Chemical Week articles from April 2005

Chemical Week archives from April 2005

Advocating more advocacy.
April 27, 2005... Advocacy issues are top of the agenda at industry associations right now. ACC has undergone a "significant ramp-up" in its lobbying and advocacy efforts, Mike Campbell, CEO of Arch Chemicals, and chairman of ACC's board recently told CW. That...

R&H opens powder unit at Shanghai.(Rohm and Haas Co.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Rohm and Haas Powder Coatings (R&H) says it has opened its first powder coatings plant in Asia with the commissioning last week of new $5-million powder coatings facility at Shanghai. The 17,500-sq-meter plant will produce powder finishing...

Honeywell signs licensing pact.(Sigdopack)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Honeywell says it has signed a licensing, distribution, and development agreement for specialty films with Sigdopack, a unit of Sigdo Koppers (Santiago, Chile). Honeywell has licensed its Capran Medallion and OxyShield film technology and...

Clariant plans China pigment JV.(joint venture with Hangzhou Baihe Chemicals Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Clairant's pigments and additives division says it has agreed to form a joint venture with organic pigment manufacturer Hangzhou Baihe Chemicals Co. Ltd. (Hangzhou, China) to produce high-performance organic pigments for industrial...

KMG completes private placement.(KMG Chemicals Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... KMG Chemicals says that it has completed a $6-million private equity placement with two institutional investors. Tontine Capital Partners (Greenwich, CT) has invested $5 million in KMG, while Terrier Partners (New York) invested $1 million....

ITC drops PET dumping case.(International Trade Commission, polyethylene terephthalate )(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC; Washington) ruled by a 5-1 margin last week that U.S. polyethylene terephthalate (PET) makers "are not materially injured or threatened with material injury by imports of PET resin from India,...

Panel schedules hearing for asbestos trust fund bill.(Senate. Committee on the Judiciary)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Senate Judiciary Committee members say they will hold a full day hearing on the asbestos trust fund legislation on April 26. Senator Arlen Specter (R., PA) has introduced a revised version of legislation that would create a $140-billion fund...

PPG seeks coatings, optical deals.(PPG Industries Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... PPG Industries should deliver another strong performance in 2005, PPG president and chief executive officer Charles Bunch told attendees at the company's annual meeting in Pittsburgh last week. "Our ability to generate cash also provides us...

Kerr-McGee plans share buyback, asset sales.(Kerr-McGee Chemical L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Kerr-McGee says it has launched a modified "Dutch Auction" for the repurchase of $4 billion of its common stock, roughly 27%-29% of its outstanding shares. Kerr-McGee is facing pressure from entities controlled by investor Carl Icahn. The...

Wacker returns to the black; plans polysilicon, biologics investments ...(Wacker-Chemie GmbH)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Wacker-Chemie returned to the black in 2004, posting net income of 80 million [euro] ($103 million), on sales up 3%, to 2.54 billion [euro]. The company lost 95 million [euro] in 2003. Earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) were 207...

... Siltronic's IPO is not imminent.(initial public offering)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Wacker-Chemie says it is unlikely to seek an initial public offering (IPO) of shares soon for its wholly owned silicon wafers manufacturing subsidiary Siltronic. The company says it is following trends in the stock market and looking at the...

First-quarter results in Europe are mixed.(Akzo Nobel Chemicals Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Akzo Nobel says its first-quarter net profits more than doubled, to 287 million [euro] ($371 million), on sales down 4%, to 3 billion [euro]. The earnings increase was mainly due to a 149-million [euro], one-off payment from Johnson & Johnson...

Kvaerner and Lucite sign maintenance and construction deal.(AK Engineering, Lucite International)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... AK Engineering Services, an Aker Kvaerner subsidiary, has joined an alliance with two other contractors to provide maintenance and construction services at Lucite International's Cassel, U.K. production site, Kvaerner says. The other alliance...

U.S., EU headed for climate accord?(environmental management)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Recent talks between U.S. and European Union (EU) officials have "provided a new opening for EU-U.S. cooperation on climate change," says Stavros Dimas, European environment commissioner. "We explored ways of future cooperation that include...

