Chemical Week articles from August 2005

Chemical Week archives from August 2005

Basell's Alastian comes to America.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Basell says it will expand its online polyolefins sales Web site, Alastian, to North America on October 1. The company launched the site in Europe last year (CW, May 5, 2004, p. 4). Alastian is designed for customers who are familiar with...

Gases firm buys distributor.(Valley National Gases Inc., Reynolds Welding Supply )(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Valley National Gases (Washington, PA) says it has purchased Reynolds Welding Supply (Mankato, MN) and its two subsidiaries for an undisclosed sum, giving it a presence in Minnesota with five operating locations, as well as one in South...

TUI to Purchase CP Ships.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... TUI (Hannover, Germany), a tour operator and parent company of container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd, says it has agreed to acquire CP Ships for 1.7 billion[euro] ($2 billion). The deal is subject to regulatory approval in Canada, Europe, and...

Infor buys Formation Systems.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Software vendor Infor (Atlanta) says it has acquired Formation Systems (Southborough, MA), a product and lifecycle management software vendor that serves the process industries, for an undisclosed amount. Formation Systems will join Infor's...

Syngenta corn seed wins approval.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Argentina has approved Syngenta's new genetically modified corn variety, called GA21, which resists the herbicide glyphosate. GA21 will compete with Monsanto's Roundup Ready corn seed, which Argentina approved last year.

High oil costs, cool economy prompt analysts to cut profit estimates.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB; New York) has lowered third-quarter earnings estimates for Dow Chemical, Eastman Chemical, Georgia Gulf, Lyondell Chemical, Nova Chemicals, PPG Industries, and Westlake Chemical, citing margin compression...

Huntsman takes down PO/MTBE Unit, declares force majeure.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Huntsman says it has taken down its Port Neches, TX propylene oxide/methyl tert-butyl ether (PO/MTBE) facility for about 48 days for unscheduled maintenance and repairs, citing undisclosed safety issues. The plant has capacity for 525 million...

Rohm and Haas to build CMP center in Taiwan.(CMP Technologies)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials' (R&H) CMP Technologies (Phoenix) unit says it will invest $50 million to build a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) pad manufacturing and technology center in Hsinchu, Taiwan for startup in...

Dupont faces first of Mississippi dioxin lawsuits.(E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... A lawsuit brought by a man who claims that dioxin from DuPont's DeLisle, MS titanium dioxide (Ti[O.sub.2]) plant caused his blood cancer, went to trial last week in Laurel, MS. The case is the first of about 2,000 similar suits pending...

Container lines to impose inland fuel surcharge.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Ocean carriers serving the U.S.-Asia market say they plan to impose a fuel surcharge, effective October 1, aimed at recovering costs associated with increased inland rail and truck fuel charges. The amount of the surcharge has not yet been...

Ciba may sell textile effects business.(Ciba Specialty Chemicals Holding Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Ciba Specialty Chemicals says it is examining ways to cut costs at its textile effects business, and that it may decide to sell the operation. Ciba cites a "shift of the textile market and customers to Asia" that is expected to continue. "We...

Lanxess to close three plants.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Lanxess has announced a "second restructuring package," including closure of three plants in the U.S. and resulting in 450 job losses, 2% of the company's total. It will shutter a yellow pigments plant at New Martinsville, WV, as well as a...

Few EU states adopt recycling legislation.(European Union)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Only five European Union (EU) member states met an August 18 deadline to adopt in their national legislation the European Commission's latest directive on recycling and recovery of packaging waste (CW, Sept. 18, 2002, p. 8). They are Austria,...

Degussa mothballs methionine plant.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Degussa says it will mothball an 80,000-m.t./year, DL-methionine plant at Antwerp when the company brings a new plant onstream there later this year. The company says it has also "scaled down" capacity at the new plant from 150,000 m.t./year,...

LME extends plastics shelf life.(London Metal Exchange)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... The London Metal Exchange (LME) says it has extended the "shelf life" of plastics warrants issued by warehouses where polyolefins may be stored for delivery under LME's plastics futures contracts, from six months, to 10 months. The decision...

