ICIS - Search Articles by Date : September 02 2002 - September 08 2002

Product profile: Isopropanol
Demand growth in western Europe is low but higher rates are estimated in central and eastern Europe. New capacity in Germany could negatively affect.... more
(06 September 2002 09:18)

Market trends: Naphtha driven up by higher crude
Naphtha and MTBE prices have moved up in response to higher crude and gasoline values. Ammonia markets have also recovered as US buyers seek out.... more
(06 September 2002 08:34)

Food, Flavors & Nutraceuticals in Brief
SACCHARIN The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled in favor of PMC Specialties Inc. (PMC) in its unfair trade petition, which accused more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Poland Mulls Lukoil's Bid for Gdansk Refinery
Poland's government will decide within the next few weeks whether to allow Lukoil, the Russian oil group, to take control of the Gdansk refinery, more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Sales and Earnings Slide at TotalFinaElf
TotalFinaElf recorded a 1 percent drop in chemical sales to  5.2 billion ($5.2 billion) in the second quarter, while operating income dropped 17 more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

German Companies Lead Opposition Against Sarbanes-Oxley
German chemical and other industrial companies that have shares listed in New York are maintaining their strong opposition to parts of the US more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

BASF Sells Luranyl Unit to Romira
BASF has reaffirmed its commitment to high volume products in the engineering plastics sector by selling its Luranyl business in Europe and Asia to more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

News In Brief
ISP Gets Lehman Advice International Specialty Products Inc. (ISP) has hired Lehman Brothers to help evaluate Samuel J. Heyman's offer to fully more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

IT In Brief
Pavilion Links With Dow... Pavilion Technologies Inc. will provide seven Dow Chemical Company sites in Texas with real-time environmental more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Chemical Security Bill May Be Nixed From DHS Legislation
The chemical industry appeared to score at least a temporary victory last week as Senate Democratic leaders indicated they may not include more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Jobs and People
Michael Bailey Michael Bailey has been named chief marketing officer of Pavilion Technolo-gies Inc. Mr. Bailey is a 21-year marketing veteran more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Safflower Oil Prices Stable on Good Demand
For the past two to three years, steady demand in the food oils market has stabilized the price of safflower oil. Despite competition from olive more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Senator Seeks to Block Reform to NSR Program
Congress should intervene and stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from putting in place changes in emission regulations that would more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Oils, Fats & Waxes In Brief
AG PROCESSING Inc. has begun construction of a new $14.5 million grain loading terminal at the Port of Grays Harbor in Aberdeen, Wash. The port more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Olefins Prices Poised for Rollover
US olefins prices in August are poised for a rollover from their July numbers, although some large producers have yet to settle. Questions now more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Acetaminophen Leads Analgesics
Twenty years after entering the market for over-the-counter analgesics, acetaminophen (APAP) maintains a powerful hold on the market. Venerable more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Specialties Pricing
Albemarle Corp. will increase prices for elemental bromine by 3c. per pound and for hydrobromic acid (48 percent HBr by weight) by 3.5c. per pound. more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Malaysian Group Grabs Unilever's Fats and Oils Biz
IOI Corp. Berhad, a major investment holding and palm oil player in Malaysia, will acquire Unilever NV/PLC's international specialty oils and fats more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Traditional Herbicides Market Looks to Convert More to Biotech
Although planted acreage is projected to grow to keep up with population growth, consumption of herbicides is expected to decrease through 2006. more
(06 September 2002 21:42)

Seven South Korean firms vie for Inchon Oil stake
South Korea's SK Corp, S-Oil, LG Caltex and Capital Restructuring Co and three European oil majors are among the 10 companies which have submitted.... more
(06 September 2002 10:22)

Gail drops plan for PDH-PP
The Gas Authority of India Ltd (Gail) has decided not to proceed with a plan to set up a propane-dehydrogenation (PDH)-PP facility at Vijaipur in.... more
(06 September 2002 10:20)

CPC to up No5 in H2 2006
Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) plans to debottleneck its 500 000 tonne/year No5 cracker in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to 600 000 tonne/year in H2 2006 more
(06 September 2002 10:20)

Indo Rama mulls yarn alliance
Indo Rama Synthetics may explore the possibility of forming an alliance with smaller Indian players for its spun yarn business after it demerges this.... more
(06 September 2002 10:20)

Market trends: Propylene eases
Deals for European ethylene baffles market players. In butadiene markets, selling ideas climb higher on extremely tight supply more
(06 September 2002 10:14)

Shipping report: Westerlies dominate
Talk of C2 movements from Europe dominate markets, while slack demand for vessel space in Southeast Asia saw freight rates slip $1-2/tonne more
(06 September 2002 10:14)

