Chemical Market Reporter back issues from May 1998:
Major chemical results shine; Equistar partners lead the pack; weak olefin pricing does not bode well for producers.(first quarter of 1998)
May 04, 1998; ... Weak olefin pricing does not bode well for producers.MILLENNIUM AND LYONDELL led the second batch of major chemical company earnings with stronger than expected gains in first quarter earnings. However, the outlook for coming quarters appears less than sanguine in light of the ...
Shell to launch olefin expansion at two facilities; overcapacity in the olefins market threatens to linger beyond 2000.(Shell Chemical Co.)
May 04, 1998; ... Overcapacity in the olefins market threatens to linger beyond 2000.TWO PLANNED EXPANSIONS, one at its Norco, La., olefins complex and the other at its Deer Park, Tex., plant, will boost Shell Chemical Company's combined ethylene capacity at the sites by 1.25 billion pounds by the ...
Socma urges federal agencies to meet congressional mandates.(Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association)
May 04, 1998; ... FEDERAL AGENCIES are largely ignoring congressional mandates to assess and minimize the impact of new regulations on the small business community, a representative of the batch chemical industry told a Capitol Hill briefing. Stephen B. King, president and CEO of Tomah Products ...
PVC producers gear up for price hike; low margins and strong domestic demand bode well despite weakness in Asia.
May 04, 1998 ... Low margins and strong domestic demand bode well despite weakness in Asia.WHILE CURRENCY PROBLEMS in Asia may have doomed the polyvinyl chloride industry's February 1 price initiative, manufacturers hope that strong North American demand along with cutbacks in production will give ...
Ozone emerges as a major bleaching rival to chlorine.
May 04, 1998; ... LONG CONSIDERED an expensive alternative to chlorine as an oxidant and disinfectant, ozone and its technologies have been dropping in both capital and operational costs in the last 3 to 5 years while becoming more efficient. The improved technology, combined with more stringent ...
Burns Philp fire sale follows company collapse.
May 04, 1998 ... WITH THE RECENT SALE of two of its spice businesses, Burns Philp & Co. Ltd., the Australian yeast giant that tried to buy its way into the spice business less than a decade ago, continues the fire sale of non-core assets prompted by its catastrophic collapse in November 1997. ...
BP expanding petrochem site in Grangemouth; company plans worldscale PP and PE units but hedges on PE plans with Hoechst.(BP Chemicals)
May 04, 1998 ... Company plans worldscale PP and PE units but hedges on PE plans with Hoechst.BP CHEMICALS PLANS to invest around 500 million [pounds sterling] ($835 million) in a major expansion of its complex at Grangemouth, Scotland, with the aim of making it one of the most cost-effective and ...
Specialty makers show gains despite weaker pricing.(specialty chemicals manufacturers' financial results for first quarter of 1998)
May 04, 1998 ... SPECIALTY CHEMICAL first quarter earnings continue to show healthy gains despite slack pricing and sales. Crompton & Knowles' bottom line improved a solid 20 percent despite only a 1 percent gain in sales. Great Lakes Chemical Corporation posted 8 percent higher first quarter ...
Guar gum supply still tight, little relief on pricing in sight.
May 04, 1998 ... RECOVERING FROM THE BLOW to the guar crop in India and Pakistan, the major players in the guar gum market are meeting demand by using buffer stocks, though they see little relief on pricing until the end of the year. They expect supplies to remain tight until the new crop comes ...
Carbohydrate chemistry emerges as avenue for high-tech growth.
May 04, 1998 ... CARBOMER INC. and Synthon Inc. are young businesses looking to parlay their knowledge of carbohydrate chemistry into market success. Though both are favored by the current trend in pharmaceuticals and biotech toward single stereoisomers of optically active compounds, the companies' ...
Big soapers report strong 1Q.(financial results for first quarter of 1998)
May 04, 1998; ... THE LARGER CONSUMER products makers reported healthy earnings increases this quarter, though some felt the effects of unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates in their net sales. Church & Dwight Co. Inc., which sells primarily in North America (96 percent of sales revenues), posted a 17 ...
