Chemical Week articles from June 2011

Chemical Week archives from June 2011

Chemspec: Agchems lift growth.(CHEMWEEK.COM)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Strong demand for agricultural chemicals is lifting the entire fine chemicals sector, CW reported from Chemspec 2011 in Geneva earlier this month. The strong first quarter is a marked contrast to the dark days of the...

Cefic raises output forecast.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
June 20, 2011... Cefic raised its 2011 EU output growth forecast for chemicals from 2.5% to 4.5%. chemweek.com/home/top_of_the_news

Czech firm for sale, again.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
June 20, 2011... Polish firm Anwil has put Spolana, its Czech subsidiary, up for sale three years after buying it. chemweek.com/people_and_business

Problems with reach changes.(CHEMWEEK.COM)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] European fine chemicals producers are unhappy with what they regard as overly burdensome changes to rules regarding Reach management of intermediate chemicals. The new, more restrictive, rules could cost the industry...

Olefins down in U.S. and Europe.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
June 20, 2011... Most spot olefins prices fell on both sides of the Atlantic last week, although butadiene continued to rise. chemweek.com/pricewatch

Chemical finance digest.(CHEMWEEK.COM)
June 20, 2011... A new weekly look at CW's finance coverage, including M&A, debt markets, and macroeconomic news. chemweek.com/chem_ideas

Most read stories online.(Chemweek 247)
June 20, 2011... As of CW press time on Thursday, June 23 1. Solvay to Invest C120 Million to Build Specialty Polymers Plant in China 2. Indonesia Plans Two Large Urea Plants in East Java 3. EU Rejects Development of Separate Nanomaterials Regulation ...

Second half outlook.(VIEWPOINT)(Conference notes)
June 20, 2011... The recent U.S. slowdown has clouded industry's outlook for full-year 2011. The U.S. clearly hit a soft patch in the second quarter, Fried-Walter Munstermann, executive v.p. and CFO of BASF Corp, told attendees of CW's Chief Financial Officer...

APAO capacity hike.(amorphous polyalpha-olefins)(Rextac)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Rextac (Odessa, TX) says it will more than double capacity of amorphous polyalpha-olefins (APAO), to 180 million lbs/year, at its Odessa facility. The company will restart an idled reactor at the site; it is due onstream within 12 months. Rextac...

Gevo isobutanol JV.(joint venture)(Redfield Energy )(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Biobased isobutanol producer Gevo (Englewood, CO) has formed a joint venture with Redfield Energy (Redfield, SD) under which Gevo will retrofit Redfield's existing 50-million gals/year ethanol plant into a 38-million gals/year isobutanol plant....

Boron nitride boost.(Momentive Performance Materials Inc.)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Momentive Performance Materials has broken ground on a $5.8-million expansion at its specialty ceramic powders plant at Strongsville, OH. The project will increase capacity of boron nitride powder, a specialty ceramic material used in...

Compass hikes capacity.(Compass Minerals )(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Compass Minerals says it will boost magnesium chloride capacity at Ogden, UT from 550,000 liquid tons to 1 million tons due to growing demand for the product. The additional capacity will come onstream incrementally, with full availability...

Exxonmobil delays start of Singapore cracker.(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... ExxonMobil will delay the start-up of its 1-million m.t./ year ethylene plant on Jurong Island, Singapore until 2012, due to longer-than-expected safety checks needed for the project, local reports say, quoting an ExxonMobil official. The...

Fuller's earnings up on higher pricing, volumes.(H.B. Fuller Co.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... H.B. Fuller reported second-quarter net income of $25.1 million, more than double year-ago results of $11 million. Earnings of 50 cts/share beat analysts' consensus of 46 cts/ share, as reported by Reuters Thomson (New York). Sales rose 13%, to...

Agrium lifts second-quarter earnings outlook.(Financial report)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Agrium says it expects second-quarter earnings from continuing operations to be $4.10-$4.40/share, up from prior guidance of $3.38-$3.88/share, citing "very strong" performance in its retail business, and higher selling prices. "The strength in...

House panel advances plant security legislation.(Congress. House. Committee on Homeland Security)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The House Homeland Security Committee approved the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Security Authorization Act of 2011. Industry groups welcomed the approval, which would extend the Chemical Anti-Terrorism Standards...

