ICIS - Search Articles by Date : July 22 2002 - July 28 2002

Butane gains
Maleic anhydride production methods are continually being upgraded and new processes - replacing benzene feedstock with butane - have emerged. Muriel.... more
(26 July 2002 12:12)

Closure puts 400 jobs at risk
EniChem has announced it is to close its 130 000 tonne/ year caprolactam plant at Porto Marghera in north-east Italy more
(22 July 2002 10:11)

Testing times
Industry and protestors are on the same side - against the high number of animal tests that may have to be carried out more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Taking a giant step forward
How realistic is the prospect of the chemicals industry working with its downstream users? more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Product profile: Acrylonitrile (ACN)
World supply has tightened this year due to unexpected production problems. Further rationalisation is also likely as new capacity is absorbed. World.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Cleaning up the act
In a study of a number of senior officers at large companies, Hans van den Berg and Jan Moors explored the reality behind the concept of sustainable.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

News in brief
QP signs SPA deal Qatar Petroleum (QP) has signed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA), for its share of methanol in Qatar Fuel Additives.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

US monitor: Benzene drives aromatics values up
Due to an outage in Texas, benzene prices soared to $1.70/gal, prompting high nominations for August. Mixed xylenes are firm at $1.15-1.19/gal on.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

News in brief
Port deal The port of Le Havre, France, has signed a letter of intent with two shipping consortiums covering the operation of two of its.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

News in brief
Phthalates warning The US's Food and Drug Administration has warned against the use of several PVC devices containing phthalates. Following.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

20 years ago
ECN 26 July 1982 more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

People on the move
Celanese German chemicals firm Celanese has appointed Martin Jager to the management board of Trespaphan, its unit that develops,.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

News in brief
Investment plan Israel's Carmel Olefins, jointly owned by Israel Petrochemical Enterprises and the state-owned Oil Refineries, has presented.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

News in brief
Symyx inks deal Symyx Technologies has signed a new multi-year research and development agreement to create and apply.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Seaphire wins global technology licence
Seaphire International has acquired an exclusive worldwide licence for technology to create salt tolerant plants more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Fatty acid route discovered
Sumitomo Chemical has developed a new process to produce fatty acid methyl esters more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Genetix to collaborate with MRC
Genetix will supply automated equipment and software in a three-year collaboration with the UK Medical Research Council's Human Genome Mapping.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Market trends: Paraxylene up on strong xylenes
Firm mixed xylenes put pressure on paraxylene which rose to $405-415 fob NWE. Benzene eased back as supplies improved and US values also lost some.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Mission impossible?
Implementing the White Paper in line with the WTO's trade standards could be a difficult task more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Prices and margins improve
Fibre intermediates cyclohexane and caprolactam are enjoying a period of satisfactory demand into nylon and improved prices and margins more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Torial arm will provide tools and services
UOP has formed a new wholly owned subsidiary, Torial, to develop and provide state-of-the-art combinatorial chemistry tools and services for the.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Tight supply firms market
A period of strong demand coupled with tightened supply conditions has helped isopropanol (IPA) producers to push through price increases more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Government backs ecoplan
Plans by French trade groups to set up a voluntary scheme to cut greenhouse gases have been agreed by the government more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

VAM price hike is 'achievable'
Vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) producers are 'very confident' that a E150/tonne hike in quarter three contracts is achievable more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Intermol invests in storage
Intermol has built a multi-million pound storage facility in the Port of Liverpool, north west England, UK, to house Rhodia's high purity phosphoric.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Distrupol wins DSM contract
DSM has appointed Distrupol as the sole distributor for its Sarlink thermoplastic vulcanisates more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Hoyer disappointed with drooping results
Chemical distribution accounted for over half of German-based distribution company Hoyer's E622bn ($631bn) turnover in 2001 more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

UK needs strategy, says minister
The UK needs to exploit the benefits of nanotechnology, if it is to improve economic performance, says minister more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Herbicides demand weakens
Western Europe has experienced a downturn in the crop protection and herbicides market over the past four years due to weakened farmer demand more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Producers readdress PA output
European phthalic anhydride (PA) producers continue to rationalise output in order to rebalance an oversupplied market more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

DuPont offers licence on web
DuPont is offering the licence to a technology to improve crop protection products through the yet2.com technology transfer website more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

PVC plant enquiry opens
Seventeen former Solvay employees are being investigated by the Italian authorities for their role in the deaths of 57 workers at its polyvinyl.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Hydro's current setup no 'sacred cow'
Norsk Hydro's chief executive officer Eivind Reiten says he is open to merging the company with another business to enable long-term growth to take.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

TDA commits to Polish industry
The US Trade and Development Agency (TDA) has awarded grants valued at $510 000 to Poland's Zaklady Chemiczne (Zachem) and Zaklady Chemiczne Police.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Global GTL opportunities pursued
Syntroleum is assessing the potential of several gas-to-liquids (GTL) projects in the former Soviet Union(FSU), the Middle East, South America and.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

R&D powerhouse agrees funds
The Heidelberg Technology Park in Germany has agreed a loan of E32m ($31.6m) from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to fund its expansion project more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

ECVM chief slams new rules
The polyvinyl chloride (PVC) industry expressed concern last week over the European Commission's new EU-wide voluntary agreements with industry more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Gundersen leaves as ABB sails into troubled waters
Gorm Gundersen, head of the oil, gas and petrochemicals division at Swiss/Swedish engineering and technology group ABB is leaving the company more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

British Biotech drops E21R
UK-based biotechnology firm British Biotech has dropped one of its leading drug candidates after poor clinical trial results more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Lords report urges animal test cutback
The UK government should use its influence to urge the European Union to develop replacements for animal experiments, says an influential report from.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Gurit Heberlein snaps up SP
Chemical and synthetic technology firm Gurit Heberlein has acquired UK-based SP Systems more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Grande Paroisse seeks funds
Atofina, part of France's TotalFinaElf group, may have to find up to E1.14bn ($1.15bn) to recapitalise its Grande Paroisse subsidiary more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Future of core ventures a moot point for oil majors
Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud Al-Faisal has said that a number of meetings have been held with oil companies aimed at 'narrowing the gaps on certain.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Canada says divest
Canada's official Competition Bureau has ordered Bayer to divest three agrochemicals products and license out a fourth, as a condition of approval.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Armenian project moves ahead
British Ransat expects to invite tenders in the fourth quarter of this year for its synthetic rubber modernisation project in Armenia more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Solutia finds solution
Creditors of fibres manufacturerSolutia have negotiated an 'agreement in principle' to bail out the cash-starved company with a new $600m two-year.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Shell offers ethylene contracts
Shell Chemicals is offering up to 250 000 tonne/year of ethylene terminal capacity at Moerdijk, the Netherlands more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Lurgi develops new propylene process
Lurgi Oel-Gas-Chemie has developed a new process, Propylur, to produce propylene from steam cracker output more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Bayer to acquire VGI
US-based Bayer Corporation plans to acquire Canada's Visible Genetics (VGI) for $61.4m more
(26 July 2002 13:59)

Brazil's giant to strengthen its petchem arm
Brazil's energy giant Petrobras has signed a preliminary $1.12bn deal to acquire a controlling interest in Perez Companc, one of Argentina's largest.... more
(26 July 2002 13:59)