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

Product profile: Polystyrene
Too much capacity and too little profitability are hurting the European market. Surgery is needed now to bring the sector back to health more
(18 July 2003 17:20)

Seeing the light
Raisio's fortunes are looking up, with turnover ahead of last year. The company now hopes that by carrying out a rationalisation programme at its.... more
(18 July 2003 17:20)

Jobs and People
Luca P. Fontana Luca P. Fontana has joined Ashland Specialty Chemical Company as vice president of research and technology innovation. Mr. more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

US Butadiene Pricing Down on Demand And European Price Concerns
Weakening demand and a surprising third quarter European contract price has forced the US butadiene contract price for July down 2 cents per pound. more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

Cumene, Phenol And Polycarbonate Slated for Growth
Strong demand for cumene, phenol and polycarbonate are forecasted through 2007, but growth for each of these products will not come without more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

Biotechs Begin to Look to Japan for Partnerships
Biotech companies have long used drug discovery and commercialization partnerships as a way to get on their feet and bring their products to more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

Pharmaceuticals In Brief
CITRIC ACID Effective August 1st, or as contracts permit, Jungbunzlauer Inc. will raise prices for citric acid anhydrous and sodium citrate by more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

Natural Gas Will Lead Long-Term Global Energy Demand
As the US battles its natural gas crisis, other nations are also grappling with projected increases in demand for natural gas, adding to the more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

Global Watch: Latin America Seeking to Improve Logistics
Improving logistics and transportation to enhance the competitiveness of Latin America's chemical industry is once again on the region's agenda. more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

IT in Brief
PeopleSoft Moves Ahead The US Department of Justice has granted early termination of the waiting period for antitrust review of the proposed more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

SemiCon West 2003 Highlights Innovation
Cautious optimism was the mood, and innovation the watchword as Semi-Con West 2003 took place last week. The 33rd annual show, organized by San more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

Sensient Posts Modest Profit Gain
Sensient Technologies Inc. posted a 2 percent gain in second quarter earnings to $21.7 million (46 cents per share) as sales increased 9 percent to more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

Shell and Total in Saudi Natural Gas Deal
In a landmark deal that resurrects Saudi Arabia's efforts to foster foreign investment in that country, Royal Dutch Shell Group and Total SA have more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

Semiconductors Offer Mixed Signals For Recovery and Technology Gains
Following years of severe weakness, the semiconductor market may be poised for a rebound, but it is still waiting for a new significant innovation more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

Specialties Pricing
EASTMAN Chemical Company is increasing the global list and off-list prices for several hydroxypivalyl hydroxypivalate (HH) products. HH glycol more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

CPSC Rejects Petition for Teflon Warning Labels
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has rejected an environmental group's petition to require health warning labels on cookware made with more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

Lonza and Celltech Form Supply Agreement
Lonza Group has reached a long-term supply agreement under which it will manufacture PEGylated antibody fragmented-based drugs for Celltech, the more
(18 July 2003 21:50)

Nan Ya plans TDI, BPA, MEG expansions
Nan Ya Plastics is considering expanding its toluene di-isocyanate (TDI), bisphenol A (BPA) and monoethylene glycol (MEG) capacities in Mailiao,.... more
(18 July 2003 16:12)

Asahi Glass gains control of Hankuk
Asahi Glass has acquired a controlling stake in Hankuk Electric Glass, an Asahi source told ACN. He said Asahi bought an extra 1.03m shares for.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Celanese acetic case still in court
The acetic-acid patent-infringement case brought by Celanese against China Petrochemical Development Corp (CPDC) earlier this year is still in.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

IPCL likely to launch retirement plan No2
Indian Petrochemicals Corp Ltd (IPCL) is likely to launch a second voluntary-retirement scheme this year to reduce manpower costs, said a source.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Global Chemical to merge subsidiaries
The four chemical companies under Global Chemical Holdings (GCH), a 50:50 holding company set up by Nissho Iwai and Nichimen in March last year, will.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Petchems want Bataan econ zone
The Philippines' petrochemical players are seeking to have the Philippine National Oil Corp's (PNOC's) petrochemical park in Bataan declared an.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Haldia Petrochemicals seeks takers for six lots of butadiene
Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) is looking to enter into a contract for export of six cargoes of butadiene, each of 2000-2500 tonne, over the next.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

KFTC imposes conditions on Hyundai acquisition
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has imposed conditions on the LG Chem/ Honam Petrochemical acquisition of Hyundai Petrochemical, it emerged.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

LG Chem likely to perform well
LG Chem will likely maintain a strong earnings forecast for 2003 in spite of a recession in the domestic economy, the Sars (severe acute respiratory.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Mitsub Chem major revamp
Mitsubishi Chemical has restructured its operations into four business segments to give them better focus and improve management control, a company.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Ube still in talks on PE with potential partners
Ube Industries is still in talks on its PE business with a number of potential partners, but the discussions have been conducted in fits and starts,.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

A way out of the tunnel
The Nippon Keidanren has produced an extraordinary document that reveals its frustration with the root causes of Japan's present economic woes and,.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Global roundup
From stories supplied by the CNI and ACN teams. See www.cnionline.com. For exclusive news and analysis, see the rest of ACN more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Adipic makers push for Q3 hike
Adipic acid producers were last week pushing for an increase of US$40-70/tonne in their Asian contract prices for Q3 over the second quarter, more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Stiff resistance to caprolactam sellers' price-hike bid
Caprolactam producers in Asia were last week pushing for a contract price increase of US$50-100/tonne for Q3 2003 over their Q2 settlements, but were.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Naphtha costs expected to remain firm until Sept
Naphtha costs were expected to remain firm until at least September due to a possible rise in demand, reduced supply and a fairly bullish outlook for.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

PX makers firm on $570-580
Asian paraxylene (PX) producers were last week attempting to beat back stiff resistance from purified terephthalic acid (PTA) customers to their.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Liuzhou Chemical to expand 180ktpa ammonia to 260ktpa
Liuzhou Chemical Industry Corp is expanding its 180000 tonne/year ammonia plant in Liuzhou, Guangxi, China, to 260 000 tonne/year, a company source.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Zhejiang Glass to build soda ash unit
Zhejiang Glass Co is building a soda ash facility that will provide raw material for its glass-making facilities in Zhejiang, eastern China, a.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Rongsheng mulls polyester/PTA
Zhejiang Rongsheng Chemical Fibre is considering building a polyester facility and a purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang,.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Hualian Sunshine's 2mtpa goal for PTA
Zhejiang Hualian Sunshine Petro-Chemical aims to produce a total of 2m tonne/year of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) in three phases in Shaoxing,.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Jana delays chlor-alkali, ECH startups
Jubail Chemical Industries Co (Jana) has delayed the startups of its chlor-alkali and epichlorohydrin (ECH) projects in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia, by.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Gaoqiao mulls advancing phenol startup
Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical is considering bringing forward the startup of its phenol-acetone project in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, in.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

NPC scraps Ilam PP
Iran's National Petrochemical Co (NPC) has scrapped an 80 000 tonne/year PP project originally planned downstream of its 318 000 tonne/year cracker.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Rhodia eyes worldscale adipic
Rhodia is considering building a worldscale adipic acid plant in China by 2008-10 either on its own or with a partner, a senior company official told.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Sadaf's styrene unit still under planning
Sadaf's 500 000 tonne/year styrene project is still under planning and a startup date has yet to be decided, said a Sabic spokesman more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

VCM/PVC licensors
Finolex Industries is evaluating potential foreign licensors for its VCM and PVC project in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India, a company source told.... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Mitsub Rayon prefers Huizhou for MMA
Mitsubishi Rayon Corp (MRC) favours Huizhou Petrochemical Industry Park as the site for its 70 000-100 000 tonne/year methyl methacrylate (MMA).... more
(18 July 2003 16:40)

Chem-wire Express Japan
Chem-wire Express Japan: Edition of 11 July Basic and Fine Chemicals Kureha Chemical Industry is considering producing a new type of.... more
(14 July 2003 04:49)

Chem-wire Express Japan
Chem-wire Express Japan: Edition of 14 July Basic and Fine Chemicals Sumitomo Chemical plans to harmonise operations at its two.... more
(15 July 2003 04:15)

Chem-wire Express Japan
Chem-wire Express Japan: Edition of 15 July Basic and Fine Chemicals Toray has revealed it will establish a basic research.... more
(16 July 2003 04:06)

Chem-wire Express Japan
Chem-wire Express Japan: Edition of 16 July Basic and Fine Chemicals Zeon Corp is scheduled to build a 5000 tonne/year manufacturing.... more
(17 July 2003 04:32)

Chem-wire Express Japan
Chem-wire Express Japan: Edition of 17 July Basic and Fine Chemicals Otsuka Chemical has worked out a mid-term business plan aimed at.... more
(18 July 2003 04:26)