ICIS - Search Articles by Date : March 28 2005 - April 03 2005

Adiponitrile
Asia remains the hot tip for new investment, but companies are unlikely to be spending big money at present. Engineering resins remains the key.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Chinese chequers
Any company planning to invest in China should be aware that the tax authorities have introduced tax administration and procedures, with stiff.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

New projects summary
New projects summary, as reported in ACN 21-27 March 2005 Company Product Capacity Process Contractor Cost .... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Ethylene likely to tighten
Demand for commodity chemicals dipped early in the year but worldwide requirement for ethylene is forecast to rise. Sentiment on PE is bullish more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

KCC ‘likely to see earnings rebound’
KUMGANG Korea Chemical’s (KCC’s) earnings, which took a sharp fall last year, are expected to improve this year, said an analyst. