Chemical Week articles from May 2012

Chemical Week archives from May 2012

Pharma/fine chemicals roundup.(chemweek.com)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lonza says that the company's business performance was in line with expectations in the quarter. Meanwhile, Materia (Pasadena, CA), a catalyst firm with an exclusive license for Grubbs catalyst technology, has received...

Korea approves carbon trading system.(chemweek.com)
May 7, 2012... Korean officials have approved a previously announced cap-and-trade system for cutting carbon emissions, and it will be established by 2015. chemweek.com/people_and_business/green_issues

GSK to establish laboratory for sustainable chemistry.(chemweek.com)(GlaxoSmithKline PLC)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... GlaxoSmithKline (GSK; London) will collaborate with the University of Nottingham (Nottingham, U.K.), to establish a new laboratory to accommodate a centre of excellence for sustainable chemistry. chemweek.com/people_and_business/green_issues

Demand for activated carbon to reach almost 2 million metric tons in 2016.(chemweek.com)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Global demand for activated carbon is forecast to grow by more than 10%/year, to 1.9 million m.t. in 2016, according to a study by industry market research firm The Freedonia Group (Cleveland, OH). chemweek.com/services/consulting

Most read stories online.(chemweek.com)
May 7, 2012... As of CW press time on May 10 1. Ineos Considers Divestment of HDPE Plants in Italy and France 2. Jacobs Awarded Contract for Evonik Nylon-12 Project in Asia 3. SGL Joint Venture Builds Production Plant in Austria 4. Higher Selling...

Durable distribution.(Viewpoint essay)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Distribution results have proven resilient despite difficult conditions in Europe, as this week's cover story shows (p. 21). Key players posted solid results in 2011 and successfully navigated challenging markets in early 2012. "Most of the...

Eastman opens TX unit.(Texas)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Eastman Chemical announced the startup of its non-phthalate plasticizer manufacturing facility at Texas City, Texas. The new facility will primarily produce Eastman 168 non-phthalate plasticizer, which is mostly used in medical devices, toys,...

Amgen acquires APIs.(Amgen Biologicals/Diagnostics)(Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals)(active pharmaceutical ingredients)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA) says it has signed an agreement to acquire a 95.6% stake in Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals (Istanbul) for about $700 million. Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals is one of the leading manufacturers of active pharmaceutical...

PolyOne, Xenia deal.(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... PolyOne has signed a cooperation and supply agreement with Xenia (Mussolente, Italy) to transition from metal or thermoset resins to thermoplastic composites in high-end applications. This transition will provide customers with an improved...

Nova sells styrenics business.(Nova Chemicals Corp. (Calgary, Alberta))(PFB Corp.)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Nova Chemicals says it will sell its performance styrenics business to insulated building materials maker PFB Corp (Calgary, AB). Financial details were not disclosed. The deal includes Nova acquiring an equity stake in PFB and holding two seats...

EPA Region 6 administrator resigns.(resignations of AI Armendariz, James Inhofe)(Environmental Protection Agency)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... AI Armendariz, administrator for U.S. EPA Region 6 (Dallas), resigned April 29 after Senator James Inhofe (R., OK) aired comments Armendariz made in 2010 about having an approach to enforcement modeled on Roman warriors who would "crucify"...

Royal Adhesives acquires industrial adhesives firm.(Royal Adhesives & Sealants)(Extreme Adhesives )(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Royal Adhesives & Sealants (South Bend, IN) has acquired Extreme Adhesives (Raymond, NH), a maker of methyl methacrylate, anaerobic and cyanoacrylate adhesives for a variety of industrial applications. Royal is owned by private equity...

DuPont and Toray file patent suit against Ube.(E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.)(Toray Industries Inc.)(Ube Industries Ltd.)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... DuPont-Toray, a joint venture between DuPont and Toray Industries, has filed a lawsuit against Ube Industries in Tokyo District Court alleging infringement of polyimide film chip-on-flex (COF) electronic circuit technology. The film is used as a...

Amyris processes Ceres sorghum into farnesene.(Amyris Biotechnologies Inc.)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Energy crop company Ceres (Thousand Oaks, CA) says its sweet sorghum hybrids were processed into renewable diesel by Amyris (Emeryville, CA). Ceres says the fast-growing sweet sorghum produced large amounts of cellulosic sugars and biomass that...

Airgas names Molinini next CEO.(promotion of Michael Molinini)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Airgas says that executive v.p. and COO Michael Molinini will be promoted to president and CEO following the company's annual meeting in August. Peter McCausland, Airgas founder and chairman and CEO, will become executive chairman. "As Airgas'...

