Chemical Week articles from February 2011

Chemical Week archives from February 2011

CW in India.(CHEMWEEK.COM)(Conference notes)
February 21, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CW editors attended the Fourth Annual India Chemical Industry Conference, held last week in Mumbai. Speakers say the Indian chemical industry will average double-digit growth over the next thirty years and will need a...

Aromatics Uneven in U.S. and Europe.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
February 21, 2011... Some aromatics prices rose while others remained flat, with divergences among specific products, chemweek.com/pricewatch

Weekly round-up.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
February 21, 2011... The top stories from our website, plus a selection of stories from around the web, every Friday afternoon.chemweek.com/chem_ideas

Bayer starts up C[O.sub.2]-to-plastics.(CHEMWEEK.COM)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bayer has started up-a pilot plant at Leverkusen designed to produce a chemical precursor to plastics with carbon dioxide as a feedstock. If all goes according to plan, the technology will be ready for industrial-scale...

Budgeting for the environment.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
February 21, 2011... Celanese executive Jim Alder explains how to build environmental responsibility into budget processes. chemweek.com/chem_ideas

BASF 'Concerned' about Libya.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
February 21, 2011... BASF's oil and gas subsidiary has halted production in Libya due to the political turmoil there, chemweek.com/home/top_of the news

Most read stories online.(Chemweek 24 7)
February 21, 2011... As of CW press time on Thursday Feb. 24 1. BASF 'Concerned' About Situation in Libya 2. BASF's Quarterly Results Rise on Improved Economic Conditions 3. CW Conference: India Needs One WorldScale Cracker Each Year 4. CW Conference:...

M&A snaps back.(VIEWPOINT)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Improved industry earnings, loosening credit markets, and cash-heavy balance sheets have fueled a strong recovery in chemical M&A activity. Europe is in the spotlight in early 2011 with assertive moves by DuPont, in a $6.3-billion bid for...

Assessing risk, costs and benefits: in Washington, experts look beyond politics for answers.(CW FOCUS)
February 21, 2011... Regulations, and their impact on business in a weak economy, have become the focus of intense political pressure. The renewed attention has given industry hope that the benefits of regulations will be more carefully weighed against costs to...

Lanxess ups Gevo stake.(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Lanxess says it has increased its minority stake in Gevo (Englewood, CO) to 9.1% after investing $17 million in the biofuel and biochemical firm's IPO earlier this month (p.14). The move reflects "the good progress," made in developing isobutene...

Valspar buys in Brazil.(Isocoat Tintas e Vernizes)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Valspar says it has acquired Isocoat Tintas e Vernizes, an Aracariguama, Brazil-based producer of powder coatings. Financial terms were not disclosed. Isocoat posted sales of $34 million in 2010.

Oxea boosts esters.(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Oxea says it will boost capacity of its Oberhausen, Germany specialty esters plant by 40% by the second half of the year. Oxea also plans to build a new ester unit at Oberhausen due for start up in the second half of 2012. Oxea cites growing...

Elevance adds catalyst.(Elevance Renewable Sciences )(XiMo)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Elevance Renewable Sciences (Bolingbrook, IL) says it has licensed tungsten- and molybdenum-based metathesis catalysts from XiMo, a Rapperswil, Switzerland-based catalyst developer, for use in producing biochemicals from natural oils. Terms were...

Chemtura ups additives.(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Chemtura says it will increase capacity for two of its petroleum additives to meet growing global demand. A polyalphaolefin capacity increase at Elmira, ON is due for completion in the second quarter, and the firm will boost capacity for its...

CNTBio okays Bayer seed.(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Bayer CropScience says it has received approval from Brazil's National Biosafety Technical Commission (CTNBio) for its TwinLink genetically modified cotton.The seeds still have to be approved by Brazil's Minister of Agriculture.

