Chemical Week back issues from September 2002:
One year on. (Viewpoint).(The Chemeical industry after Sept. 11)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... The year since September 11, 2001 has spelt significant changes for the chemical industry in the U.S. The tragic events have shone a new light on two eternal facets of the industry--its products are essential but often hazardous. The hazardous nature of many chemicals means that the ...
Johnson Matthey to acquire Synetix?(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Johnson Matthey (JM) is in exclusive negotiations to acquire ICI's catalysts subsidiary, Synetix, according to a recent report in U.K. newspaper The Guardian. The deal is valued at about [pounds sterling]230 million ($356 million), and it will be ...
ISP committee names Lehman to review Heyman bid.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002 ... International Specialty Products (ISP) says a special committee of independent board members has retained Lehman Brothers (New York) as financial adviser to review an offer by Samuel J. Heyman to acquire the 20% stake in ISP he does not already own ...
BP, Nova sign PE licensing and catalyst deals.(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... BP and Nova Chemicals say they have signed an agreement under which BP will license its Innovene metallocene technology portfolio to Nova for use in polyethylene (PE) manufacturing, and Nova will grant BP rights to use and sub-license its proprietary single-site catalysts. BP and Nova say ...
Cyclics to build resins plant at BASF site.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Cyclics (Schenectady, NY) says it will spend [euro]20 million ($19.6 million) to build its first commercial production plant for cyclic polybutylene terephthalate (cPBT) resins at BASF's Brandenburg, Germany facility. The plant will have capacity ...
Univar acquires Canadian specialties distributor.(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Univar says it has acquired specialty distributor Stochem (Brampton, ON), for an undisclosed amount. Stochem says it has annual sales of close to C$70 million ($45 million), and distributes specialty chemicals to the adhesives, building products, inks, points and coatings, plastics, and ...
Monsanto nears approval for Bt corn.(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Monsanto says it expects a decision from EPA within the next month on the company's application for approval for the genetically modified (GM) Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn seed YieldGard Rootworm. The company says there were no significant challenges to the application at an EPA ...
Venezuela joins Responsible Care. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Venezuela's chemical industry association will be the 47th to become affiliated with the Responsible Care environmental, health, and safety initiative, CW has learned. The Responsible Care Leadership Group of ...
GE acquires Ceramics maker. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... GE Specialty Materials says it has signed an agreement to acquire privately held Advanced Ceramics (Cleveland), a maker of boron nitride powders, shapes, and coating, and other specialty ceramics. Terms ...
Brenntag buys Brazilian distributor. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Brenntag says it has acquired Fenil Quimica (Sao Paulo), a distributor of industrial and specialty chemicals, for an undisclosed sum. The deal, which is retroactive to January 1, expands Brenntag's presence "in one of the economically most attractive ...
DuPont completes Fluoradditives buy. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... DuPont says it has completed its acquisition of Atofina's Ruorinated telomers business (CW May 8, p. 17). Terms were not disclosed. The unit makes specialty additives used in oil, ...
Praxair, BP finalize hydrogen deal. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Praxair says it has finalized an agreement with BP to supply hydrogen to BP's Texas City, TX chemicals and refinery complex (CW May 22, p.35). Praxair says it will build two new hydrogen plants on the U.S. Gulf Coast to supply BP ...
More mixed European results. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Lenzing posted a 34% rise in first-half operating profits, to [euro]39.5 million ($38.7 million), on sales up 3%, to [euro]311 million. Second-quarter figures were not disclosed. The improvement reflects "structural improvements and a higher quality product mix," Lenzing says. Sud-Chemie ...
Japanese firms adjust profit forecasts. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Asahi Kasei has forecast an 8% fall in its operating profits for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003, to [yen]42 billion ($354 million), after previously forecasting a 5% rise, to [yen]48 billion. Asahi cites a slump in its housing and construction materials business that has caused it ...
Henkel acquires Sellotape. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Henkel has acquired the Sellotape adhesive tape business of Verdoso Holdings (Dunstable, U.K.) for an undisclosed amount Sellotape has a more than 50% share of the U.K. adhesive tape ...
