Chemical Business Newsbase articles from February 2009

Chemical Business Newsbase archives from February 2009

Struggling GE cuts quarterly dividend.
February 28, 2009... For the first time since the Great Depression of the 1930s, General Electric Co is cutting its quarterly dividend, a move that allows the struggling conglomerate to save $9 bn/y as it braces for a tough 2009. GE, one of the largest US...

Apotex, Intas extend collaborative development.
February 28, 2009... Canada based Apotex Inc (Apotex) has signed a collaborative agreement with Intas Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (IBPL) to co-develop pegylated granulocyte colony stimulating factor (Peg GCSF), a biosimilar version of pegfilgrastim. Pegfilgrastim is a...

Syngene to expand integrated drug discovery offerings.
February 28, 2009... Syngene International (Syngene) in partnership with Sapient Discovery will provide fully integrated drug discovery services to many companies. The integrated chemistry, biology and biologics services help in the growth of many developmental...

Virtus carry research on aging process.
February 28, 2009... Virtus Technoinnovation Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, India, is working on gene repair therapy. The company is presently developing a technique to reduce the rate of aging process in human beings. The research is carried out in the field of biomimicry...

TCL researches on nanotech-based products.
February 28, 2009... Tata Chemicals Ltd is researching on nanotech-based products and processes. The company is developing delivery systems using nanotechnology.

Velbionanotech develops bionanochip.
February 28, 2009... Velbionanotech develops a bionanochip that helps in targeting and curing nephrolithiasis and controls the release mechanism of nanomedicine. The company has spent nearly $10 M for nanobiotechnology. The company is presently working on...

Nanobiosym will put up nanotech park in India.
February 28, 2009... Nanobiosym Inc is putting up a first Nanotech park in Ahmedabad, India, in collaboration with Gujarat state. The company has developed a nanotechnology-based diagnostics platform called GeneRADAR. Global investment for nanotechnology is $13.5...

Nanobiotech products may be slower than expected.
February 28, 2009... The nanotechnology market is emerging in India and world and Indian government has owed a budget of Rup 1000 crore/y for nanotechnology. Around $3 bn is funded for nanotechnology globally and market for nanotech industry may reach $1 trillion...

Yashraj- Now looking for diagnostic kits manufacturing space.
February 28, 2009... Yashraj Biotechnology Ltd (YBL) produces and supplies diagnostic antigens that are native, cell-derived and antibodies to kit manufacturers and distributors. Presently, the company is producing antigens of native human origin and the...

Sanofi Pasteur's Intanza recommended in the EU.
February 28, 2009... Sanofi Pasteur's first intradermal microinjection (ID) flu vaccine, Intanza or Idflu has got a green signal from Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of Europe. In the wake of this positive response, CHMP has given its...

Hikal 3Q net sales up by 53%.
February 28, 2009... Hikal Ltd (Hikal) recorded net sales of Rup 130.9 crore for the 3Q ended 31 Dec 2008 (+53% jump over Rup 85.8 crore for 3Q ended 31 Dec 2007). Hikal posted crop protection sales of Rup 65.3 crore for 3Q 2008 (+67% rise over Rup 39.1 crore in...

Intas acquires Kolkata based company.
February 28, 2009... Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd (IPL) has reported the acquisition of the Kolkata, India based Dolphin Laboratories, which was declared sick and had been recommended by the Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) for rehabilitation.

Gujarat Biotechnology - the next big frontier.
February 28, 2009... The biotechnology industry is showing a tremendous growth in the state of Gujarat, India. Currently, Gujarat comprises around 50 companies, which has reported total earnings of about $195 M/y$245 M/y in biotech sector. The State Government of...

Budding biotech enterprises in Gujarat: Aumgene.
February 28, 2009... Aumgene Biosciences Pvt Ltd (Aumgene), Indian Biotech Company is involved in the production, development and marketing of agribiotech, recombinant proteins and, industrial and speciality enzymes. The company's DSIR approved research and...

