ICIS - Search Articles by Date : May 03 2004 - May 09 2004

Paints spread eastward
Sales growth for the paints and coatings sector in western Europe provides a discouraging picture. Major players are looking to restructure in these.... more
(07 May 2004 19:25)

German unions look for 3.5% increase
Negotiations on a new nationwide contract governing wages and working conditions in the German chemical industry began last week in Hanover. more
(07 May 2004 19:56)

Europeans Find Well-Being in Multi-Benefits
Manufacturers of cosmetic products want more benefits without more complicated formulations. Sean Milmo reports. more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Petrochemicals in Brief
BTX Higher prices for oil and natural gas and the approach of the summer driving season appear to be pushing up toluene. Spot material is around.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Mylan to Launch New Branded Drug for Parkinson’s Disease
Mylan Laboratories Inc. has gained further ground in the US branded pharmaceuticals market with the approval of its new drug for Parkinson’s disease,.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Europe in Brief
BASF is extending the closure of its formic acid plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany, for maintenance because of what it calls “unsatisfactory” market.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Kemira to Close Fertilizer Plant
Seeking to improve both productivity and returns, Kemira GrowHow, the Kemira group’s agricultural business, will shutter a major fertilizer.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

High Oil Prices Cast Uncertainty On European Chemicals Outlook
Uncertainties about trends in raw material costs, particularly those affected by crude oil prices, are casting a shadow over prospects for certain.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

European Court Cuts SGL Fine
The European Court of First Instance has reduced the fines imposed by the European Commission on SGL Carbon and a number of other graphite producers,.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Senator Kerry Calls for Tougher Plant Security Regulations
Charging that the Bush administration has failed to safeguard the nation’s chemical plants against potential terrorist attacks, Senator John Kerry.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Limp Growth in Hair Care Means a Surge in M&A Activity
Over the past few years, the US hair care market has seen a significant upsurge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity brought on by weak sales.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Huntsman Calls for Natural Gas Trading Curbs
Responding to the most recent spike in natural gas prices on the Ny-mex (New York Mercantile Exchange), Huntsman companies president and CEO Peter.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Fertilizer First Quarter Earnings Are Strong on Improved Pricing
Thanks to improved profitability for nitrogen and potash, Agrium Inc. and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, two of the leading North American fertilizer.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Inorganics in Brief
Dow Chemical Company is raising the off-list selling price of both diaphragm and membrane grades of caustic soda 50 percent solution sold in the US,.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Caustic Potash Market Remains Stable
The outlook for the caustic potash market (KOH) is fairly stable. Producers project moderate growth and expect pricing to track historical patterns,.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Lenzing to Acquire Tencel
Lenzing AG has agreed to acquire, for an undisclosed sum, Tencel, its main competitor in the growing marketfor lyocell cellulose fiber, in which both.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

ExxonMobil to Strengthen Its PAO Operations
ExxonMobil Chemical will upgrade its polyalphaolefins (PAO) plant in Beaumont, Tex., to produce a new line of low-volatility PAO products called.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

China Slowdown Concerns Weigh on Chemical Stocks
Investors spooked by moves to curb the Chinese economy. Joseph Chang reports. more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Financial in Brief
Albemarle Corp. has been upgraded by First Analysis Securities analyst Allan Cohen from “equal-weight” to “overweight.” “Based on broad industry.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Citric Acid Prices Gain Steam on Stronger Demand
After a lengthy slump of weakened demand and plummeting pricing, the market for citric acid is rebounding. Demand for the product is bouncing back as.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Eastman and Georgia Gulf Engineer Significant Turnarounds in Profits
A number of chemical companies are engineering major recoveries for their businesses on the back of booming world economies, years of cost cutting.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Bill Allowing Canadian Drug Imports Picks Up Support
US consumers would be allowed to directly purchase prescriptiondrugs from Canadian pharmacies under a “new approach” bill supported by a bipartisan.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Business in Brief
Ticona Expansion more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Bayer to Build Hexamethylene Plant in China
Bayer MaterialScience AG has signed an agreement to build a $100 million plant for hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) in China. Construction of the.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Styrenic Co-Polymers Face Pricing Pressures
The market for styrenic co-polymer resins, especially acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN), is under pressure from.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Plastics & Coatings in Brief
DOW CHEMICAL Company’s epoxy products and intermediates business is raising its prices for epoxy resin products in North America, effective June 1..... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Polyurethane Consumption Grows in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia and Australia is a rapidly growing market for polyurethane products, according to IAL Consultants, London. The consultancy rates the.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Breaking News Roundup
Natpet to Build PP Plant in Saudi Arabia more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Consumer Specialties Corner
P&G Delivers Strong Third Quarter Sales more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Albany Molecular Has Disappointing Quarter
Citing softening demand in certain sectors and foreign competition, Albany Molecular Research Inc. reports diminished revenues for the first quarter.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