Dow to repay $1.5 billion in debt this quarter.
February 21, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dow Chemical says it will pay down $1.5 billion in debt during the first quarter, including a $750-million tender for high-cost bonds issued during the 2009 economic crisis to help finance its acquisition of Rohm and...

Judge blocks restart of Bayer MIC plant.(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... A federal judge has issued a restraining order temporarily prohibiting Bayer CropScience from starting its methyl isocyanate (MIC) plant at Institute, WV after local residents sued to block the restart. The facility was the site of a 2008...

Monsanto acquires Nematicide developer.
February 21, 2011... Monsanto says it has acquired privately held biotech firm Divergence (St. Louis) for an undisclosed sum. Monsanto says Divergence has "promising tools" in its pipeline to combat nematodes, an "increasingly pervasive" agricultural pest. The two...

DuPont advances soybeans, sorghum.(E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... DuPont says it plans to invest more than $50 million over the next five years to expand its genetically modified soybean R&D facilities at Wilmington, DE and Newark, DE. The expansion plan includes soybean research laboratories, tissue...

Samsung, MEMC form polysilicon jv, plan production plant in Korea.(Samsung Fine Chemicals)(MEMC Electronic Materials Inc.)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Samsung Fine Chemicals (SFC; Seoul) and MEMC Electronic Materials (St. Peters, MO) have formed a 50-50 jv to build a 10,000 m,t./ year high-purity polysilicon plant at SFC's Ulsan. Korea site. The plant is expected to begin production in 2013....

BASF's net profits more than doubled; DSM and Rhodia report improved earnings.(Financial report)
February 21, 2011... BASF's net profits more than doubled in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared with the same period of 2009, to 1.1 billion [euro] ($1.5 billion) on sales up 25%, to 16.4 billion [euro]. The company cites a "favorable business environment;' Ebit...

Yara and BASF halt production in Libya.(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Yara says it has halted production at its Lifeco fertilizer joint venture in Libya due to violent unrest that has spread across the country this month. The company says that the move is a precautionary measure. The plant is located at Marsa El...

Abu Dhabi's IPIC takes control of Cepsa.(International Petroleum Investment Co.)(Compania Espanola de Petroleos S.A.)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC; Abu Dhahi) says it has agreed to buy Total's 48.83% stake in oil and petrochemicals company Cepsa (Madrid) for 3.7 billion [euro] ($5 billion). IPIC currently has a 47.06% stake in Cepsa. The deal is...

Shell sells refinery.(Essar Energy)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Shell says it has received a $1.3-billion offer from Essar Energy (Mumbai) to acquire Shell's refinery at Stanlow, U.K. The companies have signed an exclusivity agreement until April 1, 2011 under which break fees would be payable if either...

Solvay acquires mine.(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Solvay has acquired a fluorspar mine at Chiprovtsi, Bulgaria from the N&N Group. The deal reinforces the vertical integration of Solvay's fluorinated specialty polymers and fluorinated special chemicals production at a competitive cost,...

Azelis buys U.K. firm.(S&D Group)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Specialty chemicals distributor Azelis (Antwerp) says it has agreed to acquire most of S&D Group (Harrow, U.K.) from S&D's co-founder Peter Straus. S&D specializes in the distribution of raw materials and ingredients to the...

Clariant acquires Sud-Chemie for 2 billion [euro].(TOP OF THE WEEK)
February 21, 2011... Clariant has agreed to acquire almost all of Sud-Chemie (Munich) in a deal valued at C2 billion ($2.7 billion). Clariant expects to complete the transaction in the first half of 2011. The company announced the deal at its annual results...

Air products drops bid for Airgas after court ruling.(TOP OF THE WEEK)(Air Products and Chemicals Inc.)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Air Products abandoned its $5.9-billion hostile bid for Airgas earlier this month following a decision by the Delaware Chancery Court that upheld Airgas' poison pill, preventing a shareholder vote on Air Products' $70/share offer. "It is...

