ICIS - Search Articles by Date : April 12 2004 - April 18 2004

Players aim to restore lost margins
Methyl methacrylate (MMA) producers are targeting increases as high as €120-160/tonne in Europe for the second quarter (Q2). more
(13 April 2004 10:52)

Court settlement set to end bankruptcy protection
Dow Corning should come out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 1 June as a US court has set that date for a $2.35bn settlement of silicone.... more
(13 April 2004 10:52)

Europe in Brief
GROWTH in parallel trade in phar-maceuticals in the UK and Germany has declined, according to IMS, the market research group. From 2002 to 2003, it.... more
(16 April 2004 20:39)

BASF and Bayer Battle Over Fipronil
A dispute between BASF and Bayer over a deal for the acquisition of the insecticide fipronil may have to be sorted out by the courts. more
(16 April 2004 20:39)

BASF Starch Clears Regulatory Hurdle
A new European Union (EU) system for the labeling and traceability of genetically modified (GM) products comes into effect this week as one of the.... more
(16 April 2004 20:39)

Kemira to Divest Its Fine Chemicals Business
Kemira plans to divest its fine chemicals operation after deciding that the 20-year-old business is no longer a core activity. more
(16 April 2004 20:39)

Rhodia Exits PHBA After Just Three Years
Rhodia is stopping production of para-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) only three years after entering the market, which until recently had relatively high.... more
(16 April 2004 20:39)

News in Brief
ADM Gets EU’s OK more
(16 April 2004 20:39)

Organon to Close West Orange Facility
Akzo Nobel continues to take measures to set its human pharmaceuticals operation back on track, most recently announcing plans to shutter Organon.... more
(16 April 2004 20:39)

PPG Posts Strong Profit Gain
PPG Industries Inc. posted a 36 percent gain in first quarter profits to $118 million as sales surged 9 percent to $2.26 billion. Earnings per share.... more
(16 April 2004 20:39)

Jobs and People
Detlef Albrecht more
(16 April 2004 20:39)

PRX Acquires Kali Labs
Pharmaceutical Resources Inc. (PRX) has snagged Somerset, N.J.-based Kali Laboratories Inc. in a $135 million bid to substantially expand its.... more
(16 April 2004 20:39)

Sigma-Aldrich Buys Ultrafine
Sigma-Aldrich Corp. has acquired Ultrafine, a Manchester, UK-based supplier of contract chemistry services. The company’s capabilities include all.... more
(16 April 2004 20:39)

CPC privatisation: Not this year…
THE privatisation of Taiwan’s Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) will not take place this year, a CPC source told ACN. more
(13 April 2004 10:45)

Sabic to up stake?
SABIC is mulling increasing its investment in National Petrochemical Co’s (NPC’s) 1.1m tonne/year Olefins No 7 project by taking equity in the entire.... more
(13 April 2004 10:43)

MEG prices soar by US$80
DWINDLING customer inventories in China, tight supply and high ethylene feedstock costs caused prices of mono­ethylene glycol (MEG) to rise sharply.... more
(13 April 2004 10:46)

US trends: Ethylene maintains strength
Expanded cash margins for ethylene are expected to continue into Q2 04. Prices for propylene reach a record high and PET pricing improves more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

China moves to curb high domestic fertiliser prices
THE Chinese government recently announced a slew of emergency measures and incentives aimed at curbing the sharp hike in domestic fertiliser prices.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

US petechems: Back to basics
Achieving self-sufficiency in energy is an important component of FPC USA’s strategy to reduce costs and grow its business, reports Prema Viswanathan more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

US petchems: A rough ride
The jobless recovery might be at an end and petrochemical pricing globally might be approaching peak levels, but as John Richardson discovers, the US.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

US petchems: Lyondell builds muscle
The US major outlines its direction. This includes boosting financial strength, maybe building a propylene oxide plant in China, possibly teaming up.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Call in US to end GSP for PET
US polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin producers are seeking to have bottle-grade PET resin from India, Thailand, and Indonesia removed from the.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Chi Mei considers reviving plans for PS and ABS
CHI Mei is considering reviving its plans to increase its polystyrene (PS) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) capacities in Zhenjiang,.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

