ICIS - Search Articles by Date : July 11 2005 - July 17 2005

Military manoeuvres
Shlomo Yanay must take credit as the power behind the meteoric rise of Makteshim-Agan to seventh place in the world’s agrochemical company rankings. more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Care in the chemical community
Contracting out facilities management is common in offices and property. Now chemical companies are adopting this route – and enjoying substantial.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Hard to ditch old habits
In the second part of his look at IP rights in China, Mark Lazell discusses steps Beijing is taking to put law-enforcement standards in place. And.... more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

Chemical IPOs perform well
US CHEMICAL industry initial public offerings (IPOs) are performing well less than a year after going public, with relative newcomers Huntsman and.... more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

Basell buy: Don’t rule TCG out yet
For those who had doubted the ability of Haldia Petrochemical Ltd (HPL) and The Chatterjee Group (TCG) to participate in the Basell acquisition, the.... more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

Chinese uncertainty over EC’s PE-bags probe
Chinese polyethylene (PE)-bag makers are in the spotlight again. more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

Fibres intermediates: Buyer resistance spurs slowdown
A wide gap between offers and buying intentions slows trading in acrylo markets; power shortages and weakening polyester in China cause PTA and MEG.... more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

Phenol producers project better outlook for August
THE optimism that had filled the Chinese phenol industry in early June was replaced last week by anxiety. more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

Market Trends: Aromatics continue to hold ground
Toluene and xylenes stay firm for now. Styrene and orthoxylene continue to edge up despite volatile crude values. Trade continues to remain.... more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

New projects summary
Reported in ACN 1-8 July 2005 more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

After big surge, salt prices slide on ample supply
AFTER A spectacular price surge in Q4 2004 and Q1 2005, it seemed that salt prices were finally heading for a slowdown in Q3 2005. more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

Market Trends: Olefins market direction still unclear
Naphtha is volatile on the back of fluctuating crude; ethylene rises, but buyers resist high offers; butadiene is relatively stable as derivative.... more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

Global roundup
ExxonMobil to shut OPP plant in Stratford 8 July. ExxonMobil said it would shut its oriented polypropylene (OPP) manufacturing plant in.... more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

ROUNDUP Markets
Nippon Steel has shut Kyushu BPA plant for 35-day maintenance 8 July. Nippon Steel shut its 100 000 tonne/year bisphenol-A (BPA) plant in Kyushu,.... more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

Sport exposes Reach faults
RESULTS made public last week from the various Sport (strategic partnership on Reach testing) projects used to test the workability of Reach were.... more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

ROUNDUP New projects
Samsung wins contract for Sharq’s MEG project in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia 8 July. Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Petrochemical Co (Sharq) has awarded a.... more
(15 July 2005 14:58)

IN Brief News Watch
Promising peroxide Solvay Chemicals hopes to push up hydrogen peroxide prices from 15 July, or as contracts allow. US and Canadian commodity and.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

PTA prospects improve after a poor Q2
After a difficult second quarter (Q2), European purified terephthalic acid (PTA) suppliers are hopeful that a few strong months will see considerable.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

MTBE price surges to record high, fuelling uncertainty
Europe’s methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) market has never seen such a price surge as it has in the past few weeks. more
(15 July 2005 16:36)

Markets anticipate an MMA fall in Q3
Pressure from weakening feedstocks, softer demand and increased supply is set to push methyl methacrylate (MMA) prices down in the third quarter (Q3). more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

No drop for MA prices
The predicted fall in maleic anhydride (MA) prices for July has been staved off by tight supply resulting from production disruptions and planned.... more
(15 July 2005 16:38)

LME contracts met with caution
The London Metals Exchange (LME)’s plastics contracts are growing like other contracts after their first month of trading on the exchange, says Man.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Innovene pushes for monthly olefins pricing
The European olefins and derivatives industry needs an alternative pricing mechanism to the current quarterly olefins contract price, David Jones,.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Global roundup
Solvay grows in France Solvay finalised an agreement to buy privately owned French pharmaceuticals company Fournier Pharma for up to €1.6bn last.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

IN Brief News Watch
Russian Chemicals exports leap around 24% Russia exported chemicals worth $4.51bn in January to May this year, up around 24% on the same period.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