Commodity firms close 2010 on a high note.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
February 21, 2011... Higher volumes and selling prices continued to propel fourth-quarter profits ahead of analysts' estimates. Huntsman, the only firm to post a decline in income, reported earnings of $30 million (12 cts/share) for its fiscal quarter ended December...

Myriant signs deal with Davy to advance biobutanediol.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Davy Process Technology)(MYriant Technologies)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... MYriant Technologies, a maker of biobased chemicals, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Davy Process Technology (DPT; London) covering the use of Myriaut's biobased succinic acid in Davy's butanediol, tetrahydrofuran, and...

House passes budget blocking EPA climate regulations.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
February 21, 2011... House lawmakers passed a budget bill that includes amendments blocking EPA from regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and restricting the agency's authority for mandating that gasoline blends contain specified amounts of renewable fuels such...

Air products adds hydrogen and oxygen capacity in Ohio.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Air Products and Chemicals Inc.)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Air Products says it will build an air separation unit (ASU) and steam methane reformer (SMR) at its Middletown, OH facility, and will modernize an existing ASU and liquefier at the site. The ASU and SMR are due onstream in the fourth quarter of...

Tronox emerges from bankruptcy protection.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Tronox emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 14, about three months after receiving court approval for its reorganization plan. Tronox filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009 citing a need for relief from legacy...

Improving demand lifts fourth quarter specialty profits.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
February 21, 2011... Earnings were strong at specialty chemicals firms in the fourth quarter as volumes continued to improve across most segments. Increases in raw material costs and weakness in construction negatively impacted some businesses, however. Rockwood...

S&P study says climate policies unlikely to pose credit risk.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
February 21, 2011... A study by Standard & Poor's (S&P; New York) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) found that federal climate action is unlikely to pose a major credit risk to U.S. chemical companies. Ten of thirteen commodity chemical sub-sectors...

BHP enters shale gas market in $4.75-billion deal.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
February 21, 2011... Australian mining firm BHP Billiton says it will enter the U.S. shale gas market in a $4.75-billion deal with Chesapeake Energy (Oklahoma City, OK). BHP Billiton will acquire about 487,000 net acres of Chesapeake's leasehold and producing...

EPA issues final boiler MACT rule, plans 'reconsideration'.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
February 21, 2011... EPA has issued a court-ordered final rule for reducing air toxics emissions from industrial boilers. However, because the final rule differs significantly from the agency's proposed rule, EPA says it expects an additional public comment period...

FMC buys back shares, raises dividend.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... FMC has launched a new $250 million share repurchase program, adding to a program for the same amount launched in April 2007. There is about $55 million remaining in the older progral, under which the company repurchased $135 million in shares...

Dupont jv suing Gevo for patent infringement.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Butamax Advanced Biofuel)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Butamax Advanced Biofuel (Wilmington, DE), a joint venture formed between DuPont and BP, has filed a patent infringement suit against isobutanol producer Gevo (Englewood, CO), which recently completed an initial public offering (IPO). The patent...

Leading producers post higher earnings and sales.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: EUROPE/MIDEAST)(Financial report)
February 21, 2011... Most European chemical companies reported improved fourth-quarter m 2010 sales and earnings because of stronger volumes and selling price increases. They are mostly optimistic that demand will continue to improve in 2011. Raw material costs,...

EU places first six substances on reach authorization list.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: EUROPE/MIDEAST)
February 21, 2011... The European Commission has moved six chemical substances "of very high concern" from the candidate list to the authorization list under the European Union's (EU) Reach regulation. It means that the substances will be banned in the EU within 3-5...

DSM buys stake in UHMW-PE fiber manufacturer in China.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: ASIA/PACIFIC)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... DSM says it has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Shandong ICD High Performance Fibre (ICD; Laiwu, China). ICD is a manufacturer of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) fiber and is a potentially strong player in...