Budding biotech enterprises in Gujarat: Maxeema.
February 28, 2009... Ahmedabad based biotech company, Maxeema Biotech is aan innovative company which develops and produces products in crop care and health care segments. Maxeemas products portfolio includes bio-pesticides and ayurvedic health care products....

Budding biotech enterprises in Gujarat: StemCyte.
February 28, 2009... US based StemCyte has associated with Apollo Hospitals and Cadilla Pharmaceuticals to set up a joint venture company named StemCyte India Therapeutics. The company's umbilical cord blood based stem cell therapies rekindles hopes for the...

Wide presence of Gujarat biotech across all industry: Chiron.
February 28, 2009... Chiron is a biopharmaceutical company involved in the production and development of blood testing assay and vaccines. Chirons rabies vaccine manufacturing facility of Ankleshwar, Gujarat, India conforms to World Health Organisation norms. The...

Wide presence of Gujarat biotech across all industry: Strides Arcolab.
February 28, 2009... Strides Acrolab Ltd is one of the major producer and exporter of generic pharmaceuticals of India. In addition, the company is also occupied with the contract manufacturing business, in which it develops and produces speciality chemicals for...

Wide presence of Gujarat biotech across all industry: SPAN Diagnostics.
February 28, 2009... Started in 1972 as Desai laboratories, SPAN Diagnostics got recognition in 1976 with its in-house R&D centre. Initially, the company targeted developing and manufacturing a variety of diagnostic reagents for clinical pathology laboratories....

Wide presence of Gujarat Biotech across all industry: RPG Life Sciences.
February 28, 2009... RPG Life Sciences (RPG), manufactures and markets, a broad range of branded formulations, generics and bulk drugs developed through fermentation and chemical synthesis routes. RPG sells the products both in national and international markets....

Wide presence of Gujarat biotech across all industry: Cadila Pharma.
February 28, 2009... Cadila Pharmaceuticals (Cadila Pharma) has fully established state-of-art formulation manufacturing facility, besides its strong presence in new drug discovery, novel drug delivery, active pharmaceutical ingredients, analytical research,...

Wide presence of Gujarat Biotech across all industry: Quintiles.
February 28, 2009... Quintiles a global leader in the CRO field has established its presence in India since 1997. In India, Quintiles provides CRO services in the field of Phase II and Phase IV studies. So far, the company has conducted more than 200 trials in...

Biotech investments in Gujarat on rise: Thermo Fisher Scientific.
February 28, 2009... A $17 M packaging and global distribution facility has been commissioned by Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (Thermo Fisher Scientific) in Ahmedabad. This facility also provides logistics management of tightly regulated pharmaceuticals, which aid...

Biotech investments in Gujarat on rise: Sterling Biotech.
February 28, 2009... Sterling Biotech Ltd (Sterling Biotech) has pharmaceutical gelatin manufacturing plants situated in Gujarat, India. Sterling Biotech has 7.5% of the total global market share and more than 70% of the Indian market share in pharmaceutical and...

Biotech investments in Gujarat on rise: Hester Biosciences.
February 28, 2009... An Indo-American joint venture company, Hester Pharmaceutical Ltd has changed its name to Hester Biosciences (Hester). Besides, manufacturing poultry vaccines, Hester also markets poultry disease diagnostic kits to other poultry industries in...

Robust life science services industry: Veeda CR.
February 28, 2009... Veeda CR has the capabilities and expertise to take any pharmaceutical compound from Pre-clinical stage to all the way till the final Proof of Concept stage. The company's Ahmedabad, India facility, which was commissioned in the year 2004,...

Robust life science services industry: Xcelris.
February 28, 2009... In a bid to enter the CRO market, Claris Life Sciences started Xcelris Labs (Xcelris). Xcelris is a contract research and services organization conceived to cater to the need of generic and innovator pharmaceutical and bio-pharmaceutical...

