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Article: Shake, heat, squeaky-pop. (Western Europe's chemical industry profile)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- July 16, 1988
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MILAN, PARIS, LONDON AND ZURICH Western Europe's chemical companies are now among the most successful in the world and this year expect to make record profits. In 1982 they were suffering record losses. Whit brought about the turnaround? And will the good fortune last? THREE things have made the restructuring of the European chemical industry unusual. First, the sheer extent of it; second, the way in which multi-billion-dollar assets have been shuffled around between companies like so much paper; third, the geographically lopsided character of the operation nothing comparable has taken place in the chemical business outside Europe.
In the early 1980s the chemical ...