ICIS - Search Articles by Date : January 26 2004 - February 01 2004

Market Trends: Ethylene prices rocket on outages
Notional ethylene prices soared to $740-760/tonne cif NWE, but spot material remains hard to source. Plant production problems across northern Europe.... more
(26 January 2004 09:42)

Rubber banding
Consolidation of the global BR and SBR sector could create clear benefits in markets that are fragmented and suffering from overcapacity. Gunter.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Chem-wire Express Japan
Chem-wire Express Japan: Edition of 23 January Basic and Fine Chemicals Kuraray plans to make acrylic cast sheet in China. In addition,.... more
(26 January 2004 05:24)

Chem-wire Express Japan
Chem-wire Express Japan: Edition of 26 January Basic and Fine Chemicals Nissan Chemical Industries has decided to bring forward.... more
(27 January 2004 02:59)

Chem-wire Express Japan
Chem-wire Express Japan: Edition of 27 January Basic and Fine Chemicals Hitachi Chemical has installed a new line to produce functional.... more
(28 January 2004 03:40)

Chem-wire Express Japan
Japan Chem-wire Express - Edition of 28 January Basic and Fine Chemicals Showa Denko, Toyo Ink, Hamamatsu Photonics , and other.... more
(29 January 2004 04:17)

Chem-wire Express Japan
Chem-wire Express Japan: Edition of 29 January Basic and Fine Chemicals Lion Corp  is to expand capital spending to Yen30bn.... more
(30 January 2004 03:16)

20 years ago
ECN 6 February 1984 more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

People on the move
Crompton Speciality chemical producer Crompton has appointed former Dow Chemical executive Robert Wood to be its president and chief.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Share sale takes heat off debt-laden shipping firm
Stolt-Nielsen SA (SNSA) has made significant moves towards securing its long-term financial security, following the $104m sale of 7.7m common shares.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

IBS Logistics finds G-Log solution
Supply chain management specialist IBS Logistics has adopted G-Log global command and control centre (GC3) software for its services to and from China more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Precision on the TRA/X
Precision Software, provider of global parcel logistics and trade compliance solutions, has released TRA/X version 6 more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Logistics in brief
Vessels ordered Tsakos Energy Navigation of Athens, Greece, has ordered two double hull 1A ice-class tankers, with carrying capacity of.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Cargill set to merge unit with IMC
Creating a company controlling around 15% of global phosphate and potash capacity, privately held Cargill is to merge its crop nutrition unit with.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Rhodia ‘to double’ job losses
The level of job cuts at Rhodia could be 2150, more than double the number previously announced in its recovery plan, a report says more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

MOL takes 98% slice of Slovnaft
MOL has taken a further step towards the full takeover of Slovnaft by boosting its stake in the company to 98.5% through the acquisition of an.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Majors lobby on natural gas drain
Chief executives of major chemical and plastics companies have urged US President George Bush and Congressional leaders to address the shortage of.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Novartis ups Roche holding
Novartis has upped its stake in Roche to just below the one-third holding, which would trigger a mandatory, full take­over offer more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Managem looks to serve niche markets
With the aim of diversifying away from its traditional commodity mining and minerals processing business, Moroccan company Managem is aiming, within.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Petrom tender date extended
The Romanian government has extended again to early April the deadline for preliminary bids in the sale of one third stake in the country’s main oil.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

BOC says goodbye to US packaged gas business
BOC is selling its unprofitable US packaged gas business to US firm Airgas for up to $200m in cash more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Geoplastics come to Linz
Austria’s Polyfelt, a wholly-owned subsidiary of OMV, is investing €11m in new geoplastics production at its site in Linz more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Business in brief
Clariant sheds jobs Clariant has shed around 500 of 1300 jobs at its Indian subsidiary, Colour-Chem in Thane as the company concentrates.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Resilient US majors face record high energy costs
Record raw material and energy prices dampened signs of recovery for DuPont last year, but Dow Chemical improved through cost-cutting more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Lack of funding to hit growth
European and US chemical industries face a medium- to long-term threat to growth from underinvestment in assets while capital expenditure flows to.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Spolchemie slice up for grabs
The Czech Republic government has launched the sale of its 66% stake in chemical company Spolchemie after years of prolonged preparation more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Aventis’ independence under threat
Sanofi-Synthélabo last week made a €47bn cash and share hostile bid for its much larger rival Aventis more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Is Sanofi's offer too low?
Analysts say Aventis’ shareholders are likely to reject Sanofi’s bid as far too low more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