Akzo Fibers JV Becomes Unlikely
May 04, 1998 ... AKZO NOBEL expects that a proposed joint venture in industrial fibers with Sabanci Holding of Turkey will not go ahead in the wake of its April bid to take over Courtaulds.The industrial fibers business of Akzo Nobel, mainly consisting of polyester, viscose and nylon for automotive ...
Ampacet Buys Baron Plants
May 04, 1998 ... TARRYTOWN, N.Y. based Ampacet Corporation, a producer of color and additives concentrates for the plastics industry, has reached an agreement in principal to acquire Baron ...
Antibioticos Plans Major Expansions
May 04, 1998 ... ANTIBIOTICOS IS PLANNING to double its capacity for thioctic acid because of strong demand for it as an alternative to vitamin E in dietary supplements. The company will debottleneck its thioctic acid plant at Rodano, Italy, this summer to raise its capacity by 25 percent.By next ...
BASF Buys Crop Protection
May 04, 1998 ... BASF CORPORATION, the US subsidiary of BASF AG, has isgned a leter of internet to acquire a majority take in Micro Flo, a corp protection company based in Lakeland, Fla. Although financial ...
BASF Opens Styrene JV in China
May 04, 1998 ... SINO-GERMAN JOINT VENTURE Yangzi-BASF Styrenics (YBS) officially opened its integrated styrene chain facilities in Nanjing, China. The 60-40 venture, of which BASF holds the majority share, includes a 130,000-ton ethylbenzene plant, a 120,000-ton styrene plant and a 100,000-ton polystyrene ...
BP Expanding Petrochem Site In Grangemouth
May 04, 1998 ... Company plans worldscale PP and PB units but hedges on PE plans with Hoechst.BP CHEMICALS PLANS to invest around L500 million ($835 million) in a major expansion of its complex at Grangemouth, Scotland, with the aim of making it one of the most cost-effective and technologically ...
Burns Philp Fire Sale Follows Company Collapse
May 04, 1998 ... WITH THE RE CENT SALE of two of its spice businesses, Burns Philp & Co. Ltd., the Australian yeast giant that tried to buy its way into the spice business less than a decade ago, continues the tire sale of non core assets prompted by its catastrophic collapse in November 1997.The ...
Carbohydrate Chemistry Emerges As Avenue for High-Tech Growth
May 04, 1998 ... CARBOMER INC. and Synthon Inc. are young businesses looking to parlay their knowledge of carbohydrate chemistry into market success. Though both are favored by the current trend in pharmaceuticals and biotech toward single stereoisomers of optically active compounds, the companies' ...
Chemical Manufacturers Ordered to Upgrade Emergency Response
May 04, 1998 ... OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY and Health Administration is ordering chemical manufacturing plants and other facilities to upgrade their emergency response programs and improve their coordination with local fire departments."A fire or explosion is no time to find out that an emergency plan ...
CMA Supports Review Request Of Benzene Ruling
May 04, 1998 ... CHEMICAL MANUFACTURERS Association and seven other industry groups have jointly filed a brief supporting Hoechst Celanese Corporation's request for Supreme Court review of a lower court's ruling on the applicability of Environmental Protection Agency's 1984 air emission standards for ...
Coors, Ecolochem Form Partnership
May 04, 1998 ... COORS CERAMICS COMPANY has formed a supply agreement with Ecolochem Inc. to develop and promote the former's CeramicA filters in outsourced water treatment.Under the deal, the companies will pool their efforts to employ Coors Ceramics' technology in water treatment and recycling ...
Cyro Expands Capacity
May 04, 1998 ... CYRO INDUSTRIES, an acrylic joint venture formed in 1976 by Cytec Industries Inc. and Rohm GmbH, is launching a $35 million program to expand its polymer capacity by 30 percent which will help ...
DSM and Veba Oel Lead Plans for Pipeline
May 04, 1998 ... DSM AND VEBA OEL are leading an initiative to build a propylene pipeline that would link the main petrochemical sites in the Benelux countries and northwest Germany.The companies are seeking the support of other petrochemical producers for a detailed feasibility study on the ...
Elcat Forms Alliance
May 04, 1998 ... ELCAT INC., a Warren. N.J.-based specialty chemicals and electrochemical technology company, has entered into an alliance with Chemical Services Company, a Campbell, Calif., maker of Clor-Tee, an on-site sodium hypochlorite generation ...