Robust life science services industry: Lambda Therapeutics.
February 28, 2009... Lambda Therapeutics ranks amongst the leading Clinical Research Organisations in India. The Ahmedabad, India based company also has clinical facilities in Mumbai and Chennai. Lambdass service field includes bio-equivalence studies,...

Chevron likely to exit RPL.
February 28, 2009... The US-based oil major Chevron Corp, which holds 5% stake in Reliance Petroleum Ltd, is likely to withdraw its holding in the company. The move follows the proposal to merge Reliance Petroleum with its parent company Reliance Industries on 2...

Gujarat Gas Co: Results for 3Q 2008-2009.
February 28, 2009... Gujarat Gas Co Ltd, which is into distribution of natural gas, has recorded a net profit of Rup 3159.41 lakhs on net sales of Rup 32,044.71 lakhs, on a stand alone basis, for 3Q ended Dec 2008 (net profit of Rup 3881.17 lakhs on net sales of...

Council Decision of 27 Nov 2008 concerning the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and the Government of the People's Republic of China on drug precursors and substances frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs o.
February 28, 2009... Adopted on 27 Nov 2008. The Council of the European Union, having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 133 thereof, in conjunction with the first sentence of Article 300(2) thereof, having regard...

New Innovation for Battling Number One Killer in America Introduced by Eniva Nutraceutics.
February 28, 2009... Eniva Nutraceutics announces the introduction of its new Eniva Cholesterol Reducer formula. This advanced, liquid nutritional supplement is Eniva's newest heart health product, designed to support healthy cholesterol and homocysteine levels...

Piramal Healthcare Ltd completes acquisition of Minrad International Inc.
February 28, 2009... On 28 Feb 2009, Piramal Healthcare Ltd announced that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of US company Minrad International Inc. Minrad stockholders voted to approve the merger at a special meeting of stockholders, held on...

Bayer increases dividends.
February 28, 2009... German pharmaceuticals and chemicals group Bayer will increase dividends to EUR 1.40 per share for 2008. The total sum to be paid to shareholders amounts to EUR 1.07 bn according to Bayer. The company paid a dividend of EUR 1.35 per share in...

Santhera generated a turnover for the first time in 2008.
February 28, 2009... Swiss pharmaceuticals company Santhera near Basel generated a turnover for the first time in 2008. The company achieved a turnover of SFR 48,000 which is attributed to the fact that the pharmaceutical Catena (idebenone) for neuromuscular...

Affordable drugs for all.
February 28, 2009... The fact that many diseases in developing countries cannot be treated with drugs, or if they can the drugs are too expensive, could be helped by a change to the patent system. During Feb 2009, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that it would...

Clariant opens new Guangzhou facility.
February 28, 2009... Clariant's new colour and additives masterbatches factory in Guangzhou, China recently began production. As well as supplying local markets it will also be the group's fibre technology development centre for China. Clariant started producing...

Rohm and Haas: new additives plant opens in Turkey.
February 28, 2009... Rohm and Haas Company recently opened a 40,000 tonnes/y acrylic impact modifiers and processing aids production unit in Gebze, Turkey. The unit will produce plastic additives for the local market (now the fifth largest in Europe) and its...

Pigments plant to close.
February 28, 2009... Huntsman Corporation has decided to close down its 40,000 tonnes/y titanium dioxide production unit in Grimsby, UK before end 1Q 2009. The unit is the oldest and least efficient operated by Huntsman's Pigments Division. It employs 200...

Songwon enhances Indian distribution.
February 28, 2009... Songwon Industrial Co Ltd has chosen Jayvee Organics Private Ltd and Qualichem Specialties Private Ltd to distribute its additives in India. Qualichem Specialties was set up by Songwon to concentrate on the engineering plastics, polyolefins...

Polystyrene: US manufacturer cuts production.
February 28, 2009... Americas Styrenics LLC has decided to reduce its polystyrene capacity in Marietta, OH by 159 M kg, resulting in the loss of 60 jobs. The company blames the restructuring on the current economic climate and claims it is needed to ensure the...