A French-German venture
Aventis was created from Hoechst and Rhône-Poulenc in 1999 after a year-long merger process more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Merger could be disastrous
French trade union CFDT said a ‘lose-lose’ situation for all could emerge from a Sanofi-Synthélabo/Aventis merger, especially if a ‘white knight’.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

JFC to build multi-use unit in Ningbo
New Jersey-based fine chemicals company JFC Technologies will construct a multipurpose pharmaceutical facility in Ningbo, 100km south of Shanghai, as.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Fine chemicals in brief
Specialities fine UK speciality chemicals firm European Colour (Pigments) has been fined £5000 (€7230/$9170) with £11 200 costs over.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Lancaster catalogue
  A range of rare boronic molecules is included in more than 800 novel and difficult to source products.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Cambrex: highs and lows
US fine chemical and life sciences firm Cambrex saw its 2003 income from continuing operations fall 83% to $7.2m after a loss from a unit sale and a.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Wacker signs Prokaria deal
German speciality chemicals group Wacker has signed a research and development (R&D) agreement for chiral alcohols with Icelandic biotechnology firm.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Enlargement offers scope
The enlargement of the European Union this year will have a major impact on the regional fertiliser business more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Tough times for caprolactam
With capacity growth at 2%/year and demand at 2.4%, global caprolactam operating rates are set to improve from 92% in 2000 to 97% in 2010, according.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

'Bad timing' chips MMA
MMA contract prices slipped in quarter one (Q1) as a result of ‘bad timing’, according to a seller, despite an increase in raw material values more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Cyclohexane-benzene delta rolls into 2004
The delta between cyclohexane and benzene has rolled over from quarter four (Q4) 2003 to quarter one at €98/tonne based on a benzene contract price.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

EO market enters period of uncertainty and change
European ethylene oxide (EO) prices are firming as unscheduled outages and maintenance turnarounds take their toll more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Low-cost feedstock profits ME
Phil Hunt, vice president of Nexant Chem Systems, told delegates at the World Refining Association’s Oil Refining and Petrochemicals in the Middle.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Altair signs heavy mineral jv with Western Oil Sands
Altair Nanotechnologies of Reno, Nevada, US, has signed a technology licensing agreement with Western Oil Sands for the use of Altair’s hydrochloride.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Technology in brief
Improved PP ExxonMobil Chemical has extended its range of Achieve metallocene-catalysed polypropylenes, with the initial focus on.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

University gets patent donation
The University of California, Davis, has been ‘donated’ a technology portfolio consisting of patents involving processes and the catalytic materials.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Wearing your colours
  Cabot of Leuven, Belgium, is launching two materials at the Middle East Coatings Show in Dubai, UAE, in.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

TEC contract will use OCT technology
Toyo Engineering (TEC) has won a contract from Nippon Petrochemicals to expand propylene capacity using ABB Lummus’ olefins conversion technology.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Carmel cash boost to hike PP capacity
Carmel Olefins, jointly owned by Israel Petrochemical Enterprises (IPE) and Oil Refineries, is investing $232m to double capacity of its.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

NPC seeks olefins contractors
Iran’s National Petrochemical (NPC) has invited interested contractors to bid for its 11th olefins project more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

EPC contracts
Saudi Arabia’s first n-paraffin and linear alkyl benzene (LAB) project took a step forward last week more
(31 January 2004 19:41)

Iraqi gas may be used to feed Equate III
Kuwait’s Equate Petrochemicals, a joint venture between Dow Chemical and Petrochemical Industries Co (PIC), has revealed plans for a $4m ethane.... more
(31 January 2004 19:41)