Chemical Week back issues from February 2003:
Transportation issues. (Viewpoint).(chemical industry)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Security figured front and center at CW's Eighth Transportation and Distribution conference, held last month in New Orleans (CW, Jan. 29, p. 7). Chemical companies have taken many steps since September 2001 to review their transportation and distribution arrangements, improve security, and ...
Vantico to become part of Huntsman following debt-equity swap. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Vantico (Luxembourg) will become part of the Huntsman group following a planned financial restucturing of Vantico. Vantico's bondholders, including MarlinPatterson Global Opportunities (New York) and Morgan Grenfell Private Equity (London), have agreed to swap their debt for a 95% stake in ...
Dow Corning buys two electronic materials firms. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Dow Corning says it has acquired Sterling Semiconductor from Uniroyal Technology (Sarasota, FL) for $11.2 million, and has agreed to purchase Tyco's Raychem Power Materials unit for an undisclosed amount. Sterling, a maker of silicon carbide substrates, has plants at Danbury, CT and Tampa, ...
Grace seeks delay for bankruptcy reorganization. (News Briefs).(W.R. Grace)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... W.R. Grace has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, DE to block creditors from proposing a reorganization plan until the company can better determine the amount of its potential liabilities from asbestos claims. The company filed for bankruptcy in April 2001 due to mounting ...
GOP leaders push pollution cuts for power plants. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Republican leaders of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee say they will push to pass President Bush's proposed plan to reduce emissions of mercury, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide from electric power plants. Many chemical producers are concerned that the proposal, called ...
Dow Chemical auctions oxygen plants. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... CW hears that Dow Chemical has invited bids for the three oxygen plants at Taft, LA, Seadrift, TX, and Prentiss, AB that it acquired with its takeover of Union Carbide. Dow had long been expected to divest the plants as soon as the two-year moratorium on deals following its Carbide deal ...
Linde reorganizes U.S. gas business. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Linde Group says it will consolidate its three U.S. gas operations into a single [euro]850-million ($921 million) operating group under the Linde name, based at Cleveland. The subsidiaries are: AGA Gas (Cleveland); Holox (Atlanta, GA); and Linde Gas (La Porte, ...
Solutia posts loss. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Solutia reported a net loss of $17 million before one-time items in the second quarter, compared to a year-ago net loss of $5 million before one-time items. The results were in line with Solutia's early January warning that it would post a loss in the quarter. Sales rose 8% to $562 ...
Cargill Dow launches Ingeo. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Cargill Dow late last month announced it has signed with 85 new customers, including brand owners and textile manufacturers from more than a dozen countries, that are developing products made with biodegradable ...
EniChem employees arrested. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Police have arrested 18 EniChem employees, on criminal charges relating to environmental pollution at EniChem's Priolo, Italy complex. A recent investigation by local magistrates found mercury levels in effluent pumped from the Priolo site into the sea to be 20,000 times higher than legal ...
Brussels probes Celanese-Degussa JV. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... The European Commission says it has launched a four-month investigation into plans by Celanese and Degussa to establish a 50-50 joint venture for [C.sub.3] oxo-alcohols in Europe (CW, Dec. 4,2002, p. 8). "A preliminary examination has identified competition concerns in a number of products ...
BP sells final Burmah business. (News Briefs).(Fosroc Mining, Burmah Castrol)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... BP has agreed to sell Fosroc Mining, an [pounds sterling]84-million ($137 million)/year specialty mining chemicals business, to private equity capital firm Close Brothers Private Equity (London) for [pounds sterling]32 million in cash and assumed ...
Dow to close PET unit in Italy. (News Briefs).(polyethylene terephthalate )(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Dow Chemical says it will close a 60,000-m.t./year polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant at Pisticci, Italy by the end of the first quarter, with the loss of 70 jobs. The company cites unfavorable ...
E.On court settlement enables RAG to acquire Degussa. (News Briefs).