Huntsman launches presidential bid.(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Jon Huntsman Jr., a former executive at Huntsman Corp., declared his bid for the U.S. presidency last week. Huntsman, viewed as a moderate Republican, served as vice chairman executive committee member at Huntsman Corp. from 19932001. He is the...

Syngenta sales on track to double, to $17 billion after 2015.(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Syngenta says it plans to double its combined sales of agchems, seeds, and related agchem solutions to more than $17 billion/year after 2015. Syngenta's senior executives outlined the growth plans to analysts at a capital markets day held...

Seven substances added to reach candidate list.(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA; Helsinki) has added seven substances to the Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation of Chemicals (Reach) candidate list of substances of very high concern (SVHC). The additions take the number of...

Russian Potash firms complete merger.
June 20, 2011... Uralkali (Berezniki) and Silvinit (Solikamsk), Russia's biggest producers of potash, have completed their previously announced merger. The deal creates the world's second-biggest supplier of potash by capacity, behind PotashCorp and ahead of...

BorsodChem to expand MDI capacity.(methylene di-para-phenylene isocyanate)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... BorsodChem (Kazincbarcika, Hungary) will start work on July 22 on a project to expand methylene di-para-phenylene isocyanate (MDI) capacity at Kazincbarcika by 90,000 m.t./year, to 240,000 m.t./ year. BorsodChem says it is the only European...

Borealis closures.(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Borealis says it will close permanently two melamine plants with combined capacity for 30,000 m.t./year at the company's Linz, Austria site. One of the units, a 10,000-m.t./year facility, was decommissioned in January 2010. The second unit, a...

CABB acquisition.( KemFine )(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... CABB (Sulzbach/Taunus, Germany) has agreed to buy KemFine (Helsinki), a custom manufacturer of fine chemicals, from private equity firm 3i (London). KemFine's focus is on intermediates and active ingredients mainly for the agchem market....

Solvay invests.(Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium))(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Solvay has signed an agreement with Tianjin Soda Ash Plant (Tianjin, China), under which Solvay will invest 16 million [euro] ($23 million) to acquire a 30% stake in a soda ash plant at Bin Hal near Tianjin. Solvay will also provide loan...

Akzonobel names Ton Buchner as its next CEO.(TOP OF THE WEEK)(appointment of Ton Buchner as chief executive officer at AkzoNobel NV)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... AkzoNobel's supervisory board has appointed Ton Buchner as the company's next CEO, following a decision by Hans Wijers to step down at the AkzoNobel annual meeting in 2012. Buchner has been CEO of pump maker Sulzer (Winterthur, Switzerland)...

PetroLogistics plans $600 million IPO.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(PetroLogistics's financial news)(Financial report)
June 20, 2011... PetroLogistics (Houston) has filed for an initial public offering (IPO), seeking to raise $600 million. The company did not disclose the size of the stake, and no date has been set for the offer yet. PetroLogistics owns and operates a propane...

DuPont outlines seed growth drivers.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
June 20, 2011... DuPont says it expects its ariculture and nutrition segment, which includes seed, crop protection, and nutrition and health business, to deliver annual sales growth of 8%-10% through 2015 and increase operating margins to 19%-21% over the same...

Shell outlines plans for North American derivatives business.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
June 20, 2011... As it develops plans to build a world-scale ethylene plant integrated with derivative units in the Northeast U.S., Shell Chemicals says it also expects strong growth for its existing petrochemical intermediates business in North America. The...

Alfa to acquire Wellman's U.S. PET business.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
June 20, 2011... Grupo Alfa's (Monterrey, Mexico) DAK Americas unit has agreed to acquire Wellman's polyethylene terephthalate (PET) business for $185 million. The deal includes Wellman's PET resin facility in Bay St. Louis, MS, which has production capacity of...

Eastman to buy Sterling Chemicals for $100 million.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
June 20, 2011... Eastman Chemical says it will acquire Sterling Chemicals (Houston) for $100 million in cash. Sterling produces single-site plasticizers and acetic acids at Texas City, TX. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, and will be...

Praxair expands Gulf Coast capacity.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
June 20, 2011... Praxair says it will expand hydrogen capacity in Texas and Louisiana. The company also plans to extend its Mississippi River corridor hydrogen pipeline system as part of a long-term supply agreement for 270 million standard cubic feet per day...

