Chemical Week back issues from April 2002:
Taking the temperature. (Viewpoint).
Apr 03, 2002 ... The upbeat advisories put out by Rohm and Haas and others in late March, coupled with upbeat forecasts from many economists, have stirred things up for those in the chemical industry settling in for a long recession. And there are plenty of companies in that camp, to judge from the number ...
Appeals Court upholds air quality standards. (Newsbriefs).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... The U.S. Court of Appeals last week upheld EPA's 1997 revised standards for smog and soot, rejecting industry's arguments that the more aggressive standards were "arbitrary and capricious." The lawsuit marks the end to more than five years of legal wrangling. The Supreme Court last year ...
Shell to buy Pennzoil-Quaker State for $1.8 billion. (Newsbriefs).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Shell Oil says it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Pennzoil-Quaker State (Houston), the world's largest independent lubricants producer, for $1.8 billion. Shell will pay $22/share in cash--a 42% premium over Pennzoil-Quaker Stare's closing price on March 22--and assume debt ...
DuPont acquires liquid packaging firm. (Newsbriefs).(Liqui-Box Corp.)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... DuPont Canada's Enhanced Packaging Technologies unit has agreed to acquire Liqui-Box (Worthington, OH), a maker of liquid packaging systems, for $333 million in cash. The deal is subject to regulatory and Liqui-Box shareholder approval, and could close as early as May, says DuPont. Both ...
Huntsman International completes bond offering. (Newsbriefs).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Huntsman International says it raised $300 million in a recent offering of seven-year senior notes, which was oversubscribed (CW, March 20, p. 6). Huntsman originally expected to raise $250 million to repay outstanding debt under its senior secured bank credit ...
Ethyl gets a loan extension; Moody's cuts ratings. (Newsbriefs).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Ethyl has reached an agreement with its lenders to extend its current loan facility by one year, to March 31, 2003, it says. The facility can be further extended to March 31, 2004, provided certain conditions are met, the company says. The company did not detail when the loan is scheduled ...
GE completes purchase of LNP Engineering Plastics. (Newsbriefs).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... GE Plastics says it has completed its purchase of LNP Engineering Plastics (Exton, PA) from Kawasaki Steel for an undisclosed sum (CW, Jan. 2, p. 10). LNP, the largest U.S. engineering plastics ...
India approves Bt cotton. (Newsbriefs).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... The Indian government last week approved commercial development of genetically modified (GM) cotton seeds developed by Monsanto's 26%-owned affiliate Maharashtra-Hybrid Seeds (Mahyco; Bombay). The Bt cotton seed will be on sale in time ...
SW acquires Johnson Paints. (Newsbriefs).(Sherwin-Williams Co.)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Sherwin-Williams has acquired Johnson Paints (Ft. Myers, FL) for an undisclosed amount. Johnson Paints makes and sells paint ...
J.A. Jones parent in trouble. (Newsbriefs).(Philip Holzmann A.G.)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Philip Holzmann (Frankfurt), parent of E&C firm J.A. Jones filed for bankruptcy late last month, citing difficulties in paying debt. The deal is expected to have little ...
Foster Wheeler seeks 10-K extension. (Newsbriefs).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Foster Wheeler will request an extension from the SEC to file its Form 10-K for fiscal 2001 to April 12, it says. Foster Wheeler cites ongoing negotiations with its bank group to structure new, long-term ...
Formosa Plastics to list on NYSE. (Newsbriefs).(New York Stock Exchange)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Formosa Plastics USA has hired Goldman Sachs to underwrite a proposed offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange, according to a Taiwan newspaper report. Formosa ...
Butadiene contracts rise. (Newsbriefs).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Two market players agreed on a second-quarter contract for butadiene in Europe at [euro]410/m.t. late last week, a rise of [euro]75/m.t. A ...
Industry escapes hormone blame. (Newsbriefs).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... The U.K. Environment Agency has issued a report stating that household sewage is the main cause of hormone disruption to fish in British rivers. The Chemical Industries Association praised the report; the environment agency ...
Jordan Phosphates seeks majority. (Newsbriefs).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Jordan Phosphate Mines Co (JPMC; Amman) wants to increase its holdings in phosphoric acid maker Indo-Jordan Chemicals Co. (UCC; Amman) from 35%, to ...
Japanese unsaturated polyester link. (Newsbriefs).
Apr 03, 2002 ... Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Hitachi Chemical, and Showa Denko subsidiary Showa Highpolymer, say they will form an alliance to cooperate on the domestic ...
Germans protest low pay hikes. (Newsbriefs).(engineering and chemical trade unions)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Members of the German engineering trade union IG Metall (Frankfurt) staged a series of warning strikes on March 25 in protest against the government's proposed pay rise of 2% for ...
Bayer issues bonds; acquires PU formulator. (Newsbriefs).(polyurethanes producer Tectrade)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Bayer says it has issued [euro]5 billion ($4.4 billion) in bonds to help finance its planned acquisition of Aventis CropScience (CW, Mar. 20, p. 9). Bayer offered [euro]3-billion in five-year notes with a 5.375% interest rate, and [euro]2-billion in 10-year bonds with a 6% interest rate ....
OECD agrees on chemical testing guidelines. (Newsbriefs).(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... More than 100 scientists and officials representing Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD; Paris) countries meeting in Stockholm late last month have agreed on a new set of scientific guidelines for chemical testing. The aim of the agreement is to ensure that tests ...
Sabic delays deal for stake in Polimeri Europa. (Newsbriefs).(seeks more time)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... ENI (Rome), parent company of petrochemical maker Polimeri Europa, says Sabic has asked for more time to consider taking a stake in Polimeri Europa (CW, Oct 17, p. 20). Sabic is seeking "to revise its business plan," ENI adds, hut would not elaborate. "Negotiations may continue as soon as ...
Brussels unveils feed additive controls ... Rejects mandatory environmental reporting. (Newsbriefs).(European Union)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... The European Commission would phase out the use of antibiotics as growth-promoting animal feed additives from 2006, under proposals made last week by David Byrne, safety commissioner. Byrne also proposed is a streamlining of the existing rules on the safety evaluation and marketing ...
Brussels unveils feed additive controls ... Rejects mandatory environmental reporting. (Newsbriefs).
Apr 03, 2002 ... The European Parliament Industry Committee has rejected proposals from some of its members that European Union (EU) firms release annual environmental and social reports. The committee has decided that corporate social responsibility should remain voluntary. The proposal would have ...
Pemex to invest $1 billion in petchems. (Top of the Week).(Pemex Petroquimica seeking partners to invest in petrochemicals)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... State-owned Pemex Petroquimica (Mexico City) is seeking private joint venture partners to support more than $1 billion in planned investment in petrochemicals during the next four years, says president Rafael Beverido Lomelin. Plans include a world-scale ethylene plant, and units to ...
Profits decline hurts executive pay. (Top of the Week).(at chemical companies)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Apr 03, 2002; ... Several top U.S. chemical executives did not receive bonuses last year, or had their compensation significantly reduced, reflecting poor corporate earnings (table) Charles Holliday, chairman and CEO at DuPont, and Michael Parker, president and CEO at Dow Chemical, both declined their 2001 ...
DOE documents reveal details of ACC, NPRA contact. (Business & Finance News: United States/Americas).(Department of Energy; National Petrochemical and Refiners Association)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC; Washington) has received an estimated 11,000 pages of industry correspondence that the Department of Energy (DOE) was forced to turn over by a federal court order last month (CW, March 6, p. 10). The documents, which the Bush Administration used ...
Dioxin assessment lawsuit withdrawn. (Business & Finance News: United States/Americas).
Apr 03, 2002; ... An opponent of EPA's draft health risk reassessment of dioxin has withdrawn a lawsuit that was filed in 2000 in the U.S. District Court in Washington to block the agency from finalizing the draft. The reassessment, which ACC opposes, lists dioxin as a human carcinogen and estimates that ...
Cydsa buys back bonds to avoid default. (Business & Finance News: United States/Americas).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... Chemicals and textiles conglomerate Cydsa (Monterrey, Mexico) last week offered to spend up to $15 million in cash to buy back some of its $200-million bonds maturing on June 25, in a move to avert a default. Cydsa, if unable to renegotiate the terms of its bond, will be forced to file for ...