EPA Eases Ag Stance to Appease Wary Gore
May 04, 1998 ... RESPONDING TO VICE PRESIDENT Gore's directive to involve agriculture and other stakeholders in the implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, top officials of two key federal agencies say they will set up an ads advisory committee to make sure interested parties have a voice ...
EPA Enters Joint Review with Nafta
May 04, 1998 ... IN THE FIRST JOINT REVIEW conducted tin der the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta ), Environmental Protection Agency and the Canadian Pest Man agreement Regulatory Agency have registered a reduced risk fungicide developed by Novartis, Greensboro, N.C.EPA has approved the ...
Fluor Daniel Gets Contract
May 04, 1998 ... ICA FLUOR DANIEL S. de R.L. de C.V., which is jointly owned by Empresas ICA a nd Fluor Daniel, has been awarded a contract to design and build a propylene splitter in Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico, for ...
Glycerine Market Looking Up; Producers Hope for a Recovery
May 04, 1998 ... THE GLYCERINE MARKET has faltered for nearly two and a half years, but improved demand may alleviate its high supplies, allowing prices to stabilize and possibly recover.Although the market is not completely out of the woods, glycerine is showing signs of coming back into balance ....
Guar Gum Supply Still Tight, Little Relief on Pricing In Sight
May 04, 1998 ... RECOVERING FROM THE BLOW to the guar crop in India and Pakistan, the major players in the guar gum market are meeting demand by using buffer stocks, though they see little relief on pricing until the end of the year.They expect supplies to remain tight until the new crop comes in ...
Hauser Expands Technical Services
May 04, 1998 ... Benefiting from the trend toward outsourcing in the pharmaceutical and medical device markets, Hauser Laboratories, the Boulder, Colo.-based technical services subsidiarv of Hauser inc., is expanding.Hauser Laboratories is consolidating its engineering and materials sciences ...
Indian Petrochems Show Strength Despite Asian Economic Problems
May 04, 1998 ... DESPITE A ROUGH YEAR IN Asia as a result of the regional economics crisis, two major Indian petrochemical produoers announced positive results or the financial sear hat ended in March.State - owned Indian Petrochemical Corporation ltd. (IPCL) achieved sales of $927 million (36.8 ...
Industry Warns Against Weakening Air Regs
May 04, 1998 ... California exemption could undermine Clean Air Act, MTBE makers caution.AMENDING THE 1990 Clean Air Act to exempt California from federal reformulated fuel requirements could undermine the program nationwide and damage air quality, Clinton Administration and industry officials ...
Kemira Eyes Potash TV On Dead Sea Site
May 04, 1998 ... KEMIRA AND ARAB Potash Company of Jordan have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint venture in Jordan for specialty potash fertilizers and animal meal supplements.The 50-50 venture, whose source of potash will be thc Dead Sea, will use technology developed by ...
Koppers Reports Lower Net Income, Phthalic Anhydride Weak
May 04, 1998 ... KOPPERS INDUSTRIES Inc. reported net income for the first quarter of 1998 at $600,000-a sharp drop from net income of $3.4 million in the first quarter of 1997.The decline in earnings comes despite an improvement in net sales of $156.5 million from $134 million in the comparable ...
Matheson Opens New Plant
May 04, 1998 ... MATHESON GAS Products has opened a new specialty gas facility in Kyle, Tex. The plant will provide a local ...
New Environmental Standard Could Alter Business Behavior
May 04, 1998; ... THE ROLE OF BUSINESS in the environment is changing dramatically, and companies may well look to a new standard, SA 8000, similar in impact to ISO 9000 and ISO 15000, as a model for future behavior in the market.That is what Craig P. Dunn, assistant professor of business at San ...
Ozone Emerges As a Major Bleaching Rival to Chlorine
May 04, 1998; ... LONG CONSIDERED an expensive alternative to chlorine as an oxidant and disinfectant, ozone and its technologies have been dropping in both capital and operational costs in the last 3 to 5 years while becoming more efficient.The improved technology, combined with more stringent ...
PET Plant Slated for South
May 04, 1998 ... AN UNNAMED North American investment group has signed a letter of intent with Italy-based Sinco Engineering SpA to build a I 50-ton-per -day solid state resins polyethylene terephthalate plant in either North ...