Supreme Court upholds industry petition in GHG case.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)
June 20, 2011... The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a petition by industry which sought to reverse a lower court ruling allowing states to litigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission policies on the grounds that GHGs create a public nuisance. The 8-0 decision was...

Senators vote to repeal ethanol tax subsidies.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to repeal ethanol tax subsidies, reversing course on what has been a long-standing political imperative led by U.S. lawmakers representing farm states. A separate measure aimed at ending federal aid for...

Molycorp completes rare earths project funding.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: UNITED STATES/AMERICAS)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Molycorp (Greenwood Village, CO) has completed funding for its $781-million rare earths expansion project at Mountain Pass, CA. The project includes a mine and processing facility. "Beginning next year, we expect to significantly ramp up...

Lubrizol CFO and COO to depart after Berkshire deal.
June 20, 2011... Lubrizol says that Stephen Kirk, executive v.p. and COO, and Charles Cooley, senior v.p. and CFO, will both retire from the company within a few weeks after the close of Berkshire Hathaway's acquisition of Lubrizol. Brian Valentine, currently...

CFO conference: growing through uncertainty.
June 20, 2011... Industry executives, economists and bankers discussed the challenges of keeping growth steady in an uncertain economic environment at Chemical Week's annual CFO Conference, held last week in New York. "The chemical industry had a powerful start...

Ineos acquires Tessenderlo's PVC and Chlor-Alkali business.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: EUROPE/MIDEAST)(polyvinyl chloride)(acquisitions)
June 20, 2011... Ineos's Kerling subsidiary has agreed to acquire Tessenderlo Group's polyvinyl chloride (PVC) activities, including Tessenderlo's chlor-alkali operations and part of the company's organic chlorine derivatives (OCD) operation. The purchase price...

Oman restructures refinery and Petchem operations under new name.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: EUROPE/MIDEAST)(Oman Oil Co. contract with Sohar Refinery Co.)
June 20, 2011... Oman has completed a restructuring that combined and integrated the country's Oman Refineries and Petrochemicals, Aromatics Oman, and Oman Polypropylene companies under the new name Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Co. (Orpic;...

AkzoNobel converts Chlor-Alkali plant to membrane technology.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: EUROPE/MIDEAST)
June 20, 2011... AkzoNobel is investing 140 million [euro] ($201.2 million) in a project to convert an outdated mercury-process chlor-alkali plant at Frankfurt to membrane technology. The plant's capacity will also be expanded to 250,000 m.t./year of chlorine...

Private equity firm buys K+S home and garden business.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: EUROPE/MIDEAST)(K+S Group acquired with Triton (Frankfurt))(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... K+S Group (Kassel, Germany) has agreed to sell its Compo home and garden products business to private equity firm Triton (Frankfurt). The deal has an enterprise value of 205 million [euro] ($293 million) and K+S expects a cash inflow, after the...

ENI to close ethylene complex; convert site to bio-based chemical production.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: EUROPE/MIDEAST)
June 20, 2011... ENI (Rome) will permanently cease the production of almost all petrochemicals at the company's Porto Torres, Italy complex under a plan to convert the site into a previously announced bio-based chemicals hub. The company will continue to produce...

China bans import and sale of DEHP-tainted food products.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: ASIA/PACIFIC)
June 20, 2011... China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA; Beijiug) has ordered a ban on eight food products and additives manufactured by four Chinese companies after the products were found to be tainted with di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP),...

BASF to expand emission catalysts capacity in China and Japan.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: ASIA/PACIFIC)
June 20, 2011... BASF says it will invest C40 million ($58 million) over the next two years to double production capacity for mobile emission catalysts at the company's regional manufacturing hub at Shanghai. The expansion is expected to be completed in 2013....

Celanese advances ethanol start-up in China.(BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS: ASIA/PACIFIC)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Celanese says it expects to begin industrial ethanol production in China earlier than previously announced. The company signed letters of intent last January to build industrial ethanol production facilities at Nanjing and Zhuhai, which would...

Sabic in carbon fiber technology deal with Montefibre.(NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS)
June 20, 2011... Sabic says it has signed a technology agreement with Montefibre (Milan) granting Sabic and its affiliates an "extensive international license" for Montefibre's carbon fiber technology. Sabic will initially use the technology in an approximately...