Feb 05, 2003 ... E.On has received authorization to acquire gas supplier Ruhrgas (Essen, Germany), paving the way for coal mining company RAG (Essen) to acquire a majority stake in Degussa. E.On says it reached an out-of-court settlement with nine players in Germany's energy market that opposed the Ruhrgas ...
Atofina to acquire polystyrene plant in China. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Atofina says it has agreed to acquire a 100,000-m.t./year polystyrene (PS) plant at Sanshui, China from China Offshore Oil Sanshui Chemical Industry (Sanshui) for an undisclosed amount. It is Atofina's second recent acquisition in Asia/Pacific. The company agreed late last year to buy a ...
Aventis, Bayer abandon blood products JV. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Aventis and Bayer have called off plans to form a blood plasma products joint venture (CW, Feb. 27, 2002, p. 18). The companies say they "reviewed various possible forms of cooperation, and a final agreement on terms of the transaction could not be reached." Aventis had planned to combine ...
Bidders line up to acquire Brenntag. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... More than 10 companies have made initial offers to acquire Brenntag from state-owned railroad company Deutsche Bahn (DB; Berlin), sources say. They include private equity capital companies Advent International (Boston), the Blacksrone Group (New York), Cinven (London), and CVC Capital ...
Services firm to acquire Dynea's oil field Chemicals. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Oil field services and equipment company M-I (Houston) has agreed to acquire the oil field chemicals business of Dynea International (Helsinki) for [euro]76 million ($82 million) in cash. The business will be renamed M-I Production Chemicals. Its products include corrosion inhibitors, ...
Petrochemical makers post heavy losses. (Top of the Week).
Feb 05, 2003; ... Chemical makers finished 2002 on a sour note as weak increases in feedstock costs and sharp demand in December hurt fourth-quarter earnings. Petrochemical makers fared worst, with Dow Chemical, Lyondell Chemical, Millennium Chemical, and Nova Chemicals all posting losses (table). ...
Bush ratchets up funding for hydrogen fuel-cell programs. (United States/Americas).
Feb 05, 2003; ... President Bush is asking Congress to set aside $1.2 billion over the next five years for a federal R&D initiative that seeks to commercialize hydrogen-powered fuel cells for automobiles and electricity generation. The proposal, which Bush unveiled in last week's State of the Union Address, ...
DuPont buys Stratco's alkylation business. (United States/Americas).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... DuPont has acquired the alkylation division of process licensor Stratco (Scottsdale, AZ), a move that broadens DuPont's offering to oil refiners beyond its sulfuric acid ([H.sub.2][SO.sub.4]) regeneration services. DuPont hopes to grow its refinery services operation from $25 million/year, ...
Westaim appoints adviser. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Technology firm Westaim Corp. (Calgary, AB), says it has appointed Griffiths McBurney & Partners (Toronto) to review "strategic options" for the company. Westaim's technologies include a ceramic anticoking coating for ethylene plants. Westaim ...
Lyondell capital spending to rise. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Lyondell Chemical says it will increase capital spending by 22% this year, to $241 million. The biggest increase is in its intermediate chemicals and derivatives division, where spending will rise 50%, to $131 ...
3M completes fluoropolymer deal. (Business & Finance News).(with Solvay)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... 3M's Dyneon unit says it has completed the acquisition of Solvay's fluoropolymers business (CW, Aug. 28/Sept. 4, 2002, p. 9). The acquisition includes a 2,300 m.t./year ...
Eastman inks deal with ChevronTexaco. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Eastman Chemical says it has signed an agreement with ChevronTexaco's Texaco Development subsidiary under which Eastman will provide operation, maintenance, management, and technical ...
M&A deal volume holds up in 2002. (United States/Americas).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... The total value of chemical industry M&A transactions fell 34% in 2002, to $23 billion, but the number of deals held up surprisingly well, falling just 6%, to 74, says investment bank Young & Partners (Y&P; New York) in its latest review of M&A trends (chart). The level of activity also ...