Ube does not plan to increase output of Nylon-12.(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Ube Industries, the only producer of nylon-12 in the Asia/Pacific region, tells CW that it does not intend to increase its production of nylon-12 despite a shortage in the global market following an explosion and fire that struck Evonik...

Thailand establishes committee to investigate explosion and fire at BST's Map Ta Phut plant.
May 7, 2012... Yingluck Shinawatra, the prime minister of Thailand, has established a tripartite committee to investigate possible toxic contamination at the Map Ta Phut industrial estate in Thailand, where an explosion and fire on May 5 at the production...

EU production falls in first two months of 2012.(European Union)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Chemicals production in the European Union (EU) decreased 2.2% in the first two months of 2012, and 2.4% in February alone on a year-on-year basis, according to Cefic's latest monthly chemical trends report. Consumer chemicals was the only...

Evonik PMMA venture.(Evonik Industries)(Plexiglas polymethyl methacrylate)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Evonik Industries has formed a joint venture, Evonik Acrylics Africa (Johannesburg), with plastics processor Ampaglas Plastics Group (Elandsfontein, South Africa), to produce Evonik's extruded Plexiglas polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) sheeting....

Petkim posts loss.(revenue report of Petkim Petrokimya A.S.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Petkim (Izmir), Turkey's biggest petrochemicals producer, posted a TL7.9-million ($4.5 million) loss for the first quarter of 2012 compared with net income of TL77.2 million in the same period of 2011. Rising raw material prices, particularly...

BP petchem slump.(petrochemical)(Financial report)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... BP says its petrochemical business generated operating profits of $112 million, on a replacement cost basis, in the first quarter of 2012, a 78% decrease from the year-earlier quarter. BP says the decrease reflects a challenging margin...

North American shale lifts chemicals earnings.(top of the week)(Statistical data)
May 7, 2012... Favorable ethylene margins in North America and improved demand outside of Europe lifted most commodity and diversified earnings in the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2012. Executives are for the most part optimistic for the rest of 2012, given...

Westlake abandons $1.3-billion bid for Georgia Gulf.(top of the week)(Westlake Chemical Corp.)(Georgia Gulf Corp.)
May 7, 2012... Westlake Chemical says it has abandoned its $1.3-billion unsolicited bid to acquire Georgia Gulf and plans to liquidate its holdings of Georgia Gulf common stock as market conditions permit. "We are disappointed in this result but we continue...

BASF to build formic acid unit, acquires nylon business.(business & finance news: United States/Americas)
May 7, 2012... BASF says it will build a 50,000-m.t./year formic acid at its Geismar, LA facility. It will be the only formic acid plant in North America and will allow BASF to better serve markets in North and South America, including applications for...

Dow and Solazyme sign commercial offtake agreement.(business & finance news: United States/Americas)(Dow Chemical Co.)
May 7, 2012... DowChemical says it has signed a contingent commercial offtake agreement with Solazyme (San Francisco), an algae-based oils firm, for Solazymes to supply oils for biobased dielectric insulating fluids. The deal advances a joint development...

Alpek raises $800 million in initial public offering.(business & finance news: United States/Americas)
May 7, 2012... Alpek, the petrochemical unit of Grupo Alfa (Garza Garcia, Mexico), has raised an estimated 10.8 billion pesos ($800 million) in its recent 27.50 pesos/share initial public offering (IPO) on the stock exchange Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV;...

Enterprise to boost propane export capacity, expects record year.(business & finance news: United States/Americas)(Enterprise Products Partners L.P.)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
May 7, 2012... Enterprise Products Partners says it expects record propane exports this year, exporting a high of 3.9 million barrels of propane in April. In response to the current increased demand for propane from international markets, Enterprise has...

Agrium earnings slip.(business & finance news: United States/Americas)(revenue report of Agrium Inc.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Agrium's first-quarter 2012 net earnings slipped 9% year-on-year, to $155 million. Adjusted earnings were $210 million and exclude a pre-tax loss of $13 million on natural gas and other hedge positions, as well as a pre-tax share-based payment...

First-quarter specialty earnings mixed.(business & finance news: United States/Americas)(Financial report)
May 7, 2012... Specialty chemicals firms continue to report mixed results for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2012, as the European economy and certain end markets remain depressed. Acquisitions helped several companies, including Ecolab, PolyOne, and...

Chevron Phillips Chemical to site PE plants at Sweeny.(business & finance news: United States/Americas)(polyethylene)
May 7, 2012... Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) says it will locate two previously announced polyethylene (PE) facilities at its Sweeny facility in Old Ocean, TX. The plants are being built as part of CP Chem's planned U.S. Gulf Coast cracker project at...