RTP: clean compound plant is opened.
February 28, 2009... RTP Company now has controlled manufacturing environment capacity at its site in Winona, MN. The Ultra Clean Compounding Center will be used for making clean compounds for applications in the medical, electronics and other sectors. It...

Velsicol additives business is rebranded as Genovique Specialties.
February 28, 2009... Velsicol Chemical Corporation has changed its name to Genovique Specialties Corporation as the final step in a restructuring programme (designed to transform the company into a global, applications-based speciality chemicals company) which...

TIMCAL Graphite and Carbon is increasing prices.
February 28, 2009... TIMCAL Graphite and Carbon is to raise prices for all of its product ranges including ROLLIT (descaling agents and lubricants), TIMREX (natural graphite, synthetic graphite and cokes) and TIMROC (silicon carbide) with effect from Jan 2009....

SABIC expands in Eastern Europe.
February 28, 2009... SABIC's plastics businesses (which include SABIC Innovative Plastics and SABIC Europe) have extended their operations into E Europe with the establishment of new sales offices in Moscow, Russia and a dedicated sales team. The sales office...

Teknor Apex: PVC compounder introduces dedicated production lines. [1 table in original article].
February 28, 2009... Teknor Apex Company is now producing medical grade polyvinyl chloride compounds containing DEHP (or other phthalate plasticizers ) and compounds containing non-phthalate plasticizers in separate spaces at its 2 compounding facilities in the...

Sachtleben Chemie: security particles make life difficult for product pirates.
February 28, 2009... In order to prevent counterfeiting, Sachtleben Chemie has developed a way of marking materials based on the use of additives. The resulting marking is only detectable with special analytical tools. Sachtleben Chemie's technology is designed...

Ferro introduces new compounds and concentrates.
February 28, 2009... Ferro Corporation's Engineered Polymer Products division has added a number of high performance products to its Gapex range. These are chemically-coupled fibre glass-reinforced polypropylene compounds offering 15-30% greater tensile strength...

Croda launches inorganic UV absorber.
February 28, 2009... Solasorb is the new inorganic ultraviolet absorber from Croda Polymer Additives. It offers better ultraviolet protection and transparency than standard nanopowders. Based on ultra-fine metal oxides, Solasorb products also offer better...

TechnoCompound: new TPO compound provides balance of stiffness and elasticity.
February 28, 2009... German company TechnoCompound GmbH recently added a new product to its TechnoElast range called TechnoElast V D4011 I 1. The material, which offers a combination of stiffness and elasticity as well as good moulding properties, has been used...

Chroma adds Mexican distributor.
February 28, 2009... Chroma Corporation recently chose Resinal SA de CV as its Mexican stocking distributor and sales agent for the whole of its product portfolio. This portfolio includes concentrates, photoluminescent additives, precolouring agents, glass-filled...

SABIC Innovative Plastics: PBT compounds offer twice the flow length.
February 28, 2009... Super High Flow Valox SHF is the new range of resins from SABIC Innovative Plastics. These materials offers twice the flow length of regular glass-filled polybutylene terephthalate, giving manufacturers of electrical goods and automobile...

BASF: high performance plastic Ultrason in firefighter's helmets.
February 28, 2009... BASF's Ultrason E2-1- HC polyether sulfone has been used in a high performance helmet for firefighters manufactured by Croatian company PAB. The material is highly transparent, rendering it suitable for the helmet's visor. Its use in the FIRE...

Borealis relaunches healthcare products.
February 28, 2009... Because of high customer demand, Borealis recently relaunched its high performance Bormed LD PE range for blow, fill and seal applications. After selling its factory in Bamble, Norway in Sep 2007, Borealis had stopped making low density...

Hyperion Catalysis International: agreement to boost carbon nanotube potential.
February 28, 2009... Hyperion Catalysis International Inc has signed a licensing and supply agreement with Showa Denko. Under the terms of their contract, Showa Denko will be allowed to sell carbon nanotube-based products for specified plastics applications. The...

