ICIS - Search Articles by Date : June 14 2004 - June 20 2004

Schering to cut 900 more jobs
German pharmaceutical producer Schering last week announced plans for a more radical streamlining. It proposed an additional 900 job cuts – mostly.... more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

Managers suffering, says VAA
German chemical industry managers are overworked, claims a survey conducted by the VAA, the association representing upper level employees in the.... more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

Specialties Pricing
AIR PRODUCTS and Chemicals Inc., as of July 1, is increasing the price of isopropylamines and aminopropyldiethylanolamine by 10c. per pound;.... more
(18 June 2004 19:54)

BASF Gains Extra Carbon Credits Under World Bank Project
BASF is poised to earn extra carbon credits under the European Union’s (EU) emissions trading program, due to start in January 2005, by investing in.... more
(18 June 2004 19:54)

BP Nixes European PTA Project
BP has postponed indefinitely a planned 700,000 metric ton-per-year plant for purified terephthalic acid (PTA) at Geel, Belgium, which could result.... more
(18 June 2004 19:54)

EC Approves Subsidies for Propylene Pipeline
Responding to a plea from a consortium of chemical companies, the European Commission has approved state subsidies of €27 million ($33 million) for a.... more
(18 June 2004 19:54)

Ciba Targets Innovation in Plastics Additives
Ciba Specialty Chemicals believes that the development of new technologies in additives can not only accelerate the displacement of traditional.... more
(18 June 2004 19:54)

Textile Dyes Maker Yorkshire
Yorkshire Group, the UK-based textile dyes company, avoided bankruptcy last week for at least a few months by clinching a deal for the sale of a.... more
(18 June 2004 19:54)

Lanxess Poised to Start Up
Lanxess, Bayer’s chemicals and polymers business, will become a se-parate legal entity next month amid strong doubts about its future once it is.... more
(18 June 2004 19:54)

Futura to make a complete switch
FUTURA Polyesters aims to ‘migrate entirely’ into speciality polyethylene terephthalate (PET) products in a couple of years, a source from the.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Kureha to focus on PVDC
AFTER exiting the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) business last year, Kureha Chemical is focusing on the production of polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) and.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Specialities roundup
RHODIA has agreed to sell its North American speciality phosphates business to US private equity group Bain Capital for US$550m. Rhodia, which.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Futura shelves expansion
FUTURA Polyesters has suspended plans for debottlenecking its 60 000 tonne/year polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin plant to 100 000 tonne/year in.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

US rules PRCB imports to be less than fair value
THE US Department of Commerce (DoC) has found, after antidumping investigations into imports of polyethylene (PE) retail carrier bags (PRCBs) from.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Big gains for both parties
THE acquisition of Inchon Oil by Sinochem, which will be completed when the latter concludes its due diligence on the former, will benefit both.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Big snip in the offing
Phenol producers face a complex landscape. Prices have climbed to historical highs in recent months but most of the gains have been eaten up by high.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Global roundup
From stories supplied by the CNI and ACN teams more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Market Trends: Styrene prices surge
Short supply boosts styrene prices. Benzene bids soften, as customers hold back. Paraxylene prices also fall, on weaker polyester demand more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Market Trends: Ethylene on bull run
Ethylene and propylene prices rise despite the downward spiral of naphtha numbers. Butadiene stays high on tight supply. Methanol, MTBE also rise more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Market Trends: ABS prices rocket
Buyers cut operating rates as price surge puts the squeeze on margins. Prices also rise for hdPE, lldPE and PS. Trade in ldPE is sluggish more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Adipic players hike offers
ADIPIC acid producers were last week targeting a US$100-150/tonne increase in their Asian contract prices for June, over May settled prices, in line.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

EPS producers hit by double whammy
PRODUCERS of expandable polystyrene (EPS) in China and Taiwan have in recent weeks been reducing operating rates or resorting to unscheduled.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Hualian to equip site for PTA installation
ZHEJIANG Hualian Sunshine Petro-Chemical expects to have 70% of the equipment for its 600 000 tonne/year purified terephthalic acid (PTA) project at.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Price hike proposed for Ti02
AS WAS widely anticipated, major Asian titanium dioxide (TiO2) producers (DuPont Titanium Technologies, Huntsman Tioxide and Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha).... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