PVC Producers Gear Up for Price Hike
May 04, 1998 ... Low margins and strong domestic demand bode well despite weakness in Asia.WHILE CURRENCY PROBLEMS in Asia may have doomed thc polyvinyl chloride industry's February 1 price initiative, manufacturers hope that strong North American demand along with cutbacks in production will give ...
Rhodia Shaping Up as Formidable Platform for Specialty Chemicals
May 04, 1998 ... RHODIA HAS EMERGED as the second largest global specialty chemicals company behind Clariant with $6.2 billion in annual sales, $236 million in R&D spending and 26,000 employees worldwide.Formed on January 1 through a merger of Rhone-Poulenc's chemicals and fibers & polymers ...
Small Businesses Getting Help
May 04, 1998 ... OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY and Health Ad ministration has ordered its compliance officers to give priority to small businesses that seek agency assistance in meeting the methylene chloride standard.In a directive issued last week, OSHA also said it will not inspect sites that undergo ...
SmithKline and Ligand Team Up On Leptin-Obesity Research
May 04, 1998 ... SMITHKLINE BEECHAM PLC will collaborate with Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. to develop small molecule drugs that modulate the signaling pathway controlled by leptin, in an attempt to treat or prevent obesity using oral drugs.The collaboration follows last year's expansion of ...
SOVEREIGN SPECIALTY Chemicals Inc.
May 04, 1998 ... SOVEREIGN SPECIALTY Chemicals Inc. has sold its Mercer Products Company subsidiary to Burke Industries Inc. For $36.2 million. Mercer, a manufacturer of extruded vinyl flooring profiles and related products for the commercial and residential ...
Spartech Acquires Prismaplast In Move to Grow Its Colorants
May 04, 1998 ... SPARTECH CORPORATION has reinforced its plans to grow its colorants business with the acquisition of Prismaplast Canada Ltd. The $5 million purchase expands both Spartech's range of products and its customer base.Prismaplast, located in Montreal, Quebec, has nearly $10 million in ...
Specialties Briefs
May 04, 1998 ... CABOT CORPORATION and Moyco Technologies Inc. have settled their litigation surrounding the purported infringement of a Moyco chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) slurry upon a Cabot patent. All claims and counterclaims were dropped in light of Moyco's ...
UK Chemical Industry Menaced By Strong Currency and Pricing
May 04, 1998 ... Industry warns of declines and pushes the euro.THE UK CHEMICAL industry is suffering so badly from the effects of a strong pound sterling that for the second successive year its output is likely to decrease.It also faces the threat of a decline in inward investment ...
Vector Invests in Martek Under a Private Contract
May 04, 1998 ... VECTOR OR FUND Management, in collaboration with other accredited investors, is leading the $20.5 million investment in Martek Biosciences Corporation, a manufacturer of microalgac products.Under the terms of agreement, Martek sold ...
What's New in Dentifrices
May 04, 1998 ... Yow!, BY UPSTART WOW! Laboratories Inc , is a new type of product a chewable tablet that is swished in the mouth. Active ingredients are sodium bicarbonate and silicone dioxide. Yow! is "totally different in composition and mechanical action" compared to other products, says Michael Arnold, ...
Advisory Committee Rejects Butadiene Regs
May 11, 1998; ... A SCIENCE ADVISORY committee has rejected Environmental Protection Agency's plan to elevate the cancer classification of 1,3-butadiene to a "known human carcinogen."After reviewing a draft of a revised risk assessment, 11 of the 14 members of the Science Advisory Board concluded ...
Air Products and Wacker Link
May 11, 1998 ... AIR PRODUCTS & CHEMICALS Inc. and Wacker-Chemie GmbH have concluded negotiations to combine their emulsions and redispersible powder businesses within two joint-venture entities expected to start up on October 1.The emulsions joint venture will combine Wacker's vinyl ...
Air Products Forges Ahead in Asia With Amine and Emulsion Ventures
May 11, 1998 ... AIR PRODUCTS & Chemicals Inc. is bolstering its Asian activities through a methylamine joint venture in China and the purchase of an emulsion business in South Korea.Together with its Chinese partner Shanghai Zhong Yuan Chemical Company Ltd., Air Products' Chinese subsidiary is ...
