ICIS - Search Articles by Date : November 15 2004 - November 21 2004

Twenty Tears after Bhopal: What You Need To Know About Managing Today’s Crises
December 3, 2004, marks the twentieth anniversary of one of the worst industrial accidents in history. On that day in 1984, a Union Carbide chemical.... more
(19 November 2004 18:44)

Companies on the Move: The Plaza Group
Finding its niche in petrochemical distribution, The Plaza Group, a Houston-based company, is on track for another strong showing in 2004. The.... more
(19 November 2004 18:44)

Solvay in Alliance For New Flu Vaccine
Solvay has formed an alliance with Russian startup company Petrovax Pharm for the production of a new generation of influenza vaccines at a new plant.... more
(19 November 2004 18:44)

Asian action
The last ten years have been eventful ones for the Asian petrochemicals industry not only because of its achievements but also because of its failure.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

New Projects Summary
As reported in ACN 15-21 November 2004 more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Degussa coatings project underway
DEGUSSA has started work on a polyester coatings project in Caojing, Shanghai, China, which is to be pursued by the company’s coatings and colourants.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Wanjie mulls PTA project
WANJIE Group is considering building a 530 000 tonne/year purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in Zibo, Shandong, China. more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Karun starts second phase
KARUN Petrochemical has started basic engineering design on the second phase of its isocyanates-complex project, in Bandar Imam, Iran, a company.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

PTT Phenol selects Foster Wheeler
PTT Phenol has selected Foster Wheeler as the project-management consultant for its 200 000 tonne/year phenol project in Mab Ta Phut, Thailand,.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

PC likely to remain bullish until Q2 2005
ASIAN polycarbonate (PC) markets are likely to remain bullish until Q2 2005, producers and traders said. more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Feedstock costs, tight supply may lift acrylo in Dec
ACRYLONITRILE producers were hopeful that robust demand and tight supply would help them achieve their contract price targets of US$1400/tonne cfr.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Market Trends: Benzene takes a dive
… and prices are expected to keep falling. Toluene also drops, as does styrene on the back of lower benzene costs. Meanwhile, paraxylene nominations.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Market Trends: Ammonia on a roll
Prices strengthen on strong demand. Lower crude prices and tighter supplies see naphtha prices fall for the third week in a row, but C2 and C3 rise more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

CPDC: capro finally in black
CHINA Petrochemical Development Corp expects its caprolactam business to post its first quarterly profits in three years in the fourth quarter of.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Specialities roundup
HONEYWELL International has bought Mitsubishi Chemical America’s 40% stake in GEM Microelectronics, giving it sole ownership of the venture, which.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

AUO to cut planned capacity at new G6 fab plant
AU OPTRONICS (AUO) is to reduce the capacity of its NT$80bn G6 Fab plant from 90 000 mother-glass substrates/month to 60 000 panels/month, a company.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Kuraray to raise poval film output
KURARAY is doubling its output of poval film to 61m m2/year in 2005 from 31m m2/year to meet an increasing global demand for liquid crystal displays,.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Recovery drives C2 demand
Prices of propylene and polypropylene also up on strong demand and tight supply, but styrene market quiet as benzene prices stabilise more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Global roundup
From stories supplied by the CNI and ACN teams more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Mitsui builds PP compounding plant
MITSUI Chemicals has started building its 15 000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) compounding plant in Zhongshan, Guangdong, China, said a company.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Shijiazhuang to expand aroms...
SHIJIAZHUANG Refining-Chemical plans to debottleneck its 100 000 tonne/year aromatics facility to 300 000 tonne/year in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China,.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Shipping scenario
Shipping and logistics are major factors influencing the overall competitiveness of petrochemical producers in the Middle East. This week’s feature,.... more
(19 November 2004 18:47)

Power player
BASF’s energy conservation projects range from building a new combined heat and power generator for its Ludwigshafen plant to integrating its.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