Nigerian fertilizer firm acquired.(O-Secul Nigeria, National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria Ltd.)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Engineering and oil services company O-Secul Nigeria (Lagos) has been selected to acquire state-owned National Fertiliser Co. of Nigeria (Nafcon; Port Harcourt) for $152 million, according to Nafcon's liquidator. The deal remains subject to...

Chinese firms post higher earnings.(PetroChina Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... PetroChina says operating profits at its chemicals business more than doubled in the first half, to Rmb5.8 billion ($716 million), on sales up 46%, to Rmb37 billion. Second-quarter figures were not disclosed. The company cites record output...

Obituary: Tim Scott.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
August 24, 2005... Tim Scott, CFO of ICI, died recently "from a sudden and severe heart condition," at age 43, the company says. Scott moved to ICI from Unilever in 1997 following ICI's acquisition of Unilever's chemicals business. He was appointed CFO and...

BP declares force majeure from Texas cracker.
August 24, 2005... BP's Innovene unit has declared force majeure on butadiene and ethylene, and put its butadiene customers on allocation following the recent explosion and fire at its 1.8-billion lbs/year cracker at Chocolate Bayou, TX (CW, Aug. 17, p. 6). The...

Brussels charges producers with fixing MMA prices.(methyl methacrylate)
August 24, 2005... The European Commission says it has charged several companies with conspiring to fix the price of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) between March 1995 and October 2000. "We have decided to open formal proceedings...

Rockwood, Canexus launch IPOs.(initial public offerings, Canexus Income Fund)
August 24, 2005... Specialty chemical producer Rockwood Holdings and Canexus Income Fund, the former chemical operations of Nexen, each launched initial public offerings (IPOs) earlier this month. Rockwood offered 20.4 million shares, a 29% stake in the...

Valspar to close seven plants.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Valspar plans to close seven plants, "the first phase of a broad-based strategy" to reduce its worldwide manufacturing capacity by approximately 10%, the company says. Valspar will take an after-tax charge of $2 million in its fiscal quarter...

Socma finds buyer for Informex.(Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers' Association, CMP Information Ltd.)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Socma says it has sold its Informex trade show to CMP Information, organizers of the CPhl family of events. SoCma announced plans to sell the event earlier this year (CW, April 20, p. 4). Socma says it will retain a "critical role" in...

Performance Fibers acquires Diolen.(Performance Fibers Holdings, Diolen Industrial Fibers)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Performance Fibers Holdings (Colonial Heights, VA), a subsidiary of Sun Capital Partners, says it has acquired the North American operations of Diolen Industrial Fibers (Scottsboro, AL), a maker of high-tenacity fibers. Terms were not...

Dupont adds new coatings position.(E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. appointed Terry Caloghiris )(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... DuPont has appointed Terry Caloghiris v.p. and general manager/performance coatings transformation, a new position. Caloghiris will lead "aggressive actions to enable our coatings business to achieve a larger share of international markets,"...

CSX to expand capacity on two lines.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... CSX says it plans to expand capacity on its existing rail lines between Chicago and Florida, and between Albany, NY and New York City. The move will help CSX to meet growing demand for freight service to the Southeast and improve service in...

Groups say EPA's use of rodent studies is 'junk science'.(American Council on Science and Health and Washington Legal Foundation filed a case on Environmental Protection Agency)
August 24, 2005... The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH; Washington), and the Washington Legal Foundation (WLF; Washington), both of which receive some funding from industry, have petitioned EPA to stop using rodent studies as a basis for...

FMCSA revises HOS rules for truckers.(Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, hours of service act)
August 24, 2005... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued revised hours of service (HOS) regulations earlier this month that set limits on the length of time commercial drivers can be on the road without resting. The new regulations are...

Foamex skips bond repayment; mulls bankruptcy.(Foamex Capital Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Foamex (Linwood, PA), a maker of flexible polyurethane foam, says it is in discussions with senior lenders and other bondholders on a debt restructuring that could involve a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Foamex also says it will not make the...

Polymer Group not for sale.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Polymer Group says it has decided against the sale of the company--one of several options in a review process announced in May. A sale "is not an attractive alternative at this time, particularly in light of the company's recently announced...

Braskem details plans for Bolivia, Venezuela.
August 24, 2005... Braskem (Sao Paulo), Latin America's largest petrochemicals producer, says it will make a final decision on major investments planned for Bolivia and Venezuela by mid-2006. Braskem will make a "go or no-go decision" by the middle of next year...

Domo to quit chemicals; seeks new opportunities.(Domo Group)
August 24, 2005... Domo (Gent-Zwijnaarde, Belgium) is quitting the chemicals business to concentrate mainly on carpet manufacturing, CW has learned. The company completed a review of its operations following the recent appointment of Filiep Libeert as CEO, and...

PolyCarbon buys Borregaard unit.(Borregaard Synthesis)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... PolyCarbon (Devens, MA), a privately held active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) producer and custom manufacturer, says it has agreed to acquire Borregaard Synthesis's plant at Newburyport, MA for an undisclosed sum. Completion of the deal is...

Solvay lands Girindus.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Solvay says it has successfully completed a public bid for a majority stake in fine chemicals company Girindus (Bensburg, Germany) (CW, June 29/July 6, p. 7). Shareholders representing just over 70% of Girindus's capital accepted Solvay's...

Kemira business heads quit.(appoints Ilpo Jousimaa)(Ulf Koivula and Lennart Johansson resigns)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Kemira says it has appointed Ilpo Jousimaa president of the company's Tikkurila coatings business, succeeding Ulf Koivula, who has left the company. Jousimaa was until recently a v.p. at Tikkurila. Separately Lennart Johansson, head of...

Falling prices hit Borealis.(business & finance news)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Borealis posted a 50% increase in second-quarter net profits, to 451 million [euro] ($62 million), on sales up 4%, to 1.2 billion [euro]. Earnings fell 39% compared with the previous quarter, however, due to "lower industry margins," Borealis...

DSM plans stock split.(DSM Chemicals North America Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... DSM has announced a two-for-one stock split, effective September 5. DSM says its share price has almost doubled since September 2000, and was trading at 62.40[euro]/share last week. The high price "increasingly has the effect of reducing the...

Indian government abandons fertilizer privatizations.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... The Indian government says it has scrapped plans to sell majority stakes in 13 companies, including National Fertilisers Ltd. (NFL; New Delhi) and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF; Mumbai). It says it decided not to privatize...

Bidders line up for Kanebo.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... About 20 companies have submitted initial bids to acquire household products and cosmetics company Kanebo (Tokyo), Japanese press reports say. Bidders include Johnson & Johnson, Kao (Tokyo), L'Oreal, Procter & Gamble, and Revlon, the reports...

Orica CEO retires early.(Malcolm Broomhead)(chief executive officer)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Orica CEO Malcolm Broomhead announced his early retirement, effective August 31, citing health reasons. His successor is Graeme Liebelt, board member and CEO/mining services at Orica. Liebelt's successor as head of mining services has not yet...

BASF plans service center.(business & finance news)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... BASF says it has established a new company that will operate a regional service center located in Kuala Lumpur. The company, BASF Asia Pacific Service Centre, will provide support services in finance and accounting, information technology and...

LG to license Mitsui Technology.(LG Chem, Mitsui Chemicals)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... LG Chem says it has signed an exclusive agreement to license Mitsui Chemicals' vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)-ethylene dichloride technology to third parties. Terms were not disclosed. LG Chem, which owns and licenses its own polyvinyl chloride...

Gail joins Olefins 14 in Iran; eyes China venture.(new construction projects)
August 24, 2005... Gail India (New Delhi) says that a feasibility study for a previously announced 1-million m.t./year gas cracker at Bandar Assaluyeh, Iran using low-cost feedstock from Iran's South Pars field, should be completed next January. Gail says it...

BASF ups surfactant intermediates at Ludwigshafen.(BASF AG)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... BASF says it will raise capacity for the surfactant intermediate dimethylaminopropylamine (DMAPA) at Ludwigshafen from 21,000 m.t./year to 35,000 m.t./year. The company says it is the world's largest producer of DMAPA, which it also makes at...

LG MMA builds plant in Korea.(new construction projects)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... LG MMA Corp. (Yeosu, Korea), a joint venture in which LG Corp. has 50%, and Sumitomo Chemical and Nihon Shokubai 25% each, says it will build a 76,000-m.t./ year methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant at Yeosu by April 2008. The plant will raise LG...

Aker Kvaerner awarded Ibn Zahr PP contract.(polypropylene plant)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Aker Kvaerner says it has been awarded a contract by Ibn Zahr to build a previously announced polypropylene (PP) plant at Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia (CW, Dec. 8, 2004, p. 57). The plant will have capacity for 500,000 m.t./year of PP using the...

Marubeni consortium to supply power, utilities for Petro-Rabigh.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... A Marubeni-led consortium that also includes JGC Corp., Itochu, and ACWA Power (Riyadh) says it has landed an order from Petro-Rabigh to develop a fuel oil-fired cogeneration and desalination plant for a previously announced refining and...

Zimmer secures orders in Italy and Poland.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Zimmer says it has secured plant orders in Italy and Poland. The company will build a plant producing 175,000 m.t./year of polyester chips at Ottana, Italy for Equipolymers (Horgen, Switzerland), a joint venture between Dow Chemical and...

Mitsui expands Phenol in Singapore and Japan.(Mitsui Chemicals )(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Mitsui Chemicals says it will expand phenol capacity in Singapore and Japan. The company's Mitsui Phenol Singapore unit plans to add 50,000 m.t./year by 2007 and a further 50,000 m.t./year at an unspecified later date. The two phases of the...

Revaluation makes history.(Cover Story)
August 24, 2005... The Chinese government made history in July when it increased the value of the country's currency, the renminbi (Rmb), and introduced limited exchange-rate flexibility. The Rmb had been pegged to the U.S. dollar for a decade. The policy...

Boundless opportunities, undoubted future.(Degussa AG)
August 24, 2005... Four years on, the "new" Degussa has successfully completed its start up phase. It has positioned itself as a multinational corporation consistently aligned to high-yield specialty chemistry. Its strategy, has stood the test of time: since...

Three big petrochemical joint ventures come onstream.
August 24, 2005... China's petrochemical industry is expanding rapidly. Two multibillion-dollar petchem joint ventures between leading Chinese and overseas companies have come onstream this year, and a third is due to start operating by year-end. They are the...

New laws should speed project approvals.
August 24, 2005... Long delays to chemical investment projects by overseas companies in China, caused by government bureaucracy and inefficiency, may be a thing of the past. The Chinese government introduced legislation late last year designed to simplify, and...

A soft landing seems likely as demand stays strong.
August 24, 2005... The Chinese government took steps last year to cool the country's economy, which was growing so rapidly that economists feared it was in danger of overheating. Measures included raising interest rates slightly and forcing state-owned banks to...

Biopharma CMOs expect strong growth.(contract manufacturing organizations)
August 24, 2005... Biopharmacuetical contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) expect to grow sales by an average of 11%/year, according to an annual survey of CMOs and biopharma development firms by market research firm BioPlan Associates (Rockville, MD)....

Lonza plans biomanufacturing JV in Singapore.(Lonza joint venture with Bio*One Capital )(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Lonza says it has signed an agreement with biosciences fund management company Bio*One Capital (Singapore) to create a joint venture that will manufacture biopharmaceuticals in Singapore. The jv Will build a plant in Singapore with four...

Merck adds chromatography facility in the U.S.(Merck KGaA)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... EMD Chemicals (Gibbstown, NJ), the U.S. specialty chemical subsidiary of Merck KGaA, says it is building a chromatography technical center for fine chemical separations at Gibbstown that is due online by year-end. The center will be equipped...