DIC reports rise in earnings; Showa Denko swings to profit.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: ASIA/PACIFIC)(Financial report)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... DIC Corp. (Tokyo) recorded a 93% I rise in net profits for the fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2010 to [yen]4.4 billion ($53 million), compared with the year-ago period. Third-quarter sales decreased 2.8%, to [yen]194.5 billion. The fall...

Lanxess to relocate facilities in India.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: ASIA/PACIFIC)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Lanxess says it will relocate the manufacture of products including leather chemicals and material protection products, as well as products made by the company's Rhein Chemie subsidiary, from Madurai, India to the Lanxess site at Jhagadia,...

Atul forms dyestuffs jv with Swiss company.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: ASIA/PACIFIC)(M Dohmen)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Chemical company Atul (Valsad, India) says it has formed a 50-50 joint venture with dyestuffs firm M Dohmen (San Vittore, Switzerland). The jv will enable Atul to offer to its customers in India and certain other new markets the entire range of...

BP increases PTA capacity in China including a new plant.(NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS)(purified terephthalic acid)(BP Zhuhai Chemical Co.)
February 21, 2011... BP says it is proceeding with a project that will result in a major increase in purified terephthalic acid (PTA) production capacity at the company's BP Zhuhai Chemical Co. subsidiary at Zhuhai, China. BP Zhuhai is a joint venture between BP and...

Shaw awarded contract for ethylene expansion by Qapco.(NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS)
February 21, 2011... The Shaw Group says it has been awarded a contract by Qatar Petrochemical Co. (Qapco; Doha) to provide basic engineering services for the expansion of Qapco's 720,000-m.t./year ethylene plant at Mesaieed, Qatar. The contract will provide the...

Kemira builds coagulant plants at bayer sites in Germany and Spain.(NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Kemira says it will build two coagulant plants in Europe with an investment of 40 million [euro] ($54.5 million). The plants are expected to be operational in 2012. They will be built at sites owned and operated by Bayer MaterialScience at...

Tokuyama begins construction of polysilicon facility in Malaysia.(Tokuyama Malaysia)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Tokuyama (Tokyo) says its Tokuyama Malaysia (Kuching) subsidiary will soon begin construction of a previously announced polysilicon manufacturing facility at the Samalaju Industrial Park in the state of Sarawak. The facility will require an...

Linde builds gases plants in Philippines and Sri Lanka.(NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Linde says its Linde Philippines subsidiary will invest pesos 219 million ($5 million) to build a 24-m.t./day carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]) plant at the company's Balamban, Philippines site. The plant is expected to be onstream in January 2012,...

Industrial gases: growth back on track.(Cover story)(Company overview)
February 21, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Industrial gases profits rebounded strongly in 2010 after a relatively weak 2009. "The first half of 2010 was about stabilization, then toward the end of the year we started to see some recovery in the U.S. and Europe,"...

M&A heats up in Western Europe.
February 21, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] M&A in Europe has started the year with a bang with DuPont's $6.3-billion offer for Danisco and Clariant's proposed 2-billion [euro] offer for almost all of Sud-Chemie. The combined value of the two deals is nearly...

Global M&A snaps back, a strong 2011 expected.
February 21, 2011... Overall value and volumes are below the frenzied levels of 2007 but chemical M&A is active again. Some $36 billion in chemical deals were completed in 2010, up 44% from 2009, says Peter Young, president of Young & Partners (Y&P; New...

Volumes pick up, but cost increases pinch margins.(PAINTS AND COATINGS)
February 21, 2011... Global paints and coatings makers reported higher fourth-quarter 2010 sales compared with the year-ago period as a result of improved volumes and higher selling prices. Revenue growth was driven by continued strong demand from Asia and Latin...

ACI: California's hazard traits rule should be withdrawn.(SPECIALTIES)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... The American Cleaning Institute (ACI; Washington) says California's rule for identifying hazard traits is confusing and exceeds the state's authority vested by the statute. The hazard trait rule is part of California's landmark green chemistry...