New projects summary
As reported in ECN 25 October and 1 and 8 November 2004 more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Logistics in brief
La Havre expands The Port of Le Havre (PAH) and GMP, part of French goods handling group Portsynergy, have signed the first Terminal Operating.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Meeting calls for more use of EU’s inland waterways
The European Commission is being urged to draw up an action plan for inland navigation in the EU, as part of a series of measures designed to promote.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Rotterdam considers port chemical centre
The Port of Rotterdam has outlined ideas for a Chemical Logistics Service Center (CLSC) to be sited on its planned North Sea port extension,.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

People on the move
DuPont Marcelo Carvalho de Andrade has been added to the external biotechnology advisory panel at DuPont. Andrade is the founder and chairman of.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

25 years ago
ECN 19 November 1979 more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Product Profile: Urea
Demand is good and prices are high. A new urea-based diesel additive could provide a fillip for future demand in Europe more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Markets in brief
Peroxides push Persorsa is attempting to raise prices for its organic peroxides by €250/tonne or around 10%. Higher demand and increased costs of.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

BPA buoyed by strong demand
Despite benzene and consequently phenol contracts falling by €15/tonne into November, bisphenol A (BPA) values are being supported by strong demand.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Market Trends: Ethylene cracker problems continue
… with the latest outage being in the UK. Meanwhile, propylene buyers refuse to accept November’s high prices, orthoxylene remains inactive, and.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

German industry job cuts inevitable
German chemical producers are reacting to the strong euro and sluggish domestic and EU economic growth by stiffening their job-cutting efforts. more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Sevalco faces Crown over dishonesty
In a case brought by the UK’s Environment Agency, a US-based chemicals company has been ordered by a magistrates court to appear before the Crown.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Consumers need knowledge to make ‘risk assessment’
A conference sponsored by the Human and Environmental Risk Assessment (Hera) group on the ingredients of household cleaning products has concluded.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Report finds no exposure link
According to a report published by the European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC), evidence of a significant link between.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Care initiative adopts a fresh focus
Product stewardship is to be the focus of Europe’s Responsible Care initiative for the rest of the decade, according to José Maria Bach, chairman of.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Cognis in Eternal pact
Cognis of Germany and Taiwan’s Eternal Chemical have formed a joint venture in China to manufacture energy cure products. more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Degussa buys Modern’s concrete admixture ops
Degussa has bought the concrete admixture operations of Sweden’s Modern Betongteknologi Scandinavia. more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Lonza extends biotech facilities
Swiss fine chemicals and biologics group Lonza has commissioned a new cGMP-compliant plant for the production of microbially-derived.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Platform progress
The European Technology Platform for Sustainable Development, formed earlier this year (6 July) by Cefic, EuropaBio and the European Commission, has.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Green filling station
Shell Hydrogen has officially opened North America’s first hydrogen filling station. more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

French biomedicines fall behind
France’s pharma industry trade body, Les Entreprises du Médicaments (Leem), is worried that France is lagging behind in the development and.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Poland to float firms on stock exchange
The future of a large part of Poland’s chemicals sector looks clearer after the Polish government said that shares in state-owned fertiliser producer.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Profit rises by 27% at BOC
Industrial gases group BOC last week reported a 27% jump in pre-tax profit for the three months to 30 September, after adjusting for one-off items.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

Hercules hits hard times
Hercules, the US speciality chemical producer, fell into loss in the third quarter, dragged down by taxes and asbestos liabilities and said it will.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

French output on the rise
France’s chemicals output will rise 1.6% by volume this year, and 3.2% in 2005 after three successive years of decline, says a forecast from Marc.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

BP merges PS with Nova in Europe
Nova Chemicals and BP have agreed in principle to merge their European styrenic polymers businesses into a 50:50 joint venture, it was announced last.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)

BP O&D spin out to include two key refineries
BP will include its refineries at Grangemouth, Scotland, and Lavéra, France, in the Olefins and Derivatives company (O&D) it hopes to spin out by IPO.... more
(19 November 2004 18:18)