Atofina may wind up Grande Paroisse...Sells Japan [H.sub.2][O.sub.2] stake to Mitsubishi Corp.(Grande Paroisse, stockholder meeting; financial results)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Fertilizer producer Grande paroisse says it has called an extraordinary shareholders' meeting for October 23 "to decide on the furture of Grande Paroisse's operations." The meeting may result in Grande Paroisse being wound up, sources say. The company declined to comment further. Atofina ...
Atofina may wind up Grande Paroisse...Sells Japan [H.sub.2][O.sub.2] stake to Mitsubishi Corp.(Mitsubishi Corp., acquires Shin Sanso Kagaku share; TotalFinaElf's plans)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Mitsubishi Corp. has acquired a 50% stake in hydrogen peroxide ([H.sub.2][O.sub.2]) producer Shin Sanso Kagaku (SSK; Tokyo) from Atofina for an undisclosed amount. Dainippon Ink & Chemicals holds the rest of SSK, which operates a 23,000-m.t./year [H.sub.2][O.sub.2] unit at Tornakomai, ...
Borregaard acquires cellulose producer.(Axantis)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Borregaard (Sarpsborg, Norway) has agreed to acquire specialty cellulose producer Axantis (Riedholz, Switzerland) from Emesta Holding (Zug, Switzerland), owned by Ems-Chemie chairman Christoph Blocher, for SF130 million ($87 million). The deal is scheduled for completion this fall. Axantis ...
Asian Paints to acquire Berger International.(Asian Paints India)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Asian Paints India (Bombay) says it is bidding to acquire a 50.1% stake in paints manufacturer Berger International (Singapore). Asian Paints has made a public offer of S$0.40/share, which values the stake at about S$20 million ($11 million). Ariza Holdings (Kuala Lumpur), Berger's biggest ...
DSM to acquire Roche's vitamins and fine chemicals. (Top of the Week).(DSM N.V., Roche Holding AG)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002; ... DSM has confirmed CW's report that it plans to acquire Roche's SF3.5-billion ($2.3 billion)/year vitamins and fine chemicals business (CW, June 5, p. 10). DSM has reached a preliminary agreement to acquire the business for [euro]2.25 billion ($2.2 billion) in cash, and says it expects to ...
Industry groups unite to fight Corzine bill.(Senator Jon Corzine, chemical site security bill)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... Lobbying groups from several industries have joined chemical producers in an effort to prevent a vote on a controversial chemical site security bill sponsored by Senator Jon Corzine (D., NJ). Corzine has proposed that the Senate vote to add his bill as an amendment to separate legislation ...
EPA launches enforcement effort to reduce vinyl chloride emissions. (United States/Americas).(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... EPA's Mid-Atlantic office will begin an enforcement initiative this fall that will target emissions of vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen. Region III, consisting of Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, accounts for 34% of the ...
Conoco-Phillips merger completed. (Business & Finance News).(Conoco Inc., Phillips Petroleum Co.)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Conoco and Phillips Petroleum have completed their $15-billion merger. The deal was approved late last month by FTC, subject to divestments including Conoco's refinery at Commerce City, CO, and ...
Dow Chemical to expense options. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Dow Chemical says it will begin expensing stock options in the first quarter of 2003. The accounting change will result in an expense of 2 cts/share in 2003, growing to about 6 cts/share in 2005, Dow says. The ...
Farmland to restructure fertilizer assets. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... Farmland says it wants to sell or find a joint venture partner for its fertilizer assets as part of its reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company recently filed for bankruptcy citing weak market conditions in the nitrogen fertilizer industry (CW, June 12, p. 12) ....
ACC expects a slowdown, but no 'double-dip' recession. (United States/Americas).(chemical industry; 2002)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... ACC's third-quarter outlook forecasts slower-than-anticipated economic growth in the U.S., restraining the industry's recovery after a solid first-half performance. "Although we don't expect a 'double-dip' recession we do anticipate muted growth in the second half of 2002," says T. Kevin ...
FTC probes DuPont, ChemFirst deal. (United States/Americas).(Federal Trade Commission; electronic chemical sale)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... ChemFirst says FTC has requested additional information related to the sale of its electronic chemicals division to DuPont (CW, July 31, p. 10). ChemFirst did not detail FTC's request, but says it does not focus on any single part of the business. FTC'S request extends the ...