No ban yet for deca-BDE.(deca-brominated diphenyl)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... A committee of representatives from European Union (EU) member states has voted against a proposed ban on the flame retardant deca-brominated diphenyl ether (deca-BDE) in electronic products. All poly-brominated diphenyl ethers are slated for...

Bayer agrees on insecticide deals.(Bayer CropScience AG signs to Makhteshim-Agan Industries Ltd., Cheminova)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Bayer CropScience says it has agreed on separate, multi-year contracts to supply its best-selling chloronicotinyl insecticide Imidacloprid to Makhteshim-Agan Industries (Omer, israel) and Cheminova (Lemvig, Denmark). Makhteshim and Cheminova...

Novozymes hits enzyme target.(cost of producing enzymes)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Novozymes says that in association with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, CO) it has achieved a targeted, 30-fold reduction in the cost of producing enzymes used in the process to convert biomass to ethanol. "Enzymes are no...

Basic earnings stay strong as volumes weaken.(top of the week)(chemical industry)
April 27, 2005... Early reporting basic and diversified chemical makers are beating first-quarter estimates due to higher selling prices despite flagging volume growth. PPG Industries' earnings rose 64%, to $191 million ($1.10/share), on sales up 8.7%, to...

Dow Names Merszei as Next CFO.(top of the week)(Geoffery E. Merszei joins Dow Chemical Co.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Dow Chemical says that it has appointed Geoffery E. Merszei as executive v.p. and CFO-designate. He will become executive v.p. on July 1, reporting to Dow CEO Andrew Liveris, and is scheduled to succeed J. Pedro Reinhard as CFO on October 1....

Judge upholds D.C. hazmat ban, but appeal delays start.(Emmet Sullivan)
April 27, 2005... The federal district judge considering CSX's case against Washington D.C.'s ban on hazardous materials transport has rejected the rail carrier's request to overturn the ban. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has...

Energy bill passes House; MTBE producers dealt setback in lawsuit.(UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(methyl tert-butyl ether)
April 27, 2005... The House voted 249 to 183 last week to pass a comprehensive energy bill that would provide about $12 billion in tax breaks for companies that produce oil, gas, coal, utilities, nuclear power, or renewable fuels. The bill includes limited...

Hercules dismisses PwC.(UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Hercules Chemical Company Inc., PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Hercules says that it has dismissed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as its independent registered public accounting firm, effective upon completion of services related to financial statements for the first quarter ended March 31. Hercules says...

BASF completes electronics buy.(UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Merck KGAA)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany) says it has completed the purchase of Merck KGaA's (Darmstadt) electronic chemicals business, making it a leading supplier of these agents for semiconductors and flat screens (CW, Feb. 2, p. 6). The companies...

Specialty makers post strong results; warn about slow growth.(UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
April 27, 2005... Early reporting specialty chemical companies have beat analysts' estimates because of strong volumes and improved selling prices. Specialty chemical makers have warned, however, that global demand for their products is slowing. Rohm and...

Illinois subpoenas Monsanto for pricing information.(UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Monsanto says it received a week from the Illinois Attorney General for information about pricing and licensing of genetically modified (GM) seeds. Monsanto says the subpoena is "similar to previous requests by others." The Illinois...

Pesticide groups battle over lawn care products.(UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
April 27, 2005... The spring lawn care season has brought renewed tension between pesticide industry advocates and environmental groups that have stepped up their fight over pesticide safety through advertising campaigns targeting homeowners, home improvement...

Arch hydrazine contract protests denied.(UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Arch Chemicals Inc., Department of Defense)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Arch Chemicals says that the U.S. Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) has denied a petition filed by a competing bidder for a contract for the production, storage, distribution, and handling of hydrazine propellants (CW, April 20, p. 4). ...

Air products to build hydrogen unit in Texas.(UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Air Products and Chemicals Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Air Products says it plans to build a hydrogen plant in Port Arthur, TX to supply million standard cu ft/day of hydrogen to Premcor's refinery, and to additional customers on Air Products' Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline system. Air Products...

