Following globalisation in chemical coverage: January sees the launch of ICIS Chemical Business, as European Chemical News and Asian Chemical News are merged, to give a more rounded view of the chemical business worldwide.(COMMENT)

AFTER 43 years, the name European Chemical News becomes history--but not the magazine it represents! From January next year, your weekly publication will transform into ICIS Chemical Business, as ECN merges with its sister publication, Singapore-based Asian Chemical News.

ICIS Chemical Business will bring you integrated coverage of the chemicals industry from Iceland to Japan, and from Finland to South Africa and Australia. The move reflects the changes that have been wrought on the chemicals industry over the decades since ECN was launched in 1962, by globalisation and the rise of the multinational corporation.

That time has also seen the breakdown of many trade barriers and tariffs--a process that is still underway--and cost-effective transportation networks, which have encouraged and facilitated international trade and investment.

The result is an industry that has itself become intra-regional, and in some sectors truly global, in extent. This year's Hurricanes in the US highlighted the interconnectivity of petrochemical markets around the globe, as prices in Europe and Asia reacted to the outages in the US Gulf. At the speciality chemicals level, European producers are moving production eastwards to Singapore, India and China, and Asian players are sending material to the West and now even eying investment in the European market.

The new ICIS Chemical Business will enable the ICIS journalists in London, Singapore, China and North America to reflect this situation by reporting and analysing events on a worldwide canvas. As ever our emphasis will be on business moves, market changes and investment in new production capacities. We will also retain ECN's regular reporting and insight on environmental issues, innovation and logistics and distribution, the latter highly important in the widened trade ...