Corrections.(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... The story "Celanese Declares Force Majeure," (CW, Aug. 14, p. 13) incorrectly identified the ownership of Singapore Syngas. It is still owned 75% by Aventis, and 25% by Chevron Texaco. In Product ...
Honeywell executive to head Cytec's specialties unit. (Business & Finance News).(Honeywell International, Cytec Industries; specialty chemicals)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... Cytec Industries has named Honeywell International executive Terry Sutter to the newly created position of president/specialty chemical division, effective immediately. Sutter was previously president/industrial solutions unit at Honeywell. Sutter will report to David Lilley, Cytec's ...
Judge orders partial shutdown at Fairmount Chemical. (Business & Finance News).(New Jersey plant, hydrazine pollution)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... A New Jersey judge has ordered Fairmount Chemical (Newark, NJ) to stop operating the part of its Newark plant that results in the release of hydrazine, a suspected carcinogen. The order was made at the request of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP; Trenton) which ...
Borden Chemical credit facility delayed; faces possible downgrade. (United States/Americas).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... Borden Chemical says it is still negotiating with banks to replace a $250-million credit facility that expired in July. The company had hoped to have a new secured credit facility in place by the end of August; it now says the agreement should be completed later this month. ...
Millennium execs sell shares to repay company loans. (Business & Finance News).(Millennium Chemicals, executives)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... Millennium Chemicals says several of its executives have sold shares of common stock to repay loans made to them by the company that are due in October. Millennium says the total number of shares involved amounts to less than 0.5% of outstanding shares. New or renewed loans to executives ...
Harcros Chemicals, Inc.(financing, General Electric Capital)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... New launch with fresh Capital When a British manufacturing and distribution company decided to sell off its distribution division, the U.S.-based managers decided to make their own bid for the business. With the assistance of GE Capital Commercial Finance, the local company ...
Bahrain to invest $1.5 billion in petrochemical complex. (Europe/Mideast).(Feasibility study for proposed naphtha-based petrochemicals facility)(International Pages)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002; ... The government of Bahrain has authorized state-owned Bahrain Petroleum Co. (Bapco; Manama) to begin a detailed feasibility study for a naphtha-based petrochemicals complex at Sitra, Bahmin, says the country's oil minister, Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, who is also chairman of Bapco. The ...
Dutch unveil chemical risk classification. (Europe/Mideast).(New laws would require firms/importers to risk-classify chemicals)(International Pages)(Legal Beat)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... The Dutch government has unveiled proposed legislation that would require chemical producers and importers to classify chemicals according to the level of risk they pose to human health and the environment, and to communicate that information to consumers, most likely through labeling. The ...
Brenntag acquires Bulgarian firm. (Business & Finance News).(Chemical logistics company sold)(International Pages)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Brenntag says it has taken over the activities of Manti (Sofia), the largest chemical logistics company in Bulgaria. Manti has sales of [euro]8 million ($8 million)/year and employs 50. It supplies the food, paint, ...
Kemira details administrative cuts. (Business & Finance News).(Core business reorganization plan)(International Pages)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Kemira's previously announced plan to combine its administrative organization with those of its core business units will result in approximately 40 ...
Atofina reports lower earnings. (Business & Finance News).(Operating income fell 17% in second quarter to $242 mn)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Atofina says its operating income dropped 17% in the second quarter, to [euro]242 million ($242 million), on sales down 1%, to [euro]5.2 billion. First-half operating income was 40% lower, at [euro]363 ...
Air Liquide, BOC combine Japanese Gases activities. (Asia/Pacific).(Japan Air Gases to have annual sales of $1.2 bn)(International Pages)(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... Air Liquide and BOC say they plan to merge their respective industrial and medical gases businesses in Japan, Air Liquide Japan (ALJ) and Osaka Sanso Kogyo (OSK). The new company, Japan Air Gases, will have sales of [yen]138 billion ($1.2 billion)/year and is scheduled to start operating ...
Kuraray to restructure, spin off polyester staple fiber unit. (Asia/Pacific).(Kuraray to reduce staff at Kurashiki by 50% to 120 workers)(International Pages)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002; ... Kuraray (Osaka) says it will spin off its money-losing polyester staple fiber (PSF) business into an independent company, Kuraray Tamashima (Kurashiki, Japan), effective April 1, 2003. Kuraray will restructure the business heavily before then, including a cut in PSF capacity at Kurashiki ...
Sumitomo cuts profit forecast. (Business & Finance News).(Year's operating profit forecast cut by 4% to $624 mn)(International Pages)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Sumitomo Chemical says it has cut its operating profit forecast for the year ending March 31, 2003, by 4%, to [yen]74 billion ($624 million). The company cites the ...
BASF buys auto paints importer. (Business & Finance News).(Auto Tec International sold for undisclosed amount)(International Pages)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... BASF has acquired auto refinishes importer Auto Tec International (Auckland) for an undisclosed amount. Auto Tec imports BASF's Glasurit auto refinishes ...
Gao-Qiao to supply Naphtha to Secco. (Business & Finance News).(Shanghai Secco Petrochemical to supply naphtha to Gao-Qiao Petrochemical)(International Pages)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Gao-Qiao Petrochemical, a subsidiary of Sinopec, will supply Shanghai Secco Petrochemical with 70% of its naphtha requirements, sources say. Sinopec will build a 90-km pipeline from ...
Merck opens liquid crystal plant. (Business & Finance News).(New $9.8 mn facility to open at Poseung, Korea)(International Pages)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Merck Advanced Technologies, a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, has opened a [euro]10-million ($9.8 million) liquid crystal polymer plant and technical ...
Nippon Shokubai's biodegradable resin. (Business & Finance News).(Proposed polyethylene succinate plant would annually produce between 40,000 m. to 50,000 m.t.)(International Pages)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Nippon Shokubai says it is considering a plant to make 40,000 m.t-50,000 m.t./year of polyethylene succinate, a biodegradable resin produced from succinic anhydride and ethylene glycol (EG) and succinic anhydride. The company has ...
Asahi Kasei to close materials plant. (Business & Finance News).(Construction materials to close in March 2004)(International Pages)(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Asahi Kasel says it will I close a construction materials plant at Matsudo, Japan in March 2004 and transfer production to the company's Sakai, Japan site. Asahi says it will also ...
Oriental plans second PP plant; moves ahead with propane dehydro. (New Construction Projects).(New polypropylene plant at Suez, Egypt)(International Pages)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002; ... Oriental Petrochemicals (Cairo) is planning to build a second polypropylene (PP) plant at Suez, Egypt, sources say. Oriental completed a 120,000-m.t./year unit at Suez last year--Egypt's first PP facility. That plant uses Unipol technology and currently consumes imported propylene; Egypt's ...
Oleon adds fatty acids capacity in Belgium. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Oleon (Ertvelde, Belgium) says it will invest [euro]7 million ($7 million) to build a 10,000-m.t./year fatty acids plant at Oelegem, Belgium. The site's combined capacity for specialty oleochemicals will increase to more than 65,000 m.t./year as a result, the company says. The Oelegem site ...
BASF ups pseudoephedrine capacity in Germany. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... BASF says it plans to increase capacity for the decongestant pseudoephedrine at Minden, Germany from 750 m.t./year, to 1,000 m.t./year, by end of next year. Increasing demand for the product is in part due to the withdrawal from the market of competing substance phenylpropanolamine, ...
Chinese firm expands carbon black capacity. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Henan Puyang Guangpu (Puyang, China) says it will add 40,000 m.t./year of carbon black capacity at its Puyang complex. Henan Puyang will use a ...
S&W, Technip-Coflexip compete for Qatar ethylene hike. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Qatar Petrochemical Co. (Qapco; Mesaieed, Qatar), a joint venture of Qatar Petroleum, Atofina, and EniChem, says it has selected Stone & Webster (S&W) and Technip-Coflexip to prepare separate basic engineering bids for a previously announced ...
Ballestra awarded LAB contract in Dubai. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Ballestra (Milan) says it has signed a contract with Emalab (Dubai, UAE), a newly established petrochemical company, to build a 30,000-m.t./year linear alkyl benzene (LAB) plant in Dubai. UOP will supply its process, catalyst, and some ...
Chinese producers plan PTA capacity hikes. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Yangzi Petrochemical (YPC; Nanjing) and Yizheng Chemical Fibre (YCF; Yizheng, China), both Sinopec subsidiaries, say they are separately studying plans to raise their respective purified terephthalic acid (PTA) capacities. YPC says it is considering adding a 200,000-m.t./year PTA line at ...
Davy awarded methanol contract in Trinidad. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Davy Process Technology (London) says Ferrostaal (Essen, Germany), managing contractor on Methanol Holdings Trinidad's previously announced 5,400-m.t./day methanol project at Point Lisas, Trinidad, has awarded Davy a detailed engineering ...
A sustainable future for chemicals. (Special Advertising Section).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... IN THE U.S., the American Chemistry Society reports that 54% of Americans worry about chemicals or the chemical industry, 62% are suspicious of the sector, and 48% distrust it. There is a growing movement within the global chemical industry to take its Responsible Care outreach ...
Creating the right chemistry. (Special Advertising Section).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... CRITICS MAY FOCUS on the chemical industry's potential impact on the environment, but supporters are equally entitled to highlight its strengths, including the 70,000-plus products chemical companies have developed to solve real-life problems and raise the standard of living in many parts ...
Financing chemicals: proceeding with caution. (Cover Story).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... M&A activity slowed considerably in the first half of 2002, continuing a trend that began in first-quarter 2001 as economic uncertainty and concern over industry's earnings outlook prompted companies to focus on internal improvements instead, bankers say. Chemical companies have had ...
Dow selects Pavilion for NOx. (Information Technology).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Dow Chemical and Pavilion Technologies (Austin) say they have signed a four-year agreement under which Pavilion will provide environmental performance monitoring software to seven Dow sites in Texas. Financial terms were not disclosed. The software, Environmental Portfolio ...
Atofina selects Agilisys ERP software. (Information Technology).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Atofina Chemicals' Cray Valley division says it plans to install enterprise resource planning (ERP) software from Agilisys (Malvem, PA) throughout its operations worldwide. Atofina says it will use the software, which is a recently upgraded version, to "better manage transactions between ...
CIDX joins forces with gas industry. (Information Technology).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... The Chemical Industry Data Exchange (CIDX) says it has agreed to collaborate with the Gas Processors Association (GPA) to further develop Chem eStandards, the extensible markup language (XML) used to facilitate online transactions between the chemical industry and its trading partners ....
Agilent-IBM drug informatics link. (Information Technology).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Agilent Technologies and IBM say they have signed an agreement to link their respective informatics systems to help accelerate drug discovery and ...
Enterprise resource planning tops manufacturers' IT budgets. (Software).(Brief Article)
Sep 11, 2002; ... Enterprise resource planning (ERP) will remain the biggest segment of large and mid-size companies' applications budget through 2004, according to a new survey by AMR Research (Boston). AMR based the survey on interviews with 509 firms, including chemicals, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, ...
Building a house for data to live in: 'plant life cycle management' is the operative phrase for the evolving relationship between engineering-construction companies and their clients. (E&C).(Computer-aided design tools used in engineering for plant life-cycle management)
Sep 11, 2002; ... A new E&G business model is struggling to be born the chemical and process industries and the engineering companies that serve them. This model focuses on the entire life cycle of a plant, as recorded by the electronic data of its initial design, as-built construction and operational life ....
Creating value through specialty chemicals. (Baker Petrolite Profile).(Chemical technology solutions firm)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
Sep 11, 2002 ... Innovative technology solutions accelerate value for industrial, oilfield and polymer customers for services ranging from corrosion control to water treatment and emergency response. Baker Petrolite is a world leader in providing chemical technology solutions to the global ...
Baker Petrolite Engineered Solutions captures value. (E&C).(New economic software modeling system)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)(Statistical Data Included)
Sep 11, 2002 ... New Baker Petrolite team is applying proprietary technologies to provide value-adding services WHY IS A SPECIALTY CHEMICAL COMPANY PROVIDING ENGINEERING services? There's a simple answer. "In the course of developing chemicals to meet challenging customer needs, we've created an ...