Iran's NPC is favorite to acquire Basell; U.S. assets may be split off.(EUROPE/MIDEAST)(National Petrochemical Co., BASELL C.V.)
April 27, 2005... National Petrochemical Co. (NPC; Tehran) says it is the front-runner to acquire Basell. BASF and Shell, Basell's joint owners, put Basell up for sale in 2004, and earlier this year short-listed NPC and two other companies to buy the business...

Lanxess considers divesting paper chemicals.(EUROPE/MIDEAST)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Lanxess says it has hired UBS Investment Bank "to assist in reviewing the option of strategic partnerships" for Lanxess's paper chemicals business. Lanxess declined to comment on whether its preference is to divest the paper chemicals...

Egypt invites bids for Fertilizer firm.(EUROPE/MIDEAST)(Ministry of Investment, Egyptian Fertilizers Co.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Ministry of Investment (Cairo) says it has invited bids to acquire a majority stake in Egyptian Fertilizers Co. (EFC), The ministry says it is offering a minimum stake of 88.25% in EFC, "provided that the buyer expresses an initial interest"...

Brussels clears PKN to buy Unipetrol.(EUROPE/MIDEAST)(PKN Orlen, Unipetrol Nigeria Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... The European Commission says it has approved PKN Orlen's (Plock, Poland) planned acquisition of Unipetrol (Prague) (CW, June 16, 2004, p. 13). The proposed deal will "not significantly impede effective competition since the activities of the...

Nuplex cuts profit outlook due to weak demand, high costs.(ASIA/PACIFIC)(Nuplex Industries Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Nuplex Industries (Auckland) expects to post net profits of about NZ$28 million ($20 million) for its fiscal year ending June 30, compared with previous forecasts of NZ$32 million-NZ$35 million. The company cites weakening demand in Australia...

Air Liquide to upgrade gases plants, build new unit, in China.(ASIA/PACIFIC)(Air Liquide America L.P)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Air Liquide says it has acquired two air separation units, and agreed to build a third air separation plant, at the Rizhao, China site of Rizhao Iron & Steel (RIS; Rizhou). The deal follows the signing of a "long-term agreement," under which...

Asahi studies China nylon fibers complex.(ASIA/PACIFIC)(Asahi Kasei Chemicals)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Asahi Kasei Chemicals, an Asahi Kasei subsidiary, is studying plans to build a world-scale, integrated nylon fibers complex in China, sources say. The complex would include plants producing adipic acid, cyclohexanol, and nylon-6,6 filament...

CPChem to build third JV petchems complex in Saudi Arabia.(new construction projects)(Saudi Chevron Phillips Co.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Saudi Chevron Phillips (SCP), an equally owned joint venture between ChevronPhillips Chemical (CPChem) and Saudi Industrial Investment Group (SIIG), a consortium of private Saudi investors and companies, has confirmed reports that it plans to...

Stone & Webster awarded propylene contract in Germany.(new construction projects)(Stone and Webster Engineering Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Stone & Webster has been awarded a contract to build a propane splitter for OMV (Vienna) at Burghausen, Germany, CW has learned. The splitter will be built within OMV's ethylene plant at the site. It will use propane from both the refinery...

Technip wins ethylene contract in Qatar.(new construction projects)(Technip S.A.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Technip has confirmed CWs exclusive report that it has been selected to build a previously announced ethylene plant at Ras Laffan, Qatar (CW, April 6/13, p. 17). Technip has signed a letter of intent with Qatar Petroleum, ChevronPhillips...

Samsung Total selects Basell for PP plant.(new construction projects)(BASELL C.V.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Samsung Total Perrochemicals, an equally owned joint venture between Samsung and Total, says it has selected Basell's Spherizone technology for a previously announced polypropylene (PP) plant at Daesan, Korea (CW, Aug. 4, 2004, p. 14). The...

Uhde builds chlorine plant for Tessenderlo Chemie.(new construction projects)(Tessenderlo Chemie S.A)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Uhde says it has received a contract from Tessenderlo Chemie to build a previously announced chlor-alkali complex at Tessenderlo, Belgium (CW, May 14, 2003, p. 19). The lump-sum turnkey contract covers construction of a complex using Uhde's...

