ICIS - Search Articles by Date : April 14 2003 - April 20 2003

Prices below producers' expectations
European soda ash price increases for 2003 fell short of producers' expectations and of posted figures of E10-12/tonne more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

A state of ascent
The Russian chemical industry has taken time to unravel itself from the auspicies of the state since the demise of the Former Soviet Union. However,.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Acrylo: hazy outlook for 2003
At first glance it might appear that the Asian acrylonitrile industry is in for a pretty rough rest of 2003 more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Cracker operators fear margin squeeze
Asian cracker operators were concerned last week that they could face a severe margins squeeze in the coming weeks if ethylene prices continued to.... more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Sales signal end of two-month OX standoff
A two-month standoff between orthoxylene (OX) sellers and buyers ended last week, with buyers re-entering spot markets to settle business more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

C3 prices succumb to buyer resistance
Asian propylene prices finally followed the C2 trend last week, with producers succumbing to buyer resistance more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Market trends: Aromatics spiral down
No deals for paraxylene while orthoxylene finally sees some activity after two months. Other aromatics also continue their downward trend more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

New projects summary
As reported in ACN 14-20 April 2003 more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Dairen may up EVA
Dairen Chemical Corp is considering doubling the capacity of its planned 30 000 tonne/year ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer plant in.... more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Gulf Petro delays Yanbu LAB startup
Gulf Petroproducts has delayed slightly the startup of its normal-paraffin-linear alkylbenzene (LAB) project in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Lanzhou to start up PP facility in 2006
Lanzhou Petrochemical expects to bring onstream its planned 300 000 tonne/year PP facility in Lanzhou, Gansu, China, in 2006, which would be.... more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Shantou Ocean to build Fujian styrene
Shantou Ocean Enterprise (Group) plans to build a 400 000 tonne/year styrene facility in Quanzhou, Fujian, China, which would provide feedstock for.... more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Qatofin/Q-Chem delay cracker
Qatofin, Q-Chem postpone startup of project to end-2007 or early 2008 more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

QVC likely to drop idea of producing PVC in Qatar
Qatar Vinyl Co (QVC) is likely to drop the idea of building a PVC plant at its plant site in Mesaieed, Qatar, according to the results of an more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Thasco to decide on caustic soda line by end of the year
Thasco Chemical will decide by the end of this year whether or not to build a 30 000 tonne/year caustic soda line in Thailand more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Saudi Arabia's NIC eyes gas-based petchems
Saudi Arabian industrial conglomerate National Industrialisation Co (NIC) is considering investing in a number of gas-based petrochemical projects more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Showa Denko may build EA in Oita
Showa Denko is considering building an ethyl acetate (EA) plant in Oita, Japan, according to a company official. He declined to reveal the capacity.... more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Shinho considers doubling capacity of ABS plant in Jiangsu
Shinho Petrochemical is considering doubling the capacity of its joint-venture 50 000 tonne/year ABS plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China, by adding a.... more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

Peter pans - and plans
Huntsman has not been spared the woes that have hit the US chemicals industry – lawsuits, spiralling natural-gas prices and speculation on the.... more
(17 April 2003 13:13)

20 years ago
ECN 25 April 1983 more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

People on the move
  BASF BASF confirmed that Michael Hepp (pictured) has taken over from Hartwig Michels as head of.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Recruiting our future
This week sees the launch of ECN's campaign to convince Europe's chemical sector that we must take the problem of recruiting young people seriously,.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Product profile: Polyacetal
Asia will see the strongest level of demand growth spurred on by China, where consumption is forecast to rise by 10%/year. Numerous projects in China.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Polief PET and PTA plant to go ahead
Polief is proceeding with the construction of a polyester complex in Blagoveshchensk in the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Crompton ups unit output
Crompton Petroleum Additives (CPA) is increasing its Petronate sodium sulphonate production in Amsterdam, the Netherlands more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Sumitomo debuts MMA plans
Sumitomo Chemical has revealed plans to build a 80 000 tonne/year methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant on Jurong Island, Singapore more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

News in brief
Latex express Dow Reichold Speciality Latexes has appointed Dunleary as a distributor for the company's line of speciality latexes used.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

News in brief
Time slips for policy Time is running out for what is 'the single biggest issue to hit the European chemical industry in decades', said Judith.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

AspenTech has a solution
Accenture and Aspen Technology (AspenTech) have announced the development of a solution aimed at helping chemical companies and petroleum refiners.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Jacobs gets double deals worth $50m
Jacobs Engineering Group has been awarded two contracts worth a total $50m by Chiron Vaccines to provide engineering and construction services for.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Styrene pressurised by imports
Styrene prices fell to $620-630/tonne cif NWE, hit by imports and little trading activity. Improved availability of deep-sea and domestic material.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

New blood a must to stay competitive
Fewer young, talented people are opting for our industry when choosing their careers more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

News in brief
Nanocomposites DSM Venturing has invested $500 000 in InMat, a New Jersey, US-based materials company active in the area of.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

News in brief
Bazan backing Israel's finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly backed privatisation of the Bazan state-owned oil refineries, calling.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

US shareholders file class action
A class action lawsuit has been filed by disgruntled US shareholders against ICI, alleging the company misled the market by claiming it had overcome.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

CBI targets for development
Netherlands-based Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI) has initiated a sourcing programme for fine and speciality.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Achema on target
Achema has not lost its knack of achieving anticipated exhibitor bookings, despite the fear from the organiser of cancellations due to the war in.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

ECN subscriber offer
To show its commitment to the 'Recruiting our future' campaign, ECN is extending a special introductory offer to companies that wish to subscribe to.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Global networks are key, says Stinnes ceo
The European transportation and logistics market is set for a 'fundamental change', according to Bernd Malmstrom, chief executive officer of Stinnes.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Rapra leads energy saving campaign
Rapra Technology, the UK-based polymer research specialist, is spearheading a £600 000 (E875 000/$940 000) research project, which starts this month,.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Cyclohexane hike pressures margins
European cyclohexane contract prices have seen a significant jump in the second quarter more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

End market is key, says PWC
Speciality chemical producers do not perform better than commodity producers unless they have well chosen end markets and a strong focus on.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Akzo/Eka upfront on product safety data
Akzo Nobel and Eka Chemicals claim to be the first companies in the world to issue approved environmental product declarations (EPD) for chemical.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Biogen plant bid to Fluor
US contractor Fluor has been selected by Biogen to build one of the world's largest cell culture manufacturing plants, with a capacity of 90 000.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Eval chooses Aker Kvaerner for EVOH line
Kuraray subsidiary Eval Europe has chosen Aker Kvaerner to build its second ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) line in Antwerp, Belgium more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Industry group advocates bio-based economy
EuropaBio, the European bioindustries association, is calling on the European Union to develop a long-term strategy and technology platform -.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

POM sees positive upward trend
Global demand for polyacetal (POM) recovered and improved substantially last year, reaching a total 630 000 tonne, after a challenging 2001,.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

PFOA set to undergo rigorous tests
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing a preliminary risk assessment for perfluorooctanoic acid more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Innovation centre to open
Construction work has been completed on a £6m (E8.8m/$9.4m) Institute for Pharmaceutical Innovation at the University of Bradford's School of.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)

Tax leads to decline in sales
According to information from Norway's National Statistical Office, a tax imposed on the purchase of the chlorinated solvents trichloroethylene and.... more
(17 April 2003 14:22)