Natural gas users plead for energy bill. (United States/Americas).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... A group of chemical and other manufacturers that rely on natural gas, both as a chemical feedstock and as a fuel for plants including cogeneration units, are pressing Congress to restart negotiations on proposed national energy legislation. House and Senate leaders failed to pass an energy ...
CDC report raises concerns about chemical exposure. (United States/Americas).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... A report issued last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta) has found elevated levels of certain environmental chemicals in humans, including the insecticide DDT that was banned in 1973 in the U.S. The study, which measured exposure to 116 chemicals, says DDT ...
PET expansions planned in Poland. (Europe/Mideast).(SK Chemicals)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Two separate groups say they are planning major expansions of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) capacity in Poland. SK Chemicals (Seoul) says it will expand a previously announced PET bottle resin plant now under construction after it starts up in 2004, CW has learned (CW, Oct. 30, 2002, p ....
Rhodia under investigation by French authorities for Cyclohexane Spill. (Europe/Mideast).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Rhodia is under investigation by magistrates in the administrative region of Haut-Rhin, France for allegedly failing to correctly report a spill of cyclohexane at the company's Chalampe, France nylon complex on December 16, 2002. The spill reportedly lasted 30 hours, and Rhodia is accused ...
DSM links with Nanotech firm. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... DSM Venturing & Business Development and Carbon Nanotechnologies (CNI; Houston) say they will form an alliance to develop performance materials ...
Brussels warns on directives. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... The European Commission has issued an initial warning to tile government of Luxembourg for failing to adopt the commission's biocides directive as part of national law ....
Siegfried posts higher sales. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Siegfried Group (Zofingen, Switzerland) has reported a 13% rise in 2002 sales, to SF399 ...
Management buys DSM cleanup unit. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... A management team has acquired a majority stake in DSM's soil remediation technology business. Terms of the deal ...
Industry not amused by portrayal in comic book. (Europe/Mideast).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Europe's chemical industry says it is not amused by a 32-page comic book published by the European Parliament featuring a fictional petrochemical company that deliberately dumps toxic waste into a river. The comic is part of a campaign by the parliament to communicate its activities, ...
LG Chem, Honam agree to acquire Hyundai Petrochemical. (Asia/Pacific).(Brief Article)(Illustration)
Feb 05, 2003; ... A consortium of LG Chem and Honam Petrochemical has agreed to acquire Hyundai Petrochemical from Hyundai's creditors for won l.76 trillion ($1.5 billion). The consortium will pay wonl.42 trillion in cash and assume won340 billion of Hyundai's debt; creditors have agreed to write off won502 ...
Orica reaches agreement on Incitec takeover. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Orica (Melbourne) has reached an agreement with agricultural services firm Futuris (Adelaide, Australia) that will allow Orica to assume 100% ownership of Incitec (Brisbane, Australia). The agreement paves the way for the previously announced merger of Incitec's fertilizer business with ...
Showa Denko, Kyowa Hakko plan ethyl acetate merger. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Showa Denko and Kyowa Hakko Kogyo (Tokyo) say they are in talks to merge their ethyl acetate businesses by year-end. Showa would hold a majority stake in the joint venture; each partner would market its share of the jv's output independently. The proposed deal involves closing ...
Mitsubishi, BASF part company in Japan. (Business & Finance News).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Mitsubishi Chemical and BASF Japan have wound up their three joint ventures in Japan through share swaps at two of the jv's and an outright purchase by Mitsubishi of the other. Mitsubishi has transferred its share in BASF Dispersions (Tokyo) to BASF, which has transferred its share in ...
CPChem to join Egypt olefins venture? (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) would not confirm or deny recent reports that it has agreed with Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Co. (Echem; Cairo) on a $1.5-billion petrochemicals joint venture in Egypt. Chevron Phillips would hold a 75% stake in the jv and Echem the rest, the reports ...
Linde wins Saudi petchem feasibility study. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Linde says it has signed a memorandum of understanding to carry out a study for a petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia for Project Management Development (PMD; Riyadh), a privately owned group of ...
