Degussa to take a [euro]500m impairment charge.

(From FT Investor (Pulses))

Degussa, the world's largest speciality chemicals company, on Monday said it would take a one-off [euro]500m impairment charge in its fine chemicals unit, highlighting the difficult conditions facing the chemicals industry. The group said market conditions for fine chemicals - pharmaceuticals ingredients and products such as feed additives - had significantly changed over the past few years, with increased overcapacity and pricing pressure, mainly from Asian …