Terra, CF Industries join forces in Trinidad project.(Terra Industries Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Terra Industries says it has joined forces with CF Industries (Long Grove, IL) and Ansa McAl (Port of Spain, Trinidad) to study construction of a nitrogen fertilizer complex in Trinidad. Ansa McAl has interests in automotive, brewing,...

Ashland: focusing on organic growth.(Cover Story)
April 27, 2005... Ashland (Covington, KY) says it is targeting organic growth as the main vehicle to achieve its profitability targets. "There is no higher return than that from organic growth," says Gary Cappeline, Ashland president and COO/ chemical sector....

Avecia closes U.K. center due to lack of orders.(OLIGONUCLEOTIDES)
April 27, 2005... Avecia says it will close a biotechnology center at Grangemouth, U.K. that specializes in the commercial manufacture of oligonucleotides--short polymeric chains of DNA or RNA medicines--by the end of the summer. The center has about 90 staff....

Solutia to retain Pharma Services business.(STRATEGIES)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Solutia says it has decided not to sell its Pharma Services Division (PSD), comprised of the CarboGen (Aarau, Switzerland) and Amcis (Bubendorf, Switzerland) businesses. The company announced last summer that it might sell PSD, and late last...

DSM in-licences technology.(pharmaceuticals & fine chemicals)(DSM Chemicals North America Inc., Genomatica)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Biotech information technology firm Genomatica (San Diego, CA) says it has licensed its SimPheny modelling and simulation technology for biotech engineering and process development, to DSM. Financial terms were not disclosed. The companies...

Materia signs pharma catalyst deal.(pharmaceuticals & fine chemicals)(Sunesis Pharmaceuticals)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Materia (Pasadena, CA) says it has licensed, on a nonexclusive basis, its metathesis technology and Grubbs catalyst system for synthesis of pharmaceutical ingredients, to biopharma company Sunesis Pharmaceuticals (San Francisco). Financial...

Sumitomo ups pharma stake.(pharmaceuticals & fine chemicals)(Sumitomo Chemical Company Ltd. acquire shares of Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Sumitomo Chemical says it has agreed to acquire 7.9% of Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals from industrial conglomerate Inabata & Co. (Osaka). The deal will increase Sumitomo Chemical's stake in Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals to 85.7%.

More focus on manufacturing.(pharmaceuticals & fine chemicals)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Leading pharmaceutical companies, in advance of new drug launches, are placing greater emphasis on operational excellence in manufacturing, according to a recent study by research and consulting firm Best Practices (Chapel Hill, NC). Most...

Danisco acquires controlling stake in Genencor.(ENZYMES)(Danisco A/S, Genencor International Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Danisco says it has completed the cash tender offer to acquire the common stock of enzyme producer Genencor (Palo Alto, CA) for 19.25/share, or $615 million. The tender offer is part of Danisco's plan to own all of Genencor; it has purchased...

Showa Denko sells ferrochrome stake.(specialties)(Showa Denko KK, Middelburg Technochrome )(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Showa Denko says it has decided to sell its 20.7% stake in its low-carbon ferrochrome joint venture Middelburg Technochrome (MTC; Middelburg, South Africa) to its jv partner Samancor (Middlesburg), which holds a 65.5% share. Financial terms...

Specialty price watch.(specialties)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... ICL Industrial Products says it raised prices for tettabromobisphenol-A by $200/m.t., effective April 15 in Europe, the Far East, and North America * Lanxess says it has raised prices worldwide for isopropanolamines by 0.10 [euro]-0.15...

Indian market on the rise.(PAINTS AND COATINGS)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... The Indian Paint market was estimated to be 900,000 m.t. in 2004, and is forecast to grow 11%-12% in 2005, says Information Research (London). The industrial coatings sector accounts for 30% of the Indian paint market, Information Research...

Sud-Chemie invests in lithium-ion batteries.(M&A)(Phostech Lithium)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Sud-Chemie says it has purchased shares in Phostech Lithium (Montreal, PQ). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Phostech Lithium produces lithium iron phosphate, which is used as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries used in...