Evonik licenses technology for HPPO plant in China.(NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS)(hydrogen peroxide-to-propylene oxide )(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Evonik Industries has signed a non-exclusive agreement to license technology for a hydrogen peroxide-to-propylene oxide (HPPO) plant at Jilin, China. The agreement was signed during a recent visit by Wang Rulin, the governor of Jilin Province to...

BASF to expand MDI facility in Korea; awards China contracts.(NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS)(methylene di-para-phenylene isocyanate)(BASF Corp. contract with Wison Engineering )(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... BASF will raise capacity for methylene di-para-phenylene isocyanate (MDI) at its Yeosu, Korea site. The expansion will take place in 2011-12 with most of the work carried out during the plant's annual maintenance turnaround, which is scheduled...

Samsung-BP expands acetic acid capacity in Korea.(NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS)(Samsung-BP Chemicals)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Samsung-BP Chemicals Co. (Ulsan, Korea) will debottleneck its acetic acid plant at Ulsan. The company, owned 51% by BP and 49% by Samsung, will add 100,000 m.t./ year of capacity during planned maintenance to be started in mid-September. The...

Tecnimont awarded polyolefin contracts in India.(NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS)(Tecnimont S.p.A. contract with ONGC Petro Additions )(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Tecnimont (Milan) has been awarded lump-sum, turnkey contracts valued at a combined $440 million to build three previously announced polyolefin manufacturing plants for ONGC Petro Additions (Opal) at Dahej, India. One of the units will use...

Dow Corning: solar, sustainability turnaround: a focus on one advantaged element of the periodic table, silicon, and an expanding presence in high-growth end markets such as solar, renewables, energy, and personal care, have revitalized growth at Dow Corning.(Financial report)
June 20, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sales at Dow Corning (Midland, MI) hit $6 billion in 2010, up 18% from the prior year, and double 2003 revenue. Earnings were $833 million, up 45% from the prior year, and a fivefold increase over 2003. Recently...

Electronic chemicals: plugging into surging markets.(Financial report)
June 20, 2011... Demand for electronic chemicals is growing again following the global recession with a surge in certain subsectors such as materials for portable electronic devices, solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), and batteries for electric...

Pedal to the metal: firms target lithium batteries.
June 20, 2011... Chemical companies developing and supplying materials for the lithium-ion batteries market, including BASE Dow Chemical, Evonik Industries, and Sud-Chemie, are confident that they are about to experience a period of strong sales growth in this...

ICL agrees to buy food ingredients maker Cosmocel.(M&A)(ICL Performance Products)(Cosmocel Quimica)
June 20, 2011... ICL Performance Products (St. Louis), a subsidiary of Israel Chemical Limited (ICL), has agreed to acquire functional food ingredient and specialty chemical maker Cosmocel Quimica (Monterrey, Mexico), marking ICL's entrance into the Mexican food...

Clariant expands emulsions capacity in Argentina to meet local demand.(COMPANIES)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Clariant has scaled up production capacity for its emulsions by 35% at its Lomas de Zamora, Argentina site. The additional capacity is intended for Clariant's line of copolymers and terpolymers. Clariant will also expand its production...

Valspar raises prices for its wood coatings products in North America by up to 10%, depending on coatings type, effective July 1.(SPECIALTIES)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Valspar will raise its prices for its wood coatings products in North America by up to 10%, depending on coatings type, effective July 1. Prices for coil and extrusion coatings will rise up to 8%, depending on product line, effective August 1....

Chemtura's Great Lakes Solutions will increase global prices for hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and stabilized HBCD flame retardants by $1.50/kg for all new orders placed effective July 1, or as contracts allow.(SPECIALTY PRICE WATCH)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Chemtura's Great Lakes Solutions will increase global prices for hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and stabilized HBCD flame retardants by $1.50/kg for all new orders placed effective July 1, or as contracts allow. "The bromine franchise is facing...

Albemarle will increase global prices of the neat portion of its metal alkyl products by 15%, effective July 1, or as contracts allow.(SPECIALTY PRICE WATCH)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Albemarle will increase global prices of the neat portion of its metal alkyl products by 15%, effective July 1, or as contracts allow. Prices for solvent blends of metal alkyls will also be increased as needed, it says.