Diosynth wins biopharma contract.(from Agenix)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Akzo Nobel's Diosynth biopharma contract manufacturing business says it has signed a deal to produce clinical trial phase Ill quantities of ThromboView, a biopharma drug candidate for the treatment of thrombosis, for biopharma developer...

Profits fall at Siegfried.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Siegfried (Zofingen, Switzerland) says its first half-year operating profits fell 11%, to SF18 million ($22 million), on sales down 15%, to 5F147 million. Sales from activities in pharma intermediates and biologics manufacture increased,...

Sun Pharma buys plant in Hungary.(Sun Pharmaceutical Industries )(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Mumbai) says it has agreed to acquire a pharma manufacturing plant at Budapest, from Valeant Pharmaceuticals (Costa Mesa, CA). The purchase will provide an entry point into the European Union (EU) generics...

Bayer acquires PU Systems house.(Bayer MaterialScience, Polythane Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Bayer MaterialScience says it will acquire systems house Polythane Systems Inc. (PSI; Spring, TX), a distributor of spray polyurethane (PU) foam roofing systems, for an undisclosed sum. Completion of the deal is expected by August 31, Bayer...

ChemCentral acquires in Australia.(Solchem )(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... ChemCentral says it has acquired specialty chemical distributor Solchem (Chipping Norton, AU) for an undisclosed sum. William R. Hough, ChemCentral senior v.p. and director/marketing, has been appointed president of the new enterprise....

Brussels okays food ingredient.(Palatinit)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... The European Commission has approved Palatinit's (Mannheim, Germany) isomaltulose, a sweetener derived from sucrose that will help to reduce the low glycemic and low insulin response of foods, for food and beverage applications, Palatinit...

Specialty price watch.(Imerys)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Imerys says it will raise kaolin product prices for the paper industry, effective October 1 or as contracts allow The increases will average $15/ton for Georgia kaolins, 15 [pounds sterling]/ton for U.K. kaolins, and $30/ton for Brazilian...

Omya to acquire Huber's PCC operation.(Huber Engineered Materials)(precipitated calcium carbonate )(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Omya (Oftringen, Switzerland) is waiting for European Commission approval to acquire Huber Engineered Materials' (HEM) precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) business, which primarily serves the paper market, says Jim Reddy, president of Omya...

Tate & Lyle to invest in two U.S. plants.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Tate & Lyle says it plans to invest a total of 100 million [pounds sterling] ($180.6 million) to expand and make environmental improvements at two of its U.S. facilities. The company says it will invest 43 million [pounds sterling] to expand...

Czech mate! A strategic move in Europe's chemical industry: since the Velvet Revolution in 1989 the Czech Republic has undergone a complete transformation, moving from a Soviet-style planned economy to a market economy in the Western mold. Political and economic reforms culminated in the country's accession to the European Union on 1st May 2004.
August 24, 2005... Situated in the heart of Europe, the Czech Republic shares borders with Germany (its main trading partner), Austria, Poland and Slovakia--the other state created by the Velvet Divorce in 1993. Its economic situation today is, on the whole,...

Nova starts up Texas styrene expansion.(Nova Chemicals )
August 24, 2005... Nova Chemicals has brought a 450-million lbs/year styrene expansion onstream at Bayport, TX, boosting capacity at the plant to 1.7 billion lbs/year, a company official says. The plant was down for 90 days for the expansion. Meanwhile, Nova...

European P-xylene soars on strong demand.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Para-xylene prices have soared by more than $100/m.t. in the past three weeks despite increased supply from refineries, market players say. Robust demand from polyester fiber manufacturers, which account for more than half of p-xylene...

Butadiene prices hit record high.(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Butadiene contract prices rose a penny in August, hitting a record high of 46 cts/lb del. Butadiene supply is tight, driving up prices at a time when those of other olefins have slipped. Contract prices rose 3 cts/lb in April, and 1 cts/lb in...

TPC completes PIB expansion.(Texas Petrochemicals Corp.Texas Petrochemicals L.P.)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Texas Petrochemicals (TPC) says it has completed an expansion of its polyisobutylene (PIB) plant in Houston. The company plans to expand another PIB plant by about 50% by mid-2006. It did not disclose capacity details. TPC says it wants to...