NPRA meeting: Optimism rises among petchem producers. (Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... Market sentiment among attendees at the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association's (NPRA; Washington) Annual International Petrochemical Conference, held last week in San Antonio, TX was much more optimistic than last year. "Last year, everybody was expecting a year of falling ...
BP slashes U.S. polypropylene capacity. (Business & Finance News: United States/Americas).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Apr 03, 2002; ... BP says it will permanently close about 32% of its North American polypropylene (PP) capacity. The company will shutter two units--a 261,000-m.t./year plant at Bayport, TX and a 205 ,000-m.t./year unit at Chocolate Bayou, TX. BP idled the Chocolate Bayou unit late last year, citing weak ...
RPM plans equity offering. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... RPM says it has priced a secondary public offering of 10 million shares of its common stock at $14.25/share. J.P. Morgan (New York) and Lehman Brothers (New York) are acting as joint bookrunners of the ...
Resolution pays down debt. (Business & Finance News).(Resolution Performance Products)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Resolution Performance Products (Houston) says it has made a voluntary, $7.5-million debt repayment against a term loan. The company says it has ...
ChemConnect acquires NGLs trader. (Business & Finance News).(Natural gas liquids)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... ChemConnect says it has acquired the natural gas liquids (NGL) trading platform of Altra Energy Technologies (Houston). Terms were not disclosed ....
Bayer shuffles portfolio to prepare for chemicals JV. (Business & Finance News: Europe/Mideast).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... Bayer has begun to reshuffle its chemicals and polymers portfolio as part of a plan to prepare the chemicals unit for a possible joint venture with another partner, CW has learned. The changes are part of a broader plan to form a holding structure with four separate operating subsidiaries: ...
Atofina to sell some specialties; Toulouse decision in April. (Business & Finance News: Europe/Mideast).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... Atofina's previously announced plan to divest businesses with combined sales of [euro]1.5 billion ($1.3 billion) by the end of 2003, is expected to include some of its specialty chemicals operations, sources say. These businesses have less synergy with parent TotalFinaElf Group, than ...
Private equity owners eye merger of Vinnolit and Vestolit. (Business & Finance News: Europe/Mideast).(German polyvinyl chloride manufactureres)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... CW has learned that polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturers, Vinnolit (Ismaning, Germany) and Vestolit (Marl, Germany) are exploring a possible merger. The merger would create Europe's third-largest PVC producer with 1 million m.t./year of PVC capacity, putting it behind EVC International, ...
BASF eyes more expansions in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. (Business & Finance News: Asia/Pacific).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... BASF is considering plans to expand its 70,000-m.t./year styrene-acrylic and styrene-butadiene dispersions unit at Cengkareng, Indonesia, and its 20,000-m.t./year superabsorbents plant at Rayong Thailand, says Werner Burgert, president/Southeast Asia. "We ate in the early stages ...
DuPont, Asahi Kasei plan polyacetal copolymer joint venture in China. (Business & Finance News: Asia/Pacific).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... DuPont and Asahi Kasei says they have signed an agreement to build a joint venture polyaceral (POM) copolymer resin plant at Zhangjiagang, China. The companies will invest $65 million-$75 million to build the plant, which will have initial capacity of 20,000-m.t./year, says Dwayne Kearns, ...
Nissho Iwai-Nichimen form chemicals JV. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Nissho Iwai and Nichimen will merge their respective chemicals trading businesses into a 50-50 joint venture, Global Chemical Holdings, with estimated sales of [yen]100 ...
Daicel buys Teijin's acetic anhydride. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Daicel Chemical Industries says it will acquire Teijin's 20,000-m.t./year acetic anhydride plant at Matsuyama, Japan, effective April 1. The deal will increase Daicel's acetic anhydride production ...
IOC confirms Haldia deal. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) has confirmed that it will acquire a 26% stake in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. (HPL) and assume management control (CW Dec. 12, 2001 p. 20); the deal is valued at about ...
Tosoh says profits will fall. (Business & Finance News).(for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2002)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Tosoh Corp. says it expects consolidated operating profit for its fiscal year ended March 31, 2002, to slump 38%, to [yen]17 billion ($128 billion); it previously forecast profits of ...