Last-ditch effort to win Japan tax cuts
Japan's premier industry association has begun lobbying members of the Japanese parliament in a last-ditch attempt to persuade politicians to vote in.... more
(06 September 2002 10:05)

Sinopec: only time will tell
Even though the sign outside is in fairly large letters and the taxi driver is certain he's delivered you to the right address, when you first more
(06 September 2002 10:06)

Mitsubishi Chem eyes vinyls exit
Mitsubishi Chemical is in talks to form an alliance for its unprofitable vinyls business or to exit the business altogether more
(06 September 2002 10:06)

China factfile
Useful hints, tips and contacts for China more
(06 September 2002 09:54)

Dancing to a different tune?
With Premier Zhu Rongji's pledge to stamp out corruption and its increasing economic integration with the rest of the world, China has witnessed some.... more
(06 September 2002 10:07)

Sprucing up for the WTO...
Accession to the WTO has imposed a number of obligations on China. James Higbee of Lovells examines the legal changes that China will have to.... more
(06 September 2002 10:07)

Global roundup
From stories supplied by the CNI and ACN teams more
(06 September 2002 10:06)

Polymer trends: ABS edges up $30
Despite optimism by producers that PE and PP prices will rise in September, traders maintain that buyers are likely to resist higher offers more
(06 September 2002 10:01)

Chinese imports up on strong demand
Chinese imports of petrochemical rose between January and June this year compared with the first six and seven months of 2001, spurred by strong.... more
(06 September 2002 09:56)

No relief in sight as butadiene hits $720
Asian butadiene buyers looking for respite from a steady rise in prices may be in for a disappointment as spot supplies are expected to remain snug.... more
(06 September 2002 10:01)

Market trends: Benzene still rising
Styrene's $55-60/tonne surge takes market players by surprise. Prices for toluene and mixed xylenes edge up while paraxylene and orthoxylene trading.... more
(06 September 2002 10:08)

Market trends: Butadiene climbs
Tight supply pushes prices above the $700/tonne level while propylene continues to weaken more
(06 September 2002 10:08)

Quanzhou cracker expanded
ExxonMobil and joint venture partners Saudi Aramco and Fujian Petrochemical are planning to increase the capacity of their proposed cracker at.... more
(06 September 2002 10:10)

Threat to future of HPCL refinery
The future of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd's (HPCL) 9m tonne/year refinery project at Bathinda, Punjab, India, could be jeopardised by government.... more
(06 September 2002 10:09)

Siam Cement eyes extra hdPE capacity
Siam Cement is studying expanding its hdPE capacity to 700 000 tonne/year from around 550 000 tonne/year more
(06 September 2002 10:09)

Fujian park unveils 46 projects
A 380 000 tonne/year styrene plant, a 200 000 tonne/year PS unit, a vinyl complex and more than 40 other projects which would cost a total of Rmb28bn.... more
(06 September 2002 10:09)

New project summary
As reported in ACN 26 August - 1 September 2002 more
(06 September 2002 10:08)

Kolon to pay $38m for Kohap plants
Kolon Industrial will pay Won46bn (US$38.3m) to acquire Kohap Corp's 7700 tonne/year nylon and 29 700 tonne/year polyester film plants more
(06 September 2002 10:02)

Showa to expand electronic chems
Showa Denko plans to grow its electronic chemicals segment from 15% to 20% of its total business by 2005 more
(06 September 2002 10:05)

Phenol surge stuns market players
Phenol prices surged up by US$60/tonne in Southeast Asia last week on tight supply and strong demand more
(06 September 2002 10:02)

$50-80 hike for paraformaldehyde
Major paraformaldehyde producers have announced a US$50-80/tonne price hike for September to US$520-530/tonne cif Asia for 91% type and.... more
(06 September 2002 09:55)

Fair trade?
The EU's proposed emissions trading scheme directive aims to push companies in Europe to adhere to Kyoto targets on greenhouse gas reduction. But how.... more
(06 September 2002 11:35)

Product profile: Cyclohexane
Rising demand from refineries for hydrogen will limit its availability for cyclohexane plants. This could result in European production being.... more
(06 September 2002 11:35)

News in brief
Dow price rise Dow's Epoxy Products and Intermediates business is increasing its epichlorohydrin prices by E100/tonne for Europe and at.... more
(06 September 2002 11:35)

Europe's new environmentalists
Urban legend has it that after the Exxon Valdez incident, environmentalists worked long and lovingly to save two oil-covered seals only to see them,.... more
(06 September 2002 11:35)