ICIS - Search Articles by Date : May 19 2003 - May 25 2003

New project summary
As reported in ECN on 28 April and 5 May more
(23 May 2003 14:37)

Dow picks Jacobs to build PET plant
Jacobs has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract to build a state-of-the-art polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in.... more
(19 May 2003 14:35)

Specialties in Brief
BASF Corp.'s polyurethanes business has developed a new process for making hard extrudable thermoplastic urethanes (TPUs). Hard TPUs, those with more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Wood Plastic Composites Growing Rapidly
Wood plastics composites (WPC) represent one of the rapidly growing markets within the plastics industry. Used as replacement for treated wood in more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Specialties Pricing
Cognis Corp.'s graphic arts, coating technology and polymer building blocks business units are increasing the price for their line of Photomer more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Fluoropolymer Coated Cookware Needs Warning Labels
An environmental group is asking the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to require that labels be placed on cookware coated with Teflon more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Whitman Resigns as EPA Chief
Christie Whitman will step down as administrator of the Environ-mental Protection Agency on June 27. "As rewarding as the last two-and-a-half years more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Northeast States Poised to Battle 2004 Ban Of MTBE With Opposition From the NPRA
The Northeast is the new battleground in the ethanol versus methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) debate as the leaders of New York and Connecticut more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Brazilian Trade Policy Hurts Soda Ash Exports, Senators Claim
Wyoming's Republican senators, Craig Thomas and Mike Enzi, are pushing for a change in current trade policy with Brazil that they maintain is more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Kemira Buys Vulcan's Water, Pulp and Paper
Vulcan Materials Company is selling its industrial water treatment and pulp and paper businesses to Kemira Oy of Finland for $44 million. These more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Basell's Growth Targets Are Stymied By Weak European Polyolefins Demand
Basell, Europe's largest polyolefins producer and the largest global polypropylene (PP) producer, has been given a financial target of a 15 percent more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

BASF's Fine Chemicals Division Boosts Custom Manufacturing
BASF's fine chemicals division plans to build a cGMP multipurpose plant at Minden, Germany, for the production of pharmaceutical active ingredients more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Bayer Jockeys For Larger Role In Engineering
Bayer plans to become a larger player in the global engineering sector by expanding its newly formed operation Bayer Technology Services more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Phytase Concerns Delay EC Approval Of DSM/Roche Deal
The European Commission's (EC) approval of DSM's acquisition of Roche's vitamins and fine chemicals business is being delayed because of concerns more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Europe in Brief
LENZING reported an 8 percent increase, to  32 million ($37 million), in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Lonza Issues Profit Warning
Lonza issued a profit warning last week after revealing that continued difficulties in its chemical exclusive synthesis business have spread to its more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Rhodia Raises  1 Billion in Private Bond Placement
Rhodia has raised an equivalent of  1 billion ($1.2 billion) in a private bond placement after originally planning to bring in only  700 million more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Information Technology Insights: IBM Targets the Chemical Industry
Under the leadership of former chairman and CEO Louis V. Gerstner and the direction of current chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano, IBM has embarked on more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

IT in Brief
Microsoft Forms Virus Information Alliance Microsoft Corp. has formed the Virus Information Alliance (VIA) with Net-work Associates Inc., a Santa more
(23 May 2003 20:59)

Market trends: Ethylene prices slip on long supply
Ethylene spot values are weakening and producers are looking to reduce operating rates in order to control inventories more
(19 May 2003 14:05)

Volumes and sales values set to rise
Consumption of flame retardant chemicals is estimated at 2352m lb (1.1m tonne) for 2003 in a new study by Business Communications Company (BCC) more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Product Profile: Chlorine
Poor profitability and a lack of investment continues to plague Europe, which still hosts too many players. The cost of converting to membrane.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Are benefits still within Reach?
The battle is on to win hearts, minds and practical arguments over the proposed chemicals policy for Europe more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

People on the move
Akzo Nobel Akzo Nobel has announced that as of 1 December, Paul Grimmelikhuizen will be appointed director of its internal.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