Saudi private-sector firm plans $1-billion petchems complex at Al Jubail. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... CW has learned That the private-sector Al Zamil Group (Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia) plans to invest more than $1 billion to build a propane-based petrochemical complex at Al Jubail. The company has leased 1.1 million sq meters of land and has secured supplies of propane from Saudi Aramco for ...
Fujian ponders cracker hike; invites ethylene proposals. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... ExxonMobil, Saudi Aramco and Fujian Petrochemical Corp (FPC; Hui An) may expand capacity of their previously announced naphtha cracker at Hui An, China from 600,000 m.t./year, to 800,000 m.t./year, CW has learned. The partners have invited four ethylene process licensors: ABB Lummus ...
Gail proceeds with PE expansion projects. (New Construction Projects).(Gas Authority of India polytheylene expansion)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Gas Authority of India (Gail; New Delhi) is going ahead with plans to expand capacity of its polyethylene (PE) capacity at Auriya, India, CW has learned. A 160,000-m.t./year unit, which uses Nova Chemicals' Sclairtech process. will be expanded to 210,000 m.t./year by year-end. Engineers ...
Kuwaiti firm to select project manager for aromatics. (New Construction Projects).(Petrochemical Industries Co.)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC; Kuwait City) is close to selecting a project management consultant for its previously announced $1.4-billion aromatics complex at Shuaiba, sources say (CW Aug. 8, 2001, p.13). Amec, Bechtel, Fluor Daniel, ...
BASF-Nizhnekamskneftekhim delay PS joint venture. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... BASF and Nizhnekamsknefrekhim (Nizhnekamsk, Russia) have delayed their plans to build a 50-50 polystyrene (PS) production joint venture at Nizhnekamsk (CW May 30/June 6, 2001, p.21). BASE board member John Feldmann cites "tremendous global overcapacity in styrenics." The companies agreed ...
Sibur plans world-scale PET plant in Russia. (New Construction Projects).(polyethylene terephthalate resin)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Sibur-Neftekhim says it is planning a 200,000-m.t./year polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin unit by 2005 at Kstovo, Russia. The project is ...
Millennium builds zirconia unit for fuel cell market. (New Construction Projects).(Millennium Chemicals builds plant in Rockingham, Australia)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Millennium Chemicals says it is building a small-scale plant at Rockingham, Australia to supply zirconia products for makers of solid oxide fuel cells. Capacity ...
Daicel studies cellulose acetate expansion in China. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Daicel Chemical Industries says it is considering expanding its cellulose acetate tow plant at Xian, China by 16,000 m.t./year, to 25,000 m.t./year. The expansion would start operation in 2005. The company cites ...
OM Group: Proving its mettle.(Cover Story)
Apr 03, 2002; ... At a time when many specialty chemical firms are struggling just to break even, OM Group (OMG; Cleveland) stands out as a financial success story. The company has posted 24 consecutive quarters of earnings growth, and earnings per share (EPS) have grown 18.5%/year since it was taken public ...
Managing innovation and compliance with mySAP Product Lifecycle Management: An answer to competitive and regulatory trends.(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... There's never been a tougher time to be in the chemical business. Today, chemical companies face global competition and an ever-growing list of government regulations. At the same time, pressures on costs and profitability leave fewer employees to achieve innovation and compliance ...
New plastic takes on a tough marketplace. (Innovation: Polymer Research).(Mississippi Polymer Technologies ultrahighstrength Parmax thermoplastic)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... Research firm Mississippi Polymer Technologies (MPT; Bay St. Louis, MS) says it has started semi-commercial production of its proprietary ultrahigh-strength Parmax thermoplastic at Port Bienville, MS. The company has completed a 100,000-lbs/year unit for its polymer, which is as strong as ...
Medis develops nonprecious metal catalyst. (Innovation: Fuel Cells).(Medis Technologies)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... Medis Technologies (New York) says it has developed a low-cost fuel-cell catalyst composed of traces of nonprecious metals and a proprietary superconductive polymer coating. It is the only alternative to platinum and other precious metal catalysts in fuel cells, says Medis. Further details ...