Arch Loses Government Contract
Arch Chemicals Inc. says it may be forced to shut down some of its hydrazine manufacturing facilities because it has lost a long-running hydrazine.... more
(07 May 2004 18:46)

IOC on the road to achieve the entire value chain
AN oil-to-petrochemicals company that straddles the entire value chain is the kind of transformation that Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is aiming for – a.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Newly-formed JCC predicts Yen18bn sales
JAPAN Composite Co (JCC), a joint-venture unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) producer set up last month by Mitsui Takeda Chemicals and Nippon.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Honam bid for KP hits hitch
HONAM Petrochemical’s bid for financially troubled South Korean paraxylene, purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

A new series
If ACN had decided to run a comprehensive, pretty much all-encompassing, series on the state of new projects in Asia three years ago, a great deal of.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Something in the air
Project activity in India is picking up at a time when the economy is booming and the surpluses experienced during the past few years for many.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Too hot to handle?
Anyone who has been on Mars for the last three months might have missed all the furore over China’s economy as concern mounts that the engine of.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Global roundup
From stories supplied by the CNI and ACN teams more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Paraxylene weakens
Paraxylene slips on worries about China’s new credit policy while a surge in crude oil prices keeps benzene and styrene firm more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Naphtha rising
Naphtha climbs after crude hits a 13-year high. Ethylene, propylene and butadiene remain stable while MTBE inches up by US$5/tonne more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Ti02 producers pin hopes on Q3 price hike
TITANIUM dioxide (TiO2) producers were cautiously optimistic last week that strong demand in major markets in Asia would enable them to push prices.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

May price hike for adipic acid
TIGHT supply, high feedstock costs and strong demand have prompted adipic acid producers to raise their Asian contract prices for May shipments by.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Heihua plans two methanol units
HEILONGJIANG Heihua Co plans to build two coal-based methanol units with a combined capacity of 400 000 tonne/year in Hulunbeier, Inner Mongolia,.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Bids in for Ras Laffan cracker
QATOFIN and Q-Chem aim to start construction work on their 1.3m tonne/year cracker project in Ras Laffan, Qatar, in Q2 2005, according to a company.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Mixed feelings on Yanbu attack
INDUSTRY players exhibited mixed views last week on the likely impact of the latest terrorist attack in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, on the country’s.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

IOC chooses ABB ethylene tech
INDIAN Oil Corp (IOC) has selected ABB Lummus as the technology licensor for its planned 800 000 tonne/year cracker. more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Basell mulls PE in Iran again
BASELL is once again looking at possible equity participation in National Petrochemical Co’s (NPC) polyethylene (PE) projects. more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

NPC to seek C2 nod from Thai BoI
National petrochemical Co (NPC) plans to submit a proposal on its cracker project to Thailand’s Board of Investment (BoI) in June after it has.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Maoming mulls larger cracker
Maoming Petrochemical is mulling increasing the capacity of its 420 000 tonne/year cracker project to 640 000 tonne/year after it has been brought.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)

Prelim nod for Zhenhai C2 project
ZHENHAI Refining & Chemical’s proposal for an 800 000 tonne/year cracker project in Zhenhai, Zhejiang, China, has been approved by the central.... more
(07 May 2004 21:14)