ICIS - Search Articles by Date : April 26 2004 - May 02 2004

New US unit makes Cell Drugs
Immuno-Designed Molecules (IDM), the French biopharma firm, has opened its first cGMP production centre in the US, based at its North American.... more
(27 April 2004 07:52)

Plenty River acquires site on Burrup Peninsula
Australia’s Plenty River Corp has beat off competition from Agrium to secure a 67-hectare block of land on the Burrup Peninsula to build a.... more
(27 April 2004 07:52)

European Chemical Companies Report Improved 1Q
European chemical companies reported improvements in sales and profits in the first quarter of this year as they benefited from higher demand in.... more
(30 April 2004 18:57)

Lonza Strengthens Position In Oligonucleotides Market
Lonza has strengthened its position in the growing market for the contract manufacturing of oligonucleotides after reaching a collaboration agreement.... more
(30 April 2004 18:57)

Sanofi’s Higher Bid for Aventis Raises Doubts
Shares in Sanofi-Synthelabo declined last week as investors showed doubts about the prospects for the company’s merger with its French rival Aventis.... more
(30 April 2004 18:57)

Syngenta Reports Agrochemicals Demand
Syngenta indicated a strong improvement in demand in agrochemicals, following last week’s report of higher-than-expected sales growth during the.... more
(30 April 2004 18:57)

Schering-Plough Slashes Jobs in Puerto Rico
On the heels of a dismal first quarter earnings report, Schering-Plough Corp. announced plans to cut up to 210 manufacturing jobs at two sites in.... more
(30 April 2004 18:57)

Finolex delays VCM-PVC
FINOLEX Industries’ 130 000 tonne/year vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and 130 000 tonne/year polyvinyl chloride (PVC) project in Ratnagiri,.... more
(29 April 2004 18:28)

New projects summary
Reported IN ACN 12-18 April 2004 and ACN 19-25 April 2005 more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

Another disaster waiting to happen?
Hopefully not, reports Malini Hariharan as she discovers that the Asian olefins industry is a little wiser after the events of pre-1997 with soft.... more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

No reason to get excited
Acrylonitrile producers are far from holding a winning hand. At least, though, they are lucky that supply constraints are enabling them to pass on.... more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

LG Chem to add ABS by 2008
LG Chem is aiming to add acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) capacity in China by 2008 more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

UPC Technology to build DOP and PA units at Jiangsu
UPC Technology is to build an 80 000 tonne/year di-octyl phthalate (DOP) unit and a 60 000 tonne/year phthalic anhydride (PA) unit in the Zhenjiang.... more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

Zhongtai opts for carbide-based PVC project
XINJIANG Zhongtai Chemical has decided to opt for a carbide polyvinyl chloride (PVC) project instead of using gas as feedstock more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

Huayi mulls Shanghai cracker
SHANGHAI Huayi (Group) Co is keen on taking a stake in a second cracker complex being proposed in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) in.... more
(30 April 2004 15:07)

Yangquan to produce PVC in phases
YANGQUAN Coal Industry Group plans to produce 100 000 tonne/year of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and 90 000 tonne/year of caustic soda more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

Fujian PP project
SINYI Co has started construction work on a 150 000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) unit in China more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

Jinling preliminary approval
JINLING Petrochemical has received preliminary central government approval for its proposal for an aromatics project in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China more
(30 April 2004 15:07)

LGI to start up Tatarstan cracker after 2008
LG International (LGI) and its partners are aiming to start up their planned 600 000 tonne/year cracker complex in Nizhnekamsk, Republic of.... more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

Market trends: Phenol riding high
Tight supply combined with strong demand drive up China phenol prices. Styrene and paraxylene market direction was unclear with toluene weak more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

Market trends: Ethylene on the rise
Ethylene rises by nearly US$50/tonne but rally only expected to last a few weeks. The emergence of close to 100 000 tonne/year of Indian napthha.... more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

Global roundup
LG restructuring showing the two holding companies and subsidiaries more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

China LC freeze rumours bring markets to a halt
CHINA’S polymer and fibre intermediate markets were reported to be at a standstill last week as rumours persisted that the government had issued a.... more
(30 April 2004 15:06)

BP open to piecemeal sale
BP is open to the option of selling businesses under its new olefins & derivatives (O&D) division piecemeal more
(30 April 2004 15:06)