IN Brief Logistics Watch
Bayer hits buyers Bayer MaterialScience is setting up a sales and distribution arm in China. Bayer MaterialScience Trading will start.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

U-turn on lorry charges in the UK angers FTA chief
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has slammed the UK government’s decision to abandon lorry road user charging (LRUC) in the UK (ECN 26 January.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

China sweetened by German deal
German sales and marketing company InnoSweet has agreed a long-term distribution deal with Chinese sweetener manufacturer, Zhangjiagang Hope.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Johnson Matthey/TDG renew contract
Johnson Matthey Catalysts has renewed its contract in the UK with TDG European Chemicals for a further three years. more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

New projects roundup
Air Liquide/Severstal jv will be Russia’s largest Air Liquide and the Russian steelmaker Severstal are to form ALS, investing €100m in what will.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

IN Brief Markets Watch
Acetyl product prices to rise Celanese Chemicals has increased off-list prices on some of its acetyl products for July, or as contracts allow..... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

IN Brief Projects Watch
HYDROGEN UNIT ON LINE FOR BELARUS Foster Wheeler Italiana will design a 25 000 m 3 /hour hydrogen unit for the JSC Mozyr oil refinery in.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Borouge in $2.5bn expansion
Borouge has awarded the project management consultancy (PMC) and financial advisory contracts for a major expansion of its polyolefins capacity at.... more
(15 July 2005 16:36)

Phoenix grounded by feedstock wrangles
Responding to press reports that the Phoenix project is dead, Mexico’s Energy Ministry has acknowledged that government officials, state oil monopoly.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Sabic studies EDC plant
Sabic is investigating the economic feasibility of building an ethylene dichloride (EDC) and caustic soda plant in either Saudi Arabia or China. more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Canada injects Can$46m into ethylene
Canada’s federal government will boost the construction and expansion of five ethanol projects with a Can$46m (€31m/$37m) subsidy. more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Gazprom/Novatek to co-build gas units
Gazprom and Novatek have signed a strategic agreement to jointly build gas processing facilities in Russia. more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

BMS gets green light
Bayer MaterialScience has obtained environmental approval for its 350 000 tonne/year methylene diphenyl diisocyanate project at Caojing in Shanghai,.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

IN Brief Projects Watch
India’s HPL and Gail pull SBR plant plan India’s Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) and Gail (India) have abandoned proposals to jointly build a styrene.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Calling the world's chemicals producers
An ambitious attempt to align international chemical management is taking shape hopefully to be endorsed by international government ministers in.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Braskem eyes Venezuela as Bolivian project is stalled
Braskem is seeking additional projects in Venezuela, as alternatives to investing in the gas-based petrochemical project on the Brazil/Bolivia border.... more
(15 July 2005 16:37)

Good practice makes perfect
Chemicals majors Akzo Nobel, Shell, DSM and BASF have embraced product stewardship and now see it as a vital part of their business strategy, writes.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

PFOA no danger, says Dupont
DuPont has given data to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) related to the impact of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

IN BRIEF Environment Watch
Clean up Arkema! Arkema has been cited by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for alleged clean-air violations at its plant in.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Monsanto introduces technology tax
Monsanto has said it will begin charging a technology tax of Real0.88 (€0.31/$0.37)/kg on sales of Roundup Ready genetically modified (GM) soya seeds.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Internet-based PRTR a step nearer
A first reading agreement has been reached between the European Parliament and Council on the establishment of a European Release and Transfer.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Concerned campaigners
Germany-based anti-Reach campaign group Objection has expressed its concerns that ‘tens of thousands of jobs’ will be lost from Europe’s SMEs if.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

WWF and Tie remain poles apart on toys
Following the European Parliament’s decision to ban the use of six phthalates in children’s toys and child care articles, as expected.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Workability of Reach could be costly
The British Chemical Distributors Association and the Chemicals Industries Association have joined forces to focus on what they described as ‘common.... more
(15 July 2005 13:43)

Shipping Monitor: Summer arrives, most markets relax
The summer slowdown has hit spot business on Mediterranean routes. Routes from Europe to India and the Persian Gulf, however, remain busy more
(15 July 2005 13:43)