Reichhold will raise its North American prices for all unsaturated polyester resins by 5 cts/lb, vinyl ester and modified vinyl ester resins by 7 cts/lb, and flame retardant resins for the composites industry by up to 75 cts/lb, depending on formulation.(SPECIALTY PRICE WATCH)(Reichhold Chemicals Inc.)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Reichhold will raise its North American prices for all unsaturated polyester resins by 5 cts/lb, vinyl ester and modified vinyl ester resins by 7 cts/lb, and flame retardant resins for the composites industry by up to 75 cts/lb, depending on...

Exxonmobil's Baytown site benefits from feedslate flexibility.(COMPANIES)
June 20, 2011... ExxonMobil Chemical's Baytown, TX facility, the largest integrated petroleum and petrochemical complex in the U.S., stands out among its peers in terms of size and output. The Baytown complex, covering more than 3,400 acres along the Houston...

CW75 Stock Performance.(Statistical table)
June 20, 2011... CW75 Index * June 21 277.16 Week ago 277.39 Quarter ago 265.47 Year ago 199.33 * Jan. 1, 2002 = 100. The CW75 Index was fiat for the week ended June 21, in line with broader market indexes including the Morgan Stanley...

A. Schulman.(KEY CHANGES--LEADING INDICATOR)(appointment of Joseph Levanduski as vice president and chief financial officer and treasurer)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... A. Schulman has named Joseph Levanduski v.p., CFO and treasurer, effective June 10. Levanduski was most recently senior v.p. and CFO for Hawk Corp., a manufacturer of high-performance friction products that was acquired by Carlisle Companies...

Celanese.(KEY CHANGES--LEADING INDICATOR)(appointment of ion Puckett as vice president/investor relations at Celanese Corp.)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Celanese has named ion Puckett v.p./investor relations, effective immediately. Puckett was most recently senior v.p. and CFO/government healthcare solutions for Affiliated Computer Services, a division of Xerox. Prior to that, he held roles in...

Compass Minerals.(KEY CHANGES--LEADING INDICATOR)(appointment of James Standen as Treasurer at Compass Minerals)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Compass Minerals has named James Standen treasurer, effective July 1. Standen will be responsible for the company's treasury and capital structure management. He has more than 10 years of experience in accounting and finance, most recently as...

The American Cleaning Institute.(KEY CHANGES--LEADING INDICATOR)(appointment of Robert Margevich and Benno Doter as board of directors at American Cleaning Institute )(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... The American Cleaning Institute has named Robert Margevich and Benno Doter to its board of directors. Margevich is president and managing director/surface chemistry at AkzoNobel, while Dorer is senior v.p./cleaning division and Canada at Clorox....

DKSH.(KEY CHANGES--LEADING INDICATOR)(appointment of Cesar Saez as global head at DKSH)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... DKSH has named Cesar Saez global head of the company's personal care industry business line, effective July 1. Saez has been in the specialty chemicals industry for more than a decade, most recently at Clariant as head of sales and...

Mascoma.(KEY CHANGES--LEADING INDICATOR)(appointment of David Arkowitz )(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... Mascoma, a biofuels firm, has named David Arkowitz CFO. Arkowitz was most recently executive v.p., CFO and chief business officer at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, a commercial-stage biopharmaceuticals company. Prior to that, he was CFO at Idenix...

FMC.(KEY CHANGES--LEADING INDICATOR)(appointment of Eduardo Cordeiro and William Powell)(Brief article)
June 20, 2011... FMC has added two executives, Eduardo Cordeiro and William Powell, to its board. Cordeiro is currently executive v.p. and CFO at Cabot, and Powell retired as chairman and CEO of National Starch and Chemical in 2006. FMC's board now has 10 members.

Reversing Course.(KEY CHANGES--LEADING INDICATOR)(Statistical data)
June 20, 2011... The leading indicator for the chemical industry fell 0.4% in June, following ten consecutive months of advances. All indicator components weakened in the most recent calculation. The average chemical industry stock price was down in May, in...

Live from FECC 2011.(CHEEMWEEK.COM)
June 6, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CW reported live from FECC 2011, the European chemical distributors' conference, held last week in Vienna. Distributors see challenges resulting from industry consolidation, but are optimistic about getting new business...