M and H Plastics' new antimicrobial packaging has matching labels.
February 28, 2009... M and H Plastics' new antimicrobial packaging now comes with matching antimicrobial labels. The packaging includes ionic silver which prevents fungal growth and kills almost all bacteria (including MRSA, E Coli, salmonella and listeria)...

A special report on waste: the appliance of science. [1 figure in original article].
February 28, 2009... Waste Management, the largest waste disposal firm in the US, is developing a bioreactor-based landfill system that will enable biodegradable waste to decay more rapidly. Injection of a mixture of air, water, and recycled leachate helps to...

Global prospects for polyester.
February 28, 2009... GSI (Global Services International) organised a PET Day in Florence, Italy. Aspects of the market were covered by speakers from Tecnon Orbichem (UK), PCI-PET Packaging (UK), Van Bael & Bellis, and GSI. The volatility of the price of petroleum...

Happening in Italy. Borealis.
February 28, 2009... Borealis has sold 100% AMI (Agrolinz Melamine International) to Borgo Olona, a group of Italian investors active in the chemical sector. With this move AMI Italia has assumed the name Chemisol Italia. Sale of AMI is in line with Borealis'...

Happening in Italy. Radici Film.
February 28, 2009... Radici Film has been incorporated into Taghleef Industry, Dubai, part of the Al Ghurair Group, one of the largest world producers of BOPP and CPP packaging. The acquisition brings the number of production sites to 6 located in the United Arab...

Happening in Italy. Negri Bossi.
February 28, 2009... According to preliminary data, Negri Bossi finished 2008 with turnover of EUR 98 M compared with EUR 128 M in the preceding year. Negri Bossi has set up a branch in Newcastle, Delaware, USA with space for 40 injection moulding machines. The...

Dark clouds in China (plastics). [1 table in original article].
February 28, 2009... According to a survey in Oct 2008, the outlook for most plastic processors in China is pessimistic because of the negative world economic situation. The Chinese market has been growing at 12% and at the end of 2008 was still growing at 10%. A...

Britain in difficulty.
February 28, 2009... The production index for manufacturing industry in the UK fell by 2.9% in Oct-Nov 2008. The highest percentage falls were in transport and metallurgy with contraction of 5.7% in Sep-Nov compared with Jun-Aug 2008. It is estimated that by the...

Dichloromethane ban.
February 28, 2009... A law prohibiting the use of dichloromethane in paint strippers in the European Union (EU) has been approved by the European Parliament. Under the regulation, paint strippers containing over 0.1% concentration of dichloromethane will not be...

Confusion over GHS.
February 28, 2009... Members of the British Coatings Federation (BCF) have reported that there is a confusion in the market over the official GHS compliance dates. UK firms serving Asia Pacific markets, particularly China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan, reported that...

Tikkurila to save EUR 25 M.
February 28, 2009... Tikkurila aims to generate savings of EUR 25 M/y under its recently launched group-wide savings initiative. The measure could result in the elimination of around 500 jobs, including up to 200 jobs in its operations in Finland.

EU to harmonize rules.
February 28, 2009... The harmonization of EU chemical labelling policies with a United Nations Globally Harmonized System has been approved by the EU Council of Ministers. The new system will require changes on cautions and pictograms in the labels of paint,...

Wacker name change.
February 28, 2009... Wacker Polymers has changed the name of its vinyl acetate homopolymer, vinyl acetate-ethylene and acrylic copolymer products into Vinnapas. Also, all of its copolymer dispersion grades consisting of vinyl chloride will now be called Vinnol.

Volvo approves Glasurit.
February 28, 2009... Glassurit 90 Line, a paint brand by BASF Coatings, has been approved by Volvo for authorized dealers and bodyshops worldwide. This move integrates Glasurit 90 Line into the new bodyshop management system of Volvo.