Feedstock prices soar after fire at enterprise facility.(MARKETS)
February 21, 2011... North American ethylene prices spiked in the wake of Enterprise Product Partners' outage at its Mont Belvieu, TX natural gas storage facility. Supply constraints drove spot ethylene to hit a three-month high in the week following the fire,...

Huntsman to boost polyetheramine capacity.(DIGEST)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Huntsman says it will expand polyetheramine capacity by 40,000 m.t./year at Jurong Island, Singapore. The expansion will cost about $70 million and will bring capacity to about 56,000 m.t./year, Huntsman says. "In the last few years demand has...

Braskem restarts Camacari units after power outage.(DIGEST)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Braskem says it has restarted two ethylene units at its Camacari petrochemicals complex at Bahia, Brazil, after the plants went offline in early February due to an unexpected power outage. The blackout interrupted production at the complex's two...

Celanese to boost EVA capacity.(BASIC CHEMICALS & PLASTICS)(ethylene vinyl acetate)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Celanese says it will expand ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) capacity by about 15% at its Edmonton, AB facility in the second half of 2011 due to strong demand growth. Global EVA production increases are fueled by growth in the photovoltaic cell...

Dow completes EO conversion.(BASIC CHEMICALS & PLASTICS)(Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Michigan))(ethylene oxide)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Dow Chemical says it has finished the conversion of one of its ethylene oxide-ethylene glycol (EO-EG) production units to EO-only at its St. Charles, LA facility. The decision is a move to strengthen the competitiveness of the company's EO-EG...

CW75 stock performance.(Statistical table)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... The CW75 Index fell 1.7% for the week ended February 22. The Morgan Stanley global composite was flat, and the Standard & Poor's 500 fell 1%. The stock market declined due to investor concerns about the political uncertainty in Libya. ...

Huntsman.(KEY CHANGERS--LEADING INDICATOR)(appointment of Anthony Hankins)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Huntsman has appointed Anthony Hankins CEO/Asia Pacific, a new position. Hankins is also president/polyurethanes and will continue in that role. He will be based in Hong Kong, which will become the headquarters of Huntsman's polyurethanes...

Valspar.(appointment of Gary Hendrickson)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Valspar has named Gary Hendrickson CEO, effective June 1. Hendrickson succeeds William Mansfield, the company's CEO since 2005. He first joined the company in 1994, and is currently president and COO, having served in that role since 2008....

Westlake.(promotions)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Westlake has made two executive appointments. Mike Mattina has been named v.p. and general manager/North American Pipe Corporation. Mattina was most recently v.p./commercial for the firm's polyethylene business. He joined Westlake in 2001. He...

AkzoNobel.(KEY CHANGERS--LEADING INDICATOR)(appointments)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... AkzoNobel has made two new appointments. George Nolan has been named North American communications manager, effective March 8. Nolan was most recently an account group supervisor for GolinHarris, a public relations firm, where he represented Dow...

Avantor Performance Materials.(KEY CHANGERS--LEADING INDICATOR)(appointment of JeanMarc Gilson)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... Avantor Performance Materials has named JeanMarc Gilson CEO. Gilson was most recently executive v.p. and general manager/specialty chemicals business for Dow Corning. He has over two decades of experience in the chemicals industry, having first...

Richman Chemical.(KEY CHANGERS--LEADING INDICATOR)
February 21, 2011... Christopher Kulp has been named vice president Richman Chemical. Kulp joined the company in 1998, and has served as director/contract services since 2007.

U.S. Chemicals.(appointments)(Brief article)
February 21, 2011... U.S. Chemicals has made three appointments. David Harp has been named director/business development after nearly twenty years with Arizona Chemical, where he served in various roles. Bill Boydston has been named director/international sales. He...