Akzo to Buy BASE Unit
May 11, 1998; ... AKZO NOBEL has provisionally agreed to buy BASF's European decorative coatings business, which has annual sales of around DM 200 million ($115 million),mostly in Germany.The takeover, the value of which is not being disclosed, will broaden the range of Akzo Nobel's decorative ...
All That Glitters Brings in the Gold
May 11, 1998; ... The trend to bolder and more diversified colors is a boon to color cosmetics, particularly in pearlescent pigments.A resurgence in color and the move to longer lasting formulations is putting the luster in the color cosmetics market. Pearlescent pigments, the source of the sheen ...
Asahi Buys Out Hanil In 50-50 Tong Suh JV
May 11, 1998; ... ASAHI CHEMICAL INDUSTRY Co. Ltd. and South Korea's Hanil Synthetic Fiber Co.Ltd. have agreed for Asahi to acquire Hanil Synthetic's shares, worth $25.5 million, of their 50-50 joint venture Tong Suh Petrochemical Corporation Ltd.The companies say the agreement serves mutual ...
Asia on the Fast Track
May 11, 1998; ... Strong retail sales in leading product segments is putting Asia on the fast track in personal care.For many multinational specialty chemical producers, Asia is the hot area for growth in the personal care market. Through this decade, there have been huge increases in sales of ...
Bachem Benefiting From Peptides Growth
May 11, 1998 ... FOR 1997, Bachem Group, headquartered near Basel, Switzerland, reports an increase in sales volume from CHF 55.5 million ($37.3 million) to CHF 74.5 million, boosting net profit from CHF 14 million to CHF 23.3 million. Overall cash flow reached CHF 29.7 million, corresponding to growth of 47 ...
Better Railroad Oversee System Urged
May 11, 1998 ... AT A HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE hearing on reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Board, a representative of the plastics industry asked Congress to develop a better system for overseeing the nation's railroads."The existing regulatory system does not protect the public interest ...
Biotech Products Impact Food Market
May 11, 1998 ... SALES OF GENETICALLY altered crops, food products and ingredients will more than double from $4 billion in 1997 to $8.5 billion by 2002, reflecting average annual growth of 16.6 percent, according to Business Communications Company, a consultancy in Norwalk, Conn.BCC projects the ...
Brazil Could Supplant US As Leader in FTAA Talks
May 11, 1998; ... CHEMICAL INDUSTRY OFFICIALS varn that negotiators at the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) talks arc unable to fully represent US interests because of their lack of fast-track authority from Congress. They caution that FTAA negotiations on major issues - including tariff reductions, ...
Canola Oil Market Buoyant In Wake of Health Benefits
May 11, 1998; ... A THRIVING CANOLA oil market is riding a wave of strong demand fueled by its health benefits, versatility and potential use in specialty products.The oil's price remains a solid 34.5 cents per pound. Prices during the past few months have either been steady or increasing, and ...
Carbide Licensing Agreements
May 11, 1998 ... UNION CARBIDE has begun to license its Meteor process technology for ethylene glycol (EG) production. The first licensee is a joint venture between Mobil Chemical Company and Petroquimica de Venezuela SA (Pequiven) which will use the technology in its 420,000 metric ton per year polyester ...
CHEMICAL PROFILE
May 11, 1998 ... CHEMICAL PROFILE <Pre> PARAXYLENE May 11, 1998 PRODUCER CAPACITY* Amoco, Decatur, Ala. 2,200 Amoco, Texas City, Tex ...
Chevron Finds Gas Off Guff Coast
May 11, 1998 ... CHEVRON USA Production Co., a unit of Chevron Corporation, has discovered a new supply of natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico off thc coast of Mississippi. The company estimatcs that the Viosca Knoll carbonate reserves could total more than I trillion cubic feet of natural gas.The ...
Ciba Restructures Colloids Businesses
May 11, 1998; ... CIBA SPECIALTY Chemicals has placed some of the activities of Allied Colloids, which it took over earlier this year, into separate divisions within the company.Most of Allied Colloids operations will become a new Ciba water treatments division, headed by David Farrar, former CEO of ...