China checks out EU safety
A CHINESE government delegation was reportedly in Europe last week, meeting with major chemical producers in order to gain an insight into the EU’s.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

New Projects Summary
As reported in ACN 14-20 June 2004 more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Huazi starts methanol study
BAOTOU Huazi Industry has started working on a feasibility study on its 1m tonne/year methanol project in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China, a company.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Downstream plans in Zhenhai
ZHENHAI Refining & Chemical is looking at producing aromatics, synthetic rubber and polymers downstream of its proposed cracker in Zhenhai, Zhejiang,.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

ATC to decide on aroms by end ’04
AROMATICS Thailand Pcl (ATC) will decide whether or not to proceed with its aromatics project in Thailand by the end of this year, said a company.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Singpu plans VCM and aniline units
SINGPU Chemicals submitted a feasibility study to the Chinese government last month on building a 200 000 tonne/year vinyl chloride monomer (VCM).... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

FCFC’s PTA start-up pushed back to end-2006
FORMOSA Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC) has pushed back the start-up of its purified terephthalic acid (PTA) line in Ilan, Loong-der, Taiwan, from 2005.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

GTL mulls Middle East methanol
GTL Resources is considering building a methanol plant in the Middle East. more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

NPPC puts back start-up for PDH-PP project in Al-Jubail
NATIONAL Polypropylene Co (NPPC) has delayed slightly the start-up of its propane dehydrogenation-polypropylene (PDH-PP) project in Al-Jubail, Saudi.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Sharq to diversify into hdPE
SHARQ is to diversify into high-density polyethylene (hdPE) production at its cracker project, which will also produce propylene. more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Work resumes on TPPI aromatics
JGC has resumed construction work on the stalled aromatics project of Trans-Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) in Tuban, east Java, Indonesia, a.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Luoyang submits PX proposal
LUOYANG Petrochemical has submitted to the Chinese government a proposal for a Rmb4.99bn (US$602.5m) project to expand its refinery and build a new.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

BP considers SEA acrylonitrile plant
BP CHEMICALS is considering setting up a worldscale acrylonitrile plant in Southeast Asia (SEA) by 2008, a source close to the company told ACN. more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Ethylene prices hold steady
But ethylene cash-profit margins expected to be hit by a sequential squeeze. PE demand has improved and propylene prices are at record highs on.... more
(18 June 2004 17:54)

Azelis buys Pan in Euro move
European distribution group Azelis has acquired UK specialist engineering plastic distributor Pan Polymers, taking the group’s sales in the plastics.... more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

Lanxess eyes ‘mature’ markets
Bayer’s soon to be independent chemical business, Lanxess, will focus on ‘mature’ products, but is also targeting attractive niche markets with high.... more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

$550m sale refines Rhodia portfolio
Rhodia has concluded its divestment programme with the sale of its North American phosphates business to US private equity group Bain Capital for.... more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

IFF shrinks its production in US relocation
International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) is closing its Canadian flavour ingredient manufacturing facility and transferring production to its South.... more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

Board change at Doljchim
Romanian oil and chemicals group Petrom has decided to change three board members at its subsidiary Doljchim Craiova, a local fertiliser producer. more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

Commission approves pipeline aid
The European Commission last week paved the way for the construction of a northwest Europe (NWE) propylene pipeline network by approving €27m of.... more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

Yorkshire sidesteps insolvency
Cash-strapped UK speciality chemicals company Yorkshire Group has agreed to sell its former production site in Greece in a move which it admits was.... more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

Business in brief
Lehman divests Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Partners has put food gums and hydrocolloids producer CP Kelco up for sale after nearly four.... more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

Shipment volumes swell
A broad and accelerating recovery in the US manufacturing industry has fed through into solid volume gains in chemical shipments, according to a.... more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

Akzo Nobel sells resins firm
Dutch chemicals, coatings and healthcare group Akzo Nobel has sold its Casco industrial resins business to Spanish firm Derivados Forestales. more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

Industry body reports lower than expected Q1
Germany’s chemical industry had a disappointing first quarter (Q1) in 2004, with production down 0.5% on the fourth quarter of 2003, according to the.... more
(18 June 2004 17:49)

Yara sells Malaysian business
Norwegian fertiliser company Yara has sold its Hydrogas Malaysia gas business to German industrial gases group Linde. more
(18 June 2004 17:49)