AkzoNobel adds R&D.(CHEEMWEEK.COM)(expansion of Akzo Nobel N.V.)(Brief article)
June 6, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AkzoNobel has announced a $10 million expansion of its R&D center at Felling, U.K. to develop fire-resistant coatings. Felling, already the company's largest R&D hub, employs a staff of 330. The company is also...

High court refuses Superfund appeal.(CHEEMWEEK.COM)
June 6, 2011... The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of GE's Superfund suit against EPA. chemweek.com/home/top_of_the_news

Trash-to-fuel gets cash.(CHEEMWEEK.COM)
June 6, 2011... Enerkem, a waste-to-biomaterials firm, has raised $60 million in a new round of venture funding, chemweek.com/sustainability

Iran targets top spot.(CHEEMWEEK.COM)
June 6, 2011... Iran is aiming to become the top Mideast petrochemicals maker, despite UN sanctions. chemweek.com/chem_ideas

Supply chain webcast July 13.(CHEEMWEEK.COM)
June 6, 2011... Join Monsanto and consulting firm CSC on July 13 for a discussion on creating demand-driven supply chains, chemweek.com/drivenbydemand

Most read stories online.(Chemweek 24 7)
June 6, 2011... As of CW press time on Thursday, June 9 1. Study: Dow Chemical Outperforms BASF on Sustainability Performance, but the Public Doesn't See it that Way 2. DuPont Awards Mexican Ti[O.sub.2] Contract to Jacobs Engineering 3. Burel...

Shale Gale continues.(VIEWPOINT)
June 6, 2011... Shell Chemical's announcement of an Appalachia cracker brings planned U.S. ethylene expansion to more than 5 million m.t. by 2018 (p. 5). It is a remarkable turn. Three years ago most analysts were forecasting that basic chemicals would be...

Brenntag buys in China.(Brenntag Canada acquired with Zhong Yung Chemical (Hong Kong))(Brief article)
June 6, 2011... Brenntag says it has agreed to acquire Zhong Yung Chemical (Hong Kong), a 255-[pounds sterling] million ($373-million) chemical distributor focused on the solvent industry, for an undisclosed sum. The deal will take place in two phases, with...

Flooding halts CF site.(CF Industries Holdings Inc.)(Brief article)
June 6, 2011... CF Industries says it has temporarily halted nitrogen production at its Port Neal facility as a precautionary measure. The Segeant Bluff, IA plant is located in an area at risk for flooding along the Missouri River, CF says. The site produces...

Arkema PEKK sale.(acquisitions)(Brief article)
June 6, 2011... Arkema says it will sell the part of its polyether ketone ketone (PEKK) business that supplies the medical implant industry, and will concentrate development efforts on industrial applications for PEKK. Arkema acquired the PEKK business through...

Elevance converts plant.(Elevance Renewable Sciences acquired with Delta BioFuels' (Natchez, MS) )(Brief article)
June 6, 2011... Elevance Renewable Sciences (Bolingbrook, IL) says it has acquired Delta BioFuels' (Natchez, MS) biodiesel plant at Natchez and will convert it into a world-scale biorefinery and derivatives facility. The multi-phase project is expected to cost...

3M sealants buy.(3m Co. acquired with Advanced Chemistry & Technology )(Brief article)
June 6, 2011... 3M says it has agreed to acquire Advanced Chemistry & Technology (AC Tech; Garden Grove, CA), a manufacturer of quick cure, lightweight polysulfide sealants for aerospace applications. Terms were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close...

Air Products targets sales of $15 billion by 2015.(Air Products and Chemicals Inc.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
June 6, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Air Products says it expects revenue growth of 11%-13%/ year over the next four years, reaching sales of $15 billion in 2015. Other goals the company expects to attain by 2015 are a 300-basis point increase in operating...

Chemtura builds multipurpose plant in China.(Brief article)
June 6, 2011... Chemtura says it will build a multi-purpose manufacturing plant at Nantong, China. The plant, due for startup in 2013, will initially focus on the production of urethanes and petroleum additives, but will also make other products in Chemtura's...

KMG's profits fall despite higher sales.(KMG Chemicals Inc.'s financial news)(Financial report)(Brief article)
June 6, 2011... KMG Chemicals reported net income of $2.6 million in its fiscal third quarter ended April 30, down 21% from the same period last year, on sales up 26%, to $65.1 million. Operating income in electronic chemicals business fell 27%, to $1.6...