Lummus lands CPChem's Saudi styrene contract. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... ABB Lummus Global says it has been awarded a technology license and basic engineering contract by Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) and its joint venture partner Saudi Industrial Investment Group (SIIG; Al jubail, Saudi Arabia) for a previously announced styrene project at Al Jubail (CW, ...
China approves LG's PVC plant in Fujian. (New Construction Projects).
Feb 05, 2003 ... The State Planning Commission (Beijing) says it has approved a $430-million polyvinyl chloride (PVC) joint venture between LG Chem and Fujian Petrochemical (FPC; Quanzhou, China) at Quanzhou. The project includes a 160,000-m.t./year chior-alkali plant and a 450,000-m.t./year PVC plant. It ...
Norsk Hydro to build [CO.sub.2] plant in Germany. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Norsk Hydra says it is building a 150,000-m.t./ year carbon dioxide purification and liquefaction plant at Bayer's Dormagen, Germany site to supply the food and ...
Rockwood to expand wafer reclaim plant. (New Construction Projects).(Rockwood Specialties investing $7 million at silicon wafer reclaim plant in France)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Rockwood Specialties' (Princeton, NJ) wafer reclaim business is investing $7 million to increase capacity and enhance capabilities at its silicon wafer reclaim plant at Greasque, France. Rockwood says it is increasing its 200-mm wafer capacity from ...
BP eyes second major petchem complex in China. (New Construction Projects).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... BP says it is considering a second major petrochemicals investment in China. Shanghai Secco Petrochemicals, a 50-50 joint venture between BP and Sinopec, is ...
BASF MAy expand nanjing ethylene unit. (New Construction Projects).(may expand petchem complex joint venture with Sinopec now under construction )(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... BASF says it is considering expansion of its petchem complex jv with Sinopec now under construction ...
Tying IT all together: the push for systems integration is on.(Cover Story)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Major chemical companies have each spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the last 10 years to implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to tie together their databases, order entry, and financial systems, and reorganize their businesses around these IT systems. But many ...
B2B's struggle to stay afloat; alliances may be best strategy. (Cover Story).
Feb 05, 2003; ... Most chemical industry online business-to-business (b2b) exchanges are still struggling to stay afloat, attract new customers, and build liquidity analysts say. But they do not expect the b2b industry to undergo the same high rate of M&A and site closures this year that it did in 2001 and, ...
A 'watershed' for bioprocessing. (Industrial Biotechnology).(Industry Overview)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Millions of dollars in federal funding and private investment made 2002 a watershed for industrial biotechnology, according to speakers at a recent analyst briefing held by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO; Washington) in New York City. The industry has been boosted by: ...
Roche rebuffs Novartis's latest advance. (M & A).
Feb 05, 2003; ... Roche has again refuted speculation that it may merge with Novartis, after Novartis announced that it had raised its stake in Roche substantially and is interested in a deal. Novartis says it bought 11.4% of Roche during 2002, raising its stake in the company to 32.7% (CW, Jan. 29, p. 8) ....
BP-Cambridge major oxazole link. (Pharmaceutical Intermediates).(BP and Cambridge Major Laboratories to develop and market oxazole derivatives)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... BP and pharmaceutical intermediates manufacturer Cambridge Major Laboratories (Germantown, WI) say they have formed an agreement to develop and market oxazole derivatives--potential intermediates for several key active ingredients--to the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries ....
Cardinal opens pharma services unit. (Pharmaceuticals & Fine Chemicals).(Cardinal Health)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Cardinal Health (Dublin, OH) says it has opened an $80-million pharmaceutical services center at Somerset, NJ, including drug development, analytical science, formulation of delivery technologies, and clinical manufacturing. The 265,000-sq ft ...
Lonza agrees to antibodies deal. (Pharmaceuticals & Fine Chemicals).(Lonza Biologics to provide MorphoSys AG with process development services and manufacturing capacity for antibody projects)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Lonza Biologics says it has agreed to provide MorphoSys AG (Munich), a developer of synthetic antibodies for drugs, with process development services and manufacturing capacity for ...