Teijin starts up yarn expansion.(Teijin Twaron B.V.)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... Teijin Twaron (Tokyo) has completed an expansion at its yarn spinning facilities at Emmen, the Netherlands, says project engineer and constructor Aker Kvaerner. The 5-million [euro] ($6.1 million) project boosts para-aramid, high-performance...

Light vehicles drive opportunities for chemical and plastics makers.(automotive chemicals)
August 24, 2005... Despite modest growth forecasts for light vehicles in North America, the sector offers chemical makers growth opportunities, with trends including the increased use of plastics, and outsourcing of functions such as paint and coating...

Commentary.(petrochemicals proces)
August 24, 2005... The unplanned outage at Innovene's Chocolate Bayou, TX cracker and planned maintenance at other crackers have tightened supply and driven up U.S. ethylene spot prices by almost 10 cts/lb in the past two weeks, to 44 cts-44.5 cts/lb dd last...

Study: residents exposed to PFOA should avoid tap water.(perfluorooctanoic acid and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.)
August 24, 2005... A recent study of four Ohio communities' exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and possible adverse health effects concludes that there is no direct link between high levels of PFOA in drinking water and residents' liver and thyroid...

Groups urge strict new vinyl chloride rules.(polyvinyl chloride and Clean Air Act)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... A coalition of environmental groups has asked EPA to issue new rules that would require polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producers to install state-of-the-art pollution controls for vinyl chloride air emissions. The coalition, led by Earthjustice...

Court revives New Jersey lead paint lawsuits.(public nuisance case between municipalities and paint manufacturers)(Brief Article)
August 24, 2005... An appeals court panel has ruled that dozens of New Jersey municipalities can go forward with public nuisance lawsuits against former lead-based paint manufacturers, reversing a lower court's 2002 decision that found that plaintiffs had...

Rutherford's new lease on life: thriving in private hands.(Rutherford Chemicals and Arsenal Capital Co.)
August 24, 2005... When Rutherford Chemicals (Bayonne, NJ) was acquired by private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners (New York) in November 2003, its five business units were run as distinct entities all with independent management and business processes....

Another slowdown.
August 24, 2005... Initial estimates of second-quarter GDP indicate a modest slowdown to an annualized rate of 3.4%, compared to 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (Washington). A massive drawdown...

CW75 stock performance.(chemical industry )
August 24, 2005... Chemical stocks stumbled for the week ending August 24 on news of spiking crude oil and natural gas prices, and a cooling economy, analysts say. The CW75 Index fell 1.6%, lagging broader market indexes including the Morgan Stanley global...

Paying for performance?(chemical industry executive compensation survey)
August 17, 2005... With the chemical industry enjoying an upcycle it's a pretty rewarding time to be a top executive. According to CW's annual survey of 2004 proxy statements filed by chemical firms, the average short-term compensation figure for 2004 was up by...

Ashland creates new 'growth' exec.(Ashland Chemical Co. appoints Walter H. Solomon as chief growth officer)(Brief Article)
August 17, 2005... Ashland says it has named Walter H. Solomon as chief growth officer, a new management position, reporting to James J. O'Brien, chairman and CEO. The new position aims to drive Ashland's growth agenda in specialty chemicals, following its...

3M to cut jobs at U.K. adhesives unit.(Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.)(Brief Article)
August 17, 2005... 3M says it will cut 60 jobs at its Gorseinon, U.K. plant, about 15% of the total there, by the end of October. "Faced with raw material price increases and aggressive challenges from overseas manufacturers, the Gorseinon plant needs to...

Maersk acquires P&O Nedlloyd.(A.P. Moller-Maersk Line)(Brief Article)
August 17, 2005... AP Moller-Maersk (Copenhagen) says that it secured 95.6% of the shares of shipping firm Royal P&O Nedlloyd (London). The European Commission approved the 2.3 billion [euro] ($34 billion) deal earlier this month, providing that P&O divest its...