven prizes. The gold award, along with 50 000 [euro], was presented to France's...

Petrochemical 'incubator'.(CHINA: JOINT INVESTMENT)
November 1, 2004... The district government of Shanghai Jinshan in China, has established a local petrochemical 'incubator'. Called the Shanghai Jinshan Petrochemical Incubator, it is a joint investment between local organisations, and required a total investment...

Gemz in techno deal.(NANOTECHNOLOGY: FULLERENES)
November 1, 2004... Gemz, an International Nanotechnology subsidiary, has said it is in negotiations to acquire a nanotechnology based on Fullerenes. The technology focuses on using Fullerenes as a method of storing hydrogen to create better batteries or fuel...

Nova joins Phoenix project.(PEMEX: FEASIBILITY STUDY)
November 1, 2004... Nova Chemicals has been selected to partner Pemex in a feasibility study on the Phoenix project--a potential world-scale ethylene and polyethylene complex in Mexico (ECN 8 Aug). Pemex named the Canadian firm plus Grupo Idesa and Indelpro,...

Pemex invests in eight projects.(MEXICO: PETROCHEMICALS)
November 1, 2004... Pemex Petroquimica, Pemex's petrochemicals arm, is to construct a 652 000 tonne/year aromatics plant and expand paraxylene (PX) capacity in Cangrejera, Mexico. Pemex director general Raul Munoz Leos said the petrochemicals investments are...

Dynea to build resins plant.(THAILAND: INVESTMENT)
November 1, 2004... Finland's Dynea is planning to build a world-scale formaldehyde and resins plant in Hatyai, southern Thailand. Dynea said the plant would have an initial capacity of 60 000 tonne/year of adhesive resins, with provision to expand to 100 000...

SRF plans expansion.(INDIA: POLYMERS)(acquisition of SRF Polymers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... SRF is planning to set up a Rupee125.5m (2.21m [euro]/ $2.74m) polyester film (PF) metalising and slitting unit adjacent to its newly commissioned Rupee1.6bn 20 500 tonne/year greenfield PF plant at Indore, India. The company's board of...

Tata Chemicals set to finalise urea site.(INDIA: DUE DILIGENCE)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Tata Chemicals is expected to finalise proposals to build a 1m tonne/year urea plant in Bangladesh, India, within the next six months. The project is likely to be located in Chittagong at a cost of $500m, and will form part of the Tata...

Car parts plant.
November 1, 2004... Visteon is planning to invest 40m [euro] in a car parts plant in Nitra, Slovakia. The plant will make automotive interiors and climate-control systems when production begins in the spring of 2006. Visteon has plants in the Czech Republic (Novy...

Protection deal.(Shanghai Peiniger Corrosion Protection Engineering provides corrosion protection coating )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Shanghai Peiniger Corrosion Protection Engineering, a subsidiary of Germany's PeinigerRoRo, will supply corrosion protection for 11 petrochemical projects in Shanghai, China. Peiniger will provide corrosion protection coating for 130...

Fluor contract.
November 1, 2004... Cognis has chosen Fluor to provide plant engineering, procurement and small capital construction services at the company's site in Cincinnati, US. Over three years, Fluor will reduce the operating costs of the unit, which produces nearly 330...

KBR contract.
November 1, 2004... Fangyuan Chemical Industry' Development Company of the Tianji Group has awarded US engineering and construction firm KBR a contract to provide process technology and engineering for a 450 tonne/day aniline plant at Lucheng, Shanxi, China. Value...

Cyclics hunts for CBT site.(RESIN: CYCLIC BUTYLENE TEREPHTHALATE)
November 1, 2004... The Cyclics Corporation has begun searching for a world-scale site for its second cyclic butylene terephthalate (CBT) resin plant, primarily across North America and Europe. Key criteria in selecting a location include proximity to raw...

Technip wins three contracts.(ETHYLENE: CRACKER EXPANSION)
November 1, 2004... Technip has won two ethylene cracker contracts from PetroChina for an undisclosed value, along with a 21m [euro] contract from Enap Refinerias. The contracts cover engineering services for the detailed engineering and construction/...