Shin-Etsu to build hydroxyethyl cellulose plant at Plaquemine.(business & finance news: United States/Americas)(shin-etsu chemical)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Shin-Etsu will invest $120 million to build a hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) plant at its Plaquemine, LA site. The plant is expected to produce 9,000 tons/year of HEC. Shin-Etsu has existing HEC production in Wiesbaden, Germany of 16,000...

Fuller divests Central American paints business.(business & finance news: United States/Americas)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... H.B. Fuller says it will sell its Central American paints business to Grupo Mindial (Panama City, Panama) subsidiary Compania Global de Pinturas (Pinturas; Medellin, Colombia) for $120 million. Fuller says the business is no longer core to its...

BASF reports decline in net income on higher sales.(business & finance news: Europe/Mideast)(revenue report of BASF AG)(Financial report)
May 7, 2012... BASF says it made a "solid start" to 2012, although the company's first-quarter 2012 'net profit declined 28.5%, to 1.7 billion [euro] ($2.3 billion). BASF cites a much higher tax rate in Germany this year--39.6% compared with 24.7% in 2011--and...

Sirius targets early 2017 for U.K. Potash startup.(business & finance news: Europe/Mideast)
May 7, 2012... Sirius Minerals (London), a global potash exploration and development company, has completed a detailed scoping study to develop the previously announced York Potash project in the U.K. Sirius is targeting initial production for early 2017. The...

K+S sells nitrogen business to Eurochem.(business & finance news: Europe/Mideast)
May 7, 2012... Eurochem (Moscow) says it has signed an agreement to acquire K+S's (Kassel, Germany) nitrogen fertilizer business for 140 million [euro] ($182 million). The sale is the "best option" for K+S and K+S Nitrogen employees following Eurochem's recent...

Ineos considers divestment of HDPE Plants in Italy and France.(business & finance news: Europe/Mideast)(-density polyethylene)
May 7, 2012... Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe, a subsidiary of Ineos, says it has decided to consider the possible divestment of its high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plants at Rosignano, Italy and Sarralbe, France after a recent strategy review. Ineos...

Weak First Quarter for Sinopec and PetroChina
May 7, 2012... Sinopec's chemicals segment, and the refining and chemicals business of PetroChina, each reported weak financial results for the first quarter of 2012. Sinopec's chemicals business posted an 86% fall in operating profits, to Rmb1.3 billion ($206...

Korean firms report falling profits.(business & finance news: Asia/Pacific)(Financial report)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Leading Korean chemical companies reported falling profits in the first quarter of 2012. LG Chem (Seoul) posted a 42% fall in net profits for the first quarter, compared with the year-ago period, to won 380.9 billion ($336 million)....

PTT Global appoints new CEO.(business & finance news: Asia/Pacific)(appointment of Anon Sirisaengtaksin in PTT Global Chemical)(resignation of Veerasak Kositpaisal)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... PTT Global Chemical (Bangkok), Thailand's largest integrated petrochemical and refining company, says its board has appointed Anon Sirisaengtaksin to succeed Veerasak Kositpaisal as CEO. Kositpaisal resigned from the company on May 1....

Mitsui Executives Forfeit Pay Following Explosion
May 7, 2012... Mitsui Chemicals has announced that its top executives will forfeit a part of their remuneration "as a sense of responsibility" following a recent accident at the company's Iwakuni-Ohtake, Japan site. An explosion occurred at the site on April...

Nizhnekamsk signs Petchem contracts with Lummus and Linde.(new construction projects)
May 7, 2012... Nizhnekamskneftekhim (Nizhnekamsk, Russia), one of the largest petrochemicar producers in Russia, has selected Lummus ethylene and Linde alpha-olefin process technologies for a major petchems project. The company announced recently that it had...

ChemaWEyaat awards aromatics contract to Foster Wheeler.(new construction projects)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Foster Wheeler has announced that a subsidiary of the company's Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract by Abu Dhabi National Chemicals Co. (ChemaWEyaat) for the provision of project management consultancy (PMC)...

Advanced Petrochemical to establish PP JV in Turkey.(new construction projects)(polypropylene)(joint venture)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Advanced Petrochemical Co. (Advanced; Jubail, Saudi Arabia) says it will shortly sign a memorandum of understanding with an undisclosed Turkish firm to form a polypropylene (PP) production joint venture in Turkey. The new plant is expected...

Japan and Kazakhstan plan rare earth metals alliance.(new construction projects)(Yukio Edano)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Japan and Kazakhstan are planning to develop rare earth metals production facilities in Kazakhstan to cater for the electronics and automotive industries in Japan, reducing Japan's reliance on rare earth imports from China. Yukio Edano, Japan's...

AkzoNobel selects Uhde Technology for chlor-alkali conversion.(new construction projects)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... AkzoNobel has selected ThyssenKrupp Uhde to design and supply membrane-cell technology for a previously announced conversion of AkzoNobel's mercury-cell chlor-alkali plant at the Frankfurt-Hochst industrial park in Germany. The project involves...