Wacker unveils chiral technologies. (Pharmaceuticals & Fine Chemicals).(Wacker-Chemie launches 2 chiral technologies for production of pharmaceutical intermediates)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Wacker-Chemie says it has introduced two novel chiral technologies for production of pharmaceutical intermediates. The first involves an asymmetric Reformatsky process for the manufacture of active beta-hydroxy esters. Wacker is already ...
Avecia steps up investment in fine chemicals. (Pharmaceutical Intermediates).
Feb 05, 2003; ... Avecia (Manchester, U.K.) has been shifting its focus from specialty to fine chemicals since it was formed in 1999 via the acquisition of the former Zeneca specialty chemicals business by private equity firms InvestCorp (Manimar, Bahrain) and Cinven (London). Avecia has exited a series of ...
Engelhard, Nippon Sheet Glass link in special-effect pigments. (Paints and Coatings).(firms form alliance to develop and market special-effect pearlescent and iridescent pigments)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Engelhard says it has formed an alliance with Nippon Sheet Glass (Osaka) to develop and market special-effect pearlescent and iridescent pigments for makers of coatings, cosmetics, plastics, and inks. The companies say they are developing new titanium and iron oxide coating technologies on ...
Archer Daniels Midland starts shipments of zero-VOC coalescing agent. (Paints and Coatings).(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) says it has started shipping test samples of a zero-volatile organic compound (VOC) reactive coalescing agent, branded Archer RC. The company announced the product at the International Coatings Expo, held last year in New Orleans (CW, Nov. 6, 2002, p. 37). It ...
BASF NOF's water-based auto coatings. (Specialties).(BASF NOF Coatings to soon commercially produce cationic electrodeposition auto coatings in Japan)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... BASF NOF Coatings says it will soon begin commercial production of water-based cationic electrodeposition auto coatings at Totsuka, Japan, gradually increasing production to 3,600 m.t./year by the end of 2005. BASF ...
Akzo reorganizes wood finishes. (Specialties).(Akzo Nobel's North American decorative coatings business brings marketing of Synteko wood floor coatings in-house)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Akzo Nobel says its North American decorative coatings business unit has brought marketing of the company's Synteko-brand high-end wood floor coatings in-house. Synteko products were previously sold in ...
Ashland launches paint defoamer. (Specialties).(Drew Industrial business introduces combination defoamer for water-based coatings)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Ashland Specialty Chemical's Drew Industrial business says it has launched a combination defoamer for water-based coatings. The product provides effective antifoaming properties in wet paints, and promotes the dissolution ...
Akzo starts NaSH unit. (Specialties).(Akzo Nobel Functional Chemicals' sulfur products business starts up sodium hydrosulfide plant )(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Akzo Nobel Functional Chemicals' sulfur products business says it has started up a sodium hydrosulfide (NaSH) plant at LeMoyne, AL. Capacity details were not disclosed. The plant will produce high-purity, ...
Hydro signs plant nutrition deal. (Specialties).(Hydro Agri France assumes management responsibility for Phosyn France)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Hydro Agri France (HAF; Paris), part of Norsk Hydro's fertilizer business, says it has assumed management responsibility for Phosyn France, a subsidiary of plant nutrition company Phosyn (York, U.K.). HAF has also been named exclusive ...
Schulman launches cost-cutting effort. (Compounding).(A. Schulman)
Feb 05, 2003; ... Compounding firm A. Schulman says it plans to reduce inventory levels and manufacturing costs as part of a cost-cutting plan for its North American operations, which it says have been hurt by high resin prices and weak demand for engineered products. The program should save an annualized ...
Wella buys haircare company in Australia. (Digest).(buys PPS Hairwear Australia)(Brief Article)
Feb 05, 2003 ... Wella (Darmstadt, Germany), the second-largest cosmetics and fragrances maker behind L'Oreal, says it has acquired haircare products firm PPS Hairwear Australia (Brisbane). Financial derails were not disclosed. Privately owned PPS reported sales of [euro]13 million ($13 million) in 2002, ...