LG Group to split business
LG GROUP’s retail and service businesses are likely to be split from its holding company, LG Corp, which will then be the group’s holding company for.... more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

Customers resist acetic acid price rise in Q2
ACETIC acid producers were last week facing customer resistance to their efforts to push through contract price increases in Q2, even as most Q1.... more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

C2 rally raises PE speculation
SPOT ethylene prices had risen by US$30-50/tonne last week from ten days earlier more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

Beijing Jialong plans for PET
BEIJING Jialong Investment Co plans to build a 200 000 tonne/year plant at its site in Gaoyang, Hebei, China, that would produce fibre-grade.... more
(29 April 2004 19:33)

MetaDynea favours west Russia for second build
MetaDynea plans to build its second urea and melamine resins plant, with a capacity of 120 000 tonne/year, in western Russia by the end of 2006. more
(27 April 2004 07:53)

Feedstock hikes surprise producers
European n-butanols producers continue to push ahead with price hikes in quarter two (Q2). In early April contract prices had reached €660-710/tonne,.... more
(27 April 2004 07:50)

Rollover for PC contract as demand slowly rises
Polycarbonate (PC) prices look set to rollover into the second quarter (Q2), despite hefty increases in feedstock costs more
(27 April 2004 07:51)

Elementis buys Sasol Servo
South African energy and chemicals firm Sasol has sold its non-core Dutch speciality chemicals unit Sasol Servo to the UK’s Elementis for €48.5m in.... more
(27 April 2004 07:49)

Rockwood to take over Dynamit Nobel assets
Germany’s MG Technologies last week agreed to sell the bulk of its Dynamit Nobel assets for €2.25bn to Rockwood Specialties of the US, backed by.... more
(27 April 2004 07:49)

Product Profile: Acrylic acid
Markets are set to remain tight until 2005, but new capacity plans will not be resurrected until profits recover to reinvestment levels more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

Plastics Monitor: Polystyrene firms on tighter supply
Despite high feedstock costs and production difficulties, plastics prices in many markets remained unchanged, rolling over into April. Polystyrene,.... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

People on the move
Bayer Joe Martin will head the self-test business section of Bayer’s diagnostics division when the division is split into two new entities on.... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

20 years ago
ECN 7 May 1984 more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

New Projects Summary
Reported in ECN 12 and 19 April 2004 more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

Environment in brief
Commercial fuel Bio-ethanol, which is made from biomass, such as wheat straw, has been shipped, in commercial quantities, for the first time..... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

Flame retardant scare refuted by BSEF studies
Two independent peer reviews, commissioned by the Bromine Science Environment Forum (BSEF), have shown that the presence of the flame retardant.... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

Recycling projects hit target
According to the fourth annual progress report of Vinyl 2010, PVC resin producers, additive and plasticiser manufacturers and converters have met.... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

Reach visit
Europe’s environment minister Margot Walström was in the US last week discussing the EU chemicals reform, Reach. The visit coincides with a.... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

Dutch group urges change on Reach
The Dutch Association of Chemical Distributors (VHCP) has said that last year’s internet consultation on Reach proved to be useful in the sense that.... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

A fresh EU coat
The European paints and coatings industry is seeing a new wave of consolidation and innovation, as it prepares to meet the new EU legislation on VOC.... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

Finishing touch
The battle for market share in the automotive coatings market continues as growth in European car manufacturing slows down. Dede Williams looks at.... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

Fine chemicals in brief
Peptide offering Dowpharma is beefing up its biologics custom manufacturing capability by adding ‘manufacturing solutions for peptides’ using.... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

Agroferm deal progresses
Degussa is close to finalising a deal to acquire a Hungarian amino acids business from the Japanese speciality chemicals company Kyowa Hakko Kogyo. more
(30 April 2004 15:00)

Merger creates antimony jv
Great Lakes Chemical has finalised the merger of its antimony business with OxyChem’s Laurel Industries unit to form a 50:50 joint venture called.... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

Alliance offers high-tech output
Swiss fine-chemicals and biotech firm Lonza has signed a collaboration agreement with RNA-TEC in the area of TBDMS-based oligonucleotides. more
(30 April 2004 14:50)

Positive results posted by nascent BASF IT Services
Three years since BASF merged its 50 IT units into BASF IT Services, the newly-formed independent subsidiary painted a bright picture for its future.... more
(30 April 2004 14:50)