Indicator up again.(KEY CHANGERS--LEADING INDICATOR)
February 21, 2011... The leading indicator for the chemical industry rose 1.2% in February, the seventh consecutive monthly advance. Output in the chemical industry has also been growing for all but one of the past seven months. The current momentum indicates a...

Informex: news from the show floor.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
February 7, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CW reports on the latest news at specialty chemicals expo Informex USA live from Charlotte, NC. A straw poll shows industry is bullish for the year ahead. Sustainable technology competition winners were announced....

Innovation round-up.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
February 7, 2011... A collection of the most important innovation stories from CW published every Wednesday. chemweek.com/chem_ideas

Fire rattles ethylene market.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
February 7, 2011... A fire at Enterprise Products Partners' natural gas liquids storage facility in Texas affects ethylene prices, chemweek.com/pricewatch

International year of chemistry begins.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
February 7, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The UN International Year of Chemistry has started with official launches in the U.S. and Europe. CW reporters were at both events (p.12). News articles, interviews and presentations are available online,...

EPA to assess impact of fracking.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
February 7, 2011... EPA has completed plans for assessing the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water supplies, chemsustainability.com

Patents: a double-edged sword?(CHEMWEEK.COM)
February 7, 2011... A blog on the pitfalls related to patent filings that face pharmaceutical companies. chemweek.com/chem_ideas

Most read stories online.(Chemweek 24 7)
February 7, 2011... As of CW press time on Thursday Feb. 10 1. Industry Welcomes EU's Longer Term, Linked Approach to Innovation and Energy 2. Syngenta Forms New Business Model; Reports Improved Results 3. Kemira's Quarterly Profits Rise 4. Informex...

Raw strength.(VIEWPOINT)
February 7, 2011... Chemical makers are feeling optimistic about 2011 prospects as stout fourth-quarter earnings cap a stellar 2010 (p. 6, 11). Companies expect earnings and volume growth to advance again in 2011 as recovery in the global economy continues to...

Praxair sells homecare.(Apria Healthcare Group Inc.)(Brief article)
February 7, 2011... Praxair says it has entered into an agreement to sell its homecare business to home healthcare provider Apria (Lake Forest, CA). Terms were not disclosed. The unit has sales of about $150 million/year. The deal is expected to close this quarter.

Innophos ups capacity.(Innophos Holdings Inc.)(Brief article)
February 7, 2011... Innophos Holdings says it plans to increase tri-calcium phosphate capacity at its Chicago Heights, IL facility by 25% by mid-2011. The company cites a "significant increase" in demand, particularly in the beverage and dairy markets.

Schulman shuts sites.(A. Schulman Inc. (Akron, Ohio))(Brief article)
February 7, 2011... A. Schulman will close a plant in Italy, and consolidate operations in Australia in a move aimed at reducing costs. Schulman says it will transfer specialty powders production from Verolanuova, Italy to Gorla Maggiore, Italy by early 2012. The...

BASF licenses PLA.(polylactic acid)(Brief article)
February 7, 2011... BASF says it has licensed a Metabolix (Cambridge, MA) patent to produce and market polylactic acid (PLA) and polybutylene adipate-coterephthalate compounds under BASF's trade name Ecovio. Ecovio is a blend of BASF's Ecoflex copolyester and...

Segetis adds capacity.(Brief article)
February 7, 2011... Segetis (Golden Valley, MN) says it is building additional capacity for its biobased solvent and non-phthalate plasticizers. The new facility is located at an undisclosed contract manufacturer. Segetis says the expansion will enable it to...

Chemlogics stake.
February 7, 2011... One Equity Partners (OEP; New York), the global private investment arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co., has acquired a 37% equity stake in oil and gas chemicals firm Chemlogics Group. Financial terms were not disclosed.

CPChem appoints new CEO, adds COO.
February 7, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) has appointed Peter Cella president and CEO of the company, effective February 8. Cella replaces Greg Garland, who departed the company in October after being named the senior...