2008 is the best year ever for Leighs Paints.
February 28, 2009... US paint and coating producer Leighs Paints' sales rose by 22% in 2008, partly because of its reputation for intumescent paints. Leigh's management group has been aggressively targeting new markets and is seeking to boost the share of foreign...

Rohm & Haas to save $90 M.
February 28, 2009... Rohm and Haas has implemented a second set of initiatives aimed at streamlining its operations and cost structure in view of the slowing economy and poor market conditions. About 900 jobs across all regions and businesses, except Salt, will...

Ready for REACH.
February 28, 2009... A total of 1937 chemical substances have been pre-registered by Huntsman in compliance with the European Community REACH law. The firm is ready for REACH and supports its goals of protecting the environment and human health.

EU tightens rules on hazardous chemicals.
February 28, 2009... The European Commission's latest classification of 200 chemicals will be further categorized as carcinogenic, mutagenic or harmful to reproduction by paints and coatings companies as their use could need special approval under the REACH...

IRL releases new report.
February 28, 2009... A new report by Information Research estimates that the paint and coatings market in Central America and Caribbean in 2008 stood at 1.38 M tonnes and nearly 421,000 tonnes, respectively. Mexico accounted for around 1.1 M of the Central...

Dow to cut 5000 jobs.
February 28, 2009... Dow Chemical Co plans to lay off 5000 full-time workers globally. In line with Dow's transformational plan, Angus Chemical Co will carry out job reorganization measures at its site in Sterlington, LA, USA. The initiatives will affect 17...

Teknos acquires Gori.
February 28, 2009... Dyrup A/S's Gori Industry business has been purchased by Teknos for EUR 12 M. Gori Industry, a producer of industrial wood paint and metal paints, has net sales of around EUR 30 M and operations in 20 European nations. The deal covers Gori...

Aquanox UV to be launched at ECS 2009.
February 28, 2009... A new line of Aquanox UV light stabilizers for water-based coating applications has been unveiled by Aquaspersions. The products have easy dispersion properties as well as excellent effective chemistries for use in exterior water-based...

Dow makes GBP 446 M loss.
February 28, 2009... DuPont posted a loss of GBP 446 M in 4Q 2008, and plans to lay off 2500 employees worldwide. A total of 35 jobs at DuPont Powder Coatings in Darlington, UK, could be made redundant following reports that DuPont anticipates shedding a third of...

Sika acquires lotech Group.
February 28, 2009... Sika has purchased Industrial Copolymers as well as its parent firm Iotech Group and US-based sister company Incorez. Industrial Copolymers produces high performance resins and polymers for applications in the coatings, adhesives and sealants...

2008: an Olympic year: mergers and acquisitions in the coatings industry.
February 28, 2009... The coatings industry saw a series of M&A deals in 2008, majority of which took place in the USA. Leading the trend is AkzoNobel, which began its series of M&A activities with the takeover of ICI in Jan 2008. The company soon purchased its...

Russian paint market grows.
February 28, 2009... The credit crunch may have slowed down the Russian economy, but its paints and coatings market continued to thrive in 2008. Between 2001 and middle of 2008, retail sales of Russian paints nearly increased threefold to $610 M, according to...

Beating powder blues: analysis of European powder coatings market. [1 figure in original article].
February 28, 2009... The European powder coatings market has seen little growth compared with the Asian market, which expanded by roughly 14% in 2006. However, growing output in recent years in Eastern Europe has aided the region in making a comeback. The Eastern...

A binding alternative: new hybrid binder technology from Rohm and Haas.
February 28, 2009... Rohm and Haas has developed a water-based, low VOC hybrid binder process for decorative coatings. The binder process can be used as a substitute for solvent-borne resins. A life cycle analysis (LCA) evaluating the environmental effects of the...

Coated cables solve stability.
February 28, 2009... Huntsman Polyurethanes' special thermoplastic urethane (TPU) grade A85P4380 has helped Bockmuhl Kabel achieved considerable manufacturing efficiencies in the production of its high performance sensoric and automotive cabling solutions product...