Power outage forces shutdown of Nova's Sarnia units; PE weakens.(Nova Chemicals Corp. (Calgary, Canada))
April 27, 2005... Nova Chemicals says that an external power supply interruption on April 16 caused a shutdown of all of its ethylene and polyethylene (PE) plants near Sarnia, ON. The company's styrene monomer plant at Sarnia was not impacted. Nova says it has...

Strong demand drives butadiene.(EUROPE)
April 27, 2005... Butadiene spot prices in Europe remain strong, even as benzene and ethylene prices fall. Butadiene suppliers are reassuring their customers that there is no current threat of disruption or shortages, just a tight market due to strong demand...

Solutia ups nylon polymer prices.(basic chemicals & plastics)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Solutia says it will increase prices across all grades of its Ascend nylon polymers and * nylon molding resins worldwide by 10 cts/lb in North America; $220/m.t. in Asia; and 0.20 [euro]/ kg in Europe. The increases are roughly 8%-10%....

Carbide Industries boosts prices.(basic chemicals & plastics)(calcium carbide )(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Carbide Industries (Louisville, KY) says it has increased list prices for calcium carbide by roughly 10%, to $610/ton, fob Louisville. "The domestic calcium carbide market demand remains very strong in all sectors," the company says. "Carbide...

CW price report.(COMMENTARY)
April 27, 2005... April has been "a slow demand month for ethylene, with a surplus of supply," one seller says. Traders reported one spot ethylene deal at 33.5 cts/lb, but say that was likely a distressed situation. "The market is really not that low," one...

EU takes emergency measures to block unauthorized grain.
April 27, 2005... The European Commission has ordered European Union (EU) member states to take steps to prevent corn imports contaminated with the unauthorized protein Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt10) from entering the EU market. The move is in response to...

OMB lists 76 rules targeted for reform.(Office of Management and Budget )(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released its list of existing regulations that the administration says should be reviewed for possible changes or elimination. The White House's list targets primarily EPA and Labor...

California assembly panel blocks phthalates ban.(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... California's state assembly's health committee has blocked a bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Judy Chu (D., Monterey) that would have banned dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di (2-ethyl-hexyl) phthalate (DEHP) from cosmetics products manufactured...

Serono: big ambitions in biotech: expansion drives a boost in biologics capacity.(companies)
April 27, 2005... Serono (Geneva) has big ambitions in biotechnology. It is Europe's largest biotech player and the third-largest worldwide, with sales of $2.5 billion/year, and its goal is to become the leader in the sector. That would require Serono to...

Down to the wire: firms strive to avoid certification crunch.(International Organization for Standardization certification)
April 27, 2005... Most ACC member firms have until year-end to have their corporate headquarters audited and certified as complying with the requirements of a Responsible Care management system. They can either ACC's Responsible Care Management System (RCMS),...

Crompton.(iso/key changes)(appointments)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... CROMPTON has made promotions: Steve Trangluch as global business director/ Royalene EPDM; Frank Schlengel as global business director/rubber chemicals; Dennis Synnott as commercial director/ Americas; and Cori Wlasuk as inside sales...

The management team that heads Nuchem and Thermal Science has named Regis Reynolds Rumpf as president and CEO for both companies.(iso/key changes)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... The management team that heads NUCHEM and THERMAL SCIENCE has named Regis Reynolds Rumpf as president and CEO for both companies. Rumpf was previously president and COO of Bradley Coatings Group.

Penn Specialty Chemicals.(iso/key changes)(Scott Start appointed)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Scott Start has been named director of sales for PENN SPECIALTY CHEMICALS.

Port of Houston Authority.(iso/key changes)(Erik A. Eriksson appointed and Jimmy M. Jamison promoted)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... PORT OF HOUSTON AUTHORITY has appointed Erik A. Eriksson as general counsel. It has also promoted Jimmy M. Jamison to director of operations.