BASF's low-energy renovation. (Innovation).(outfits old house with polystyrene-based veneer which signficantly cuts heating oil usage)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... BASF says its has refurbished an old house at Ludwigshafen using innovative insulating materials that have cut energy use to below 3 liters/year of heating oil for each sq meter. Similar unrenovated buildings consume 20 liters/year, says BASE The company ...
Fluorochemical Biosynthesis. (Innovation).(University of St. Andrews researchers identify enzyme that catalyzes a fluorination reaction)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Researchers from the University of St. Andrews, U.K., say they have identified an enzyme that catalyzes a fluorination reaction. The finding opens up the possibility of a biotech route to fluorochemicals, say the ...
Intellectual property software: Anything extra with that? (Patent Management).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... There is a growing trend among software vendors to the chemical industry to offer an ever broader slate of services. That shift, which is already well established among suppliers of ERP and plant automation software, is now spreading to intellectual property (IP) management software ...
Aerojet hopes that growth will take off this year. (Pharmaceuticals & Fine Chemicals: Contract Services).(Aerojet Fine Chemicals)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... After two years of stagnation, Aerojet Fine Chemicals is expecting a growth spurt this year, says president Joseph Carleone. The company is aiming for a 20% increase, to nearly $50 million, says Carleone, He cites the introduction of new products, and the severing of ties with NextPharma ...
BASF gets bigger in contract manufacturing. (Pharmaceuticals & Fine Chemicals: Contract Services).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... BASF says it plans to to step up third-party contract manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and drugs intermediates. The decision follows the sale of BASF's drugs operation to Abbott Laboratories in 2000, which freed BASF to pursue contract manufacturing. "We are in The ...
Lonza CEO sees good times ahead for biologics. (Pharmaceuticals & Fine Chemicals: Custom Manufacturing).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Apr 03, 2002; ... The party in custom manufacturing is not over, Markus Gemuend, CEO of Lonza, told attendees at the annual Socma luncheon, held recently in New York, dismissing worries about slowing growth in outsourcing. Gemuend emphasized the importance of suppliers differentiating themselves by ...
More biotech deal-making ahead? (Pharmaceuticals & Fine Chemicals: M&A).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... The recent acquisition of biotechnology firms by Johnson & Johnson and Schering may be the beginning of a surge in pharmaceutical M&A in the biotechnology sector, according to a report from Goldman Sachs (CW, Mar. 27, pp. 7, 25). The impetus is the need among pharmaceutical companies to ...
Takeda to build API plant ... signs deal in genomics. (Pharmaceuticals & Fine Chemicals).(Takeda Chemical Industries active pharmaceutical ingredient plant in Ireland)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Takeda Chemical Industries says it will invest [euro]80 million ($70.2 million) to build an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) plant at Clondalkin, Ireland for completion in 2004 ....
Takeda to build API plant ... signs deal in genomics. (Pharmaceuticals & Fine Chemicals).(will use information from Gene Logic to develop genonme-based drugs)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Takeda Chemical Industries says it will use information from Gene Logic (Gaithersburg, MD) to help discover and develop new genome-based drugs. Takeda ...
Paintmakers expect better first-quarter results. (Paints and Coatings).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... Paintmakers say they expect to meet or exceed analysts' consensus earnings per share (EPS) estimates for the first quarter. The companies cite ongoing cost-cutting benefits, as well as an increase in demand for architectural coatings. RPM and Sherwin-Williams (SW) are optimistic that the ...
Grace makes another acquisition. (Construction Chemicals).(W.R. Grace; Addiment Inc.)(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002; ... W.R. Grace says it has acquired Addiment (Doraville, GA), a leading supplier of construction chemicals in the U.S. and Canada, from Lehigh Cement (Allentown, PA). Lehigh is part of construction materials giant, the Heidelberg Cement Group (Heidelberg, Germany). Terms of the deal and ...
Eaglebrook adds Stemson assets. (Specialties).(Brief Article)
Apr 03, 2002 ... Eaglebrook (Matteson, IL), a producer of inorganic coagulants for water and wastewater treatment applications, says it has acquired the water treatment assets of polyaluminum chloride maker Stemson (Brantford, ON). Eaglebrook, which supplies aluminum and iron coagulants throughout ...