Distribution: robust despite market uncertainty.(Cover story)
May 7, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Europe's chemical distribution sector performed well in 2011, although most of the growth was achieved in the first six months as the economy slowed toward the end of the year. Distributors report signs of a renewed...

Sustainability: the case for carbon capture and storage.(cover story)(Cover story)
May 7, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Industry and governments around the world are investing billions of dollars in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies. There are challenges relating to the large scale adoption of CCS, however, as even wind power...

Consumers, demographics drive market changes.(Personal Care)
May 7, 2012... Chemical makers serving the personal care market are trying to keep pace with middle-class growth in developing regions, and shifting demographics and consumer preferences in developed ones. Growing middle classes mean more disposable income and...

DuPont acquires Bunge's Stake in Salae.(Food Ingredients)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... DuPont says it has acquired full ownership of Solae (St. Louis) a soy ingredients manufacturer it formed with Bunge in 2003. DuPont, which previously owned 72% of the joint venture, acquired the remaining 28% owned by Bunge. "Our customers...

Evonik close colorants sale.(specialties)(Evonik Industries AG)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... The previously announced sale of Evonik Industries' colorants business to private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners (New York) has been completed after approvals from Evonik's supervisory board, and the relevant regulatory authorities....

Catalyst firm receives grant.(specialties)(Materia )(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Materia (Pasadena, CA), a catalyst firm with an exclusive license for Grubbs catalyst technology, has received a phase two small business technology transfer grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the continued development of...

ACC updates product, process safety standards.(Responsible Care 2012)(American Chemistry Council )
May 7, 2012... Four new recommendations are to be incorporated into the chemical industry's Responsible Care code, experts told attendees at the recent 2012 Responsible Care conference held in Hollywood, FL. These include updating the product safety code; a...

Momentum builds behind viable technologies.(BIO 2012)
May 7, 2012... Chemical companies are seeing an increase in opportunities to swap oil and natural gas with renewable raw materials due to the availability of viable, low-cost production processes, say attendees at the Biotechnology Industry Association's...

cw75 stock performance.(Statistical data)
May 7, 2012... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Overview The CW75 index declined 3.6% for the week ended May 8, matching the MSCI World Index. The S&P 500 index posted a narrower loss of 3%. Basic chemical shares fell 5.1%, diversified shares declined 3.9% and...

Growth moderates.(vital statistics--key changes)(Statistical data)
May 7, 2012... U.S. GDP grew at a 2.2% annual rate in the first quarter of 2012, well below the 3% rate recorded in the final quarter of 2011. On the positive side, consumer spending rose at a 2.9% rate, up from 2.1% in the previous three months and the most...

Air Products.(vital statistics--key changes)(appointment of Kevin Michaelis and Joseph Pietrantonio at Air Products and Chemicals Inc.)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Air Products has announced three executive changes. Kevin Michaelis has been named v.p. of global operations, Joseph Pietrantonio has been named v.p. of environment, health, safety, and quality, and Richard Boocock has been named v.p. of global...

Amyris.(vital statistics--key changes)(appointment of Peter Boynton, Joel Cherry and Paulo Diniz )(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Amyris has made changes to its senior management team. Three members of the management team--Mario Portela, president of global operations, Tamara Tompkins, executive v.p. of general counsel and corporate secretary, and Neil Renninger, chief...

FMC.(vital statistics--key changes)(appointment of Andrew Sandifer)(retirement of Brennan Arndt)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... FMC has named Andrew Sandifer responsible for investor relations with his current role as v.p./corporate planning and development. Sandifer replaces Brennan Arndt, who is leaving the company. Sandifer joined FMC in 2010, and was most recently...

Rogers.(vital statistics--key changes)(appointment of Helen Zhang)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Rogers has appointed Helen Zhang as the president of Asia Region, overseeing the company's business in Greater China and the Asia/Pacific. Zhang will focus specifically on the core sectors of printed circuit materials, power electronics...

ZeaChem.(vital statistics--key changes)(appointment of Peter Cheesbrough)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... ZeaChem has named Peter Cheesbrough chief financial officer. Cheesbrough has 30 years of experience in the financial sector and most recently served as CFO for the Denver-based Ciber. Previously, Cheesbrough has worked as CFO for Caridian...

Praxair.(vital statistics--key changes)(appointment of Bret Clayton)(Brief article)
May 7, 2012... Praxair has announced that Bret Clayton will join the company's board of directors. Clayton currently serves as group executive, business support and operations of Rio Tinto. Clayton has been with the company since 1994 and has held his current...