EBI Consulting.(iso/key changes)(Richard J. Malone appointed)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... EBI CONSULTING has named Richard J. Malone as senior v.p./process engineering group.

RPM International.(iso/key changes)(Edward Corbett appointed)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... RPM INTERNATIONAL has named Edward Corbett as manager/global taxes. Corbett most recently served as manager/tax planning for Lubrizol.

Archemix.(iso/key changes)(Michael Kallelis appointed )(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Archemix has appointed MICHAEL KALLELIS as v.p./manufacturing. Kallelis was previously executive v.p. and general manager of Avecia Biotechnology.

Deeks & Co.(iso/key changes)(Jeff Parkinson appointed)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... DEEKS & CO. has appointed Jeff Parkinson as its new sales director/southeast. Parkinson was most recently head of Lambent Technologies' synthetic specialties division.

BASF.(iso/key changes)(Folker Ruchatz appointed)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... BASF has appointed Folker Ruchatz as director of its Pharma Solutions business in North America. Ruchatz was formerly marketing manager for cosmetic ingredients in North America.

Sartomer.(iso/key changes)(Hawon Kea appointed)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... SARTOMER has hired Hawon Kea as sales manager for its Sartomer Korea business.

Koch Membrane Systems.(iso/key changes)(Oliver Haak appointed)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... Oliver Haak has been named european technical services manager by KOCH MEMBRANE SYSTEMS. Haak previously worked for a major OEM company.

Indium.(iso/key changes)(Indium Corporation of America appoints Christopher Nash)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... INDIUM has named Christopher Nash as an account specialist for inside sales at its global headquarters.

Omnova Solutions.(iso/key changes)(John Wei promoted)(Brief Article)
April 27, 2005... OMNOVA SOLUTIONS has promoted John Wei to v.p./performance chemicals Asia. Wei was most recently director of corporate business development for the company.

2005 ISO & responsible care profiles.(Directory)
April 27, 2005... CHEMICALS AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS, INC. 7201 Hamilton Boulevard Allentown, PA 18195-1501 USA Tel: 610-481-4911 E-mail:info@airproducts.com WWW:www.airproducts.com Air Products (NYSE:APD) serves customers in technology, energy,...

Eyeing new strategies for basic R&D: firms focus on speed and productivity.
April 27, 2005... Many chemical companies are struggling to get a better return on R&D investment. In addition, start-up technology companies, often funded by venture capital, are continually bursting onto the scene and undermining established chemical...

CW75 stock performance.(Illustration)
April 27, 2005... The CW75 index dropped 4.8% for the week ending April 20, lagging broader market indexes including the Morgan Stanley global composite and Standard and Poor's 500, which fell 2.6% and 3.1%, respectively. Diversified chemical stocks fell 5%;...

Chemical Industrial Park of Tianjin Economic--Technological Development Area.
April 20, 2005... According to the reliable data released by the Ministry of Commerce of China, Tianjin Economic--Technological Development Area (TEDA) has been maintaining its top position among China's state-level economic and technological development zones...

Outsourcing: in or out?(viewpoint)
April 20, 2005... The most controversial of CW's "10 Surprises for 2005" has been our prediction of the demise of business process outsourcing in the chemical industry (CW, Jan. 5/12, p. 5). Several individuals have challenged that premise, admittedly most of...

Georgia-Gulf chlor-alkali outage.(Brief Article)
April 20, 2005... Georgia Gulf says it has started a two-week maintenance turnaround at its Plaquemine, LA chlor-alkali plant, originally due to start at the end of the month, following an unexpected outage at the plant on April 5. The plant will be out of...

Cargill-Diversa enzymes agreement.(Cargill Health and Food Technologies)(Brief Article)
April 20, 2005... Diversa says it has signed an agreement with Cargill Health and Food Technologies to discover and develop enzymes for the cost-effective production of an unspecified food ingredient. Diversa says it will receive upfront payments and research...

Informex trade show on the block.(Brief Article)
April 20, 2005... Socma says that it is exploring a potential sale of its annual custom chemical trade show Informex to a professional trade show management company. "Socma believes that Informex has grown to such a size that the show's future growth could be...