BRPL mulls POY and more PSF
Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (BRPL) is considering expanding its polyester staple fibre (PSF) capacity and building a partially.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Reliance’s PTA to start up in 2006
RELIANCE Industries will be starting up a 640 000 tonne/year purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Hazira, Gujarat, India, in Q2 2006 more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

GPRO to build Jiangsu SBR
JIANGSU GPRO Chemical Co plans to build two styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) units, each with a capacity of 100 000 tonne/year, in Nanjing Chemical.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Huayi and Macromol consider ABS facility
SHANGHAI Huayi (Group) Co and Macromol Technology are in talks on building an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) facility in China more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

LG Chem invests in nano research
LG CHEM has set aside Won158.9bn (US$139m) for research and development work this year at its new laboratory in the Daejeon research centre in South.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

SSCL to expand outsourcing work
SANMAR Speciality Chemicals Ltd (SSCL) plans to grow the outsourcing work it does for US and European pharmaceutical companies, a company source said. more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

DEGUSSA recently secured approval from the Indonesian government to expand its hydrogen peroxide plant in Bekasi, West Java, with an investment of up.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Theos seeks tie-up with major
ESTABLISHED only in 2001, Theos Fine Chem is already eyeing marketing and strategic tie-ups with multinational companies such as Helene Curtis and.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Daqing mulls second PP unit
DAQING Refining & Chemical is studying building a second polypropylene (PP) plant which would be integrated with plans to boost the company’s.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Yangzi gets the go-ahead for Nanjing aromatics expansion
THE Chinese government has approved Yangzi Petrochemical’s aromatics expansion project in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Formosa may up US C2 capacity
FORMOSA Plastics Corp USA (FPC USA) is looking to expand its cracker capacity by end-2005 or early 2006 more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Polymer trends: PS prices climbing
Rising styrene costs push up PS with a GPPS cargo selling US$40/tonne up on March figures. HDPE and lldPE see price declines and PP firms a little more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Japanese pricing formula debated
JAPANESE cracker and polymer producers are once again locked in debate over whether there is a need for a new contract-pricing formula which would.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Benzene in state of confusion
ASIAN benzene producers and traders were in a state of confusion last week about the future market direction of the product more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Phenol prices rocket to all-time high
Tight supply, rising feedstock costs and strong demand from the bisphenol A (BPA), polycarbonate (PC) and phenolic glue segments caused phenol prices.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Market trends: Phenol at record high
Tight supply and high benzene and propylene costs push up phenol prices to $1000/tonne. Toluene and MX are upbeat, but styrene and OX soften more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Market trends: Ethylene tightens
Price rises US$30/tonne for ethylene as Middle East outage rumour spreads. Naphtha climbs, but propylene and MTBE markets are quiet more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Global roundup
From stories supplied by the CNI and ACN teams more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Specialities roundup
Degussa recently secured approval from the Indonesian government to expand its hydrogen peroxide plant in Bekasi, West Java, with an.... more
(16 April 2004 13:22)

Jobs cut at Huntsman as TiO2 output slashed by 8%
Huntsman Tioxide is cutting 8% of its global titanium dioxide (TiO2) capacity, with reductions in the UK and South Africa resulting in the loss of.... more
(13 April 2004 10:52)

Rollover agreed for Q2
European butadiene consumers repelled producers’ attempts to raise contract prices for quarter two (Q2) and initial settlements have been agreed at a.... more
(13 April 2004 10:52)

People on the move
BASF BASF Corporation, the North American subsidiary of BASF, has named David Stryker senior vice president and general counsel, replacing.... more
(16 April 2004 14:11)

20 years ago
ECN 23 April 1984 more
(16 April 2004 14:11)

Back to basics
The waves of Middle East capacity forecast to hit the market may seem a threat to global supply/demand dynamics. Jane Gibson reports on the view of.... more
(16 April 2004 14:11)

Innovation boost
As part of ECN’s ‘Innovate for growth’ campaign, Frank Agterberg, manager for innovation strategy at Cefic, examines recent developments that could.... more
(16 April 2004 14:11)

Innovation Award 2004
ECN is very proud to be partnering with Dow Corning in its first awards competition, being run as a key part of ECN’s ‘Innovate for growth’ campaign more
(16 April 2004 14:11)

Funding R&D
With R&D investment in the UK falling over the past ten years, Mark Whitfield talks to Amit Khandelwal of the UK’s CIA about recent initiatives to.... more
(16 April 2004 14:11)