20 years ago
ECN 30 May 1983 more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

US Monitor: Volatility and uncertainty dominate
Despite the rapid conclusion of the Iraq war, US commodity chemicals markets are still looking for direction. Plummeting spot values at the end of.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

News in brief
Closure looms Kerr-McGee has brought forward the closure of its Mobile rutile plant in Alabama, US, to 5 June from the end of the year,.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Players forced to restructure market
Restructuring is high on the agenda of carbon black manufacturers in Europe, even more so after the European Union's decision to reject anti-dumping.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

The heart of the matter
As part of its continuing coverage of the controversial new chemicals policy for Europe, ECN is pleased to publish this contribution from environment.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Market Trends: Ethylene spot numbers drift down
Ethylene is said to be readily available, despite a cracker outage at Terneuzen and reduced output at crackers in France. The styrene recovery was.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Fat cat cream goes sour
In a gleeful display of schadenfreude, the UK media last week reported at length that shareholders in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) had voted down the.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Commercial vehicles face fines if inspections denied
Carriers and shippers in the US may be faced with financial penalties if they deny or impede Federal Motor Carrier Safety Advisors' (FMCSA) access to.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

News in brief
Distrupol deal Polymer distributor, Distrupol, is to distribute DuPont's melt-processable fluoropolymer products, including all Teflon .... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Ariel updates global database
Ariel Research has launched a new version of its Dangerous Goods database to meet the 2003 regulatory requirements from the ADR, RID, ADNR, IATA,.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

MEP calls for clear decision
The European Parliament must achieve swift agreement with European Union governments on the creation of the world's first international greenhouse.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Deadline set for policy feedback
The European Commission has set a deadline of 10 July for comments to be made in the Internet consultation on its proposals for a new chemicals.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

UK acid rain-making emissions halved
Emissions of chemicals that can cause acid rain fell by almost 50% in the UK between 1990 and 2001, to 3.4m tonne of sulphur dioxide equivalent,.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

MHI aims for greener desert
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) will this year begin preparation of a 50km2 green belt in the desert along the shores of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Monsanto at centre of GM row
Monsanto has become embroiled in controversy in Brazil over genetically modified (GM) crops, with environmentalists last week invading one of the US.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Methanex takes control of Titan methanol plant
Leading global methanol producer Methanex has taken a further step in consolidating its market position through its full acquisition of the Titan.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

News in brief
Berre upgrade Technip-Coflexip will upgrade the Shell Chemicals/Basell cracker at Berre, France ( ECN 17 March 2003). Work.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

News in brief
Gene deal struck Cellectis, a Paris, France-based genome engineering biotechnology company, has entered into an agreement with BASF Plant.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Lilly invests further in Fegersheim
Lilly France has announced that it is investing E280m between 2004 and 2009 at its Fegersheim site in Alsace, France, encouraged by French health.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Catalysed wire mesh filter field tests begin
Clean Diesel Technologies (CDT) of Stamford, Connecticut, US, has signed a second memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mitsui and its PUREarth.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Devgen agreement
Japan's Sumitomo Chemical has reached agreement with Devgen, of Ghent, Belgium, on collaborative research for the exploration and screening of novel.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Funding catalysts
BASF Venture Capital, of Ludwigshafen, Germany, is investing in Catalytic Solutions (CSI) Oxnard, California, a manufacturer of catalysts based on.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

R&D powerhouse venture seeks uses for hydrazine
SNPE's affiliate Isochem has joined up with Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS ) and Lyon's Claude Bernard University to set up a.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

BASF hikes DMF
BASF and partner Sinopec have increased planned capacity for dimethylformamide (DMF) at their Nanjing, China, petrochemical complex currently under.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

Pfizer eyes New Jersey investment
Pfizer is to invest $400m in the US state of New Jersey during the years 2004-08 more
(23 May 2003 16:24)

CDT/Thomson ink R&D deal
Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) of Cambridge, UK, and media services and equipment group Thomson, France, have entered into a two year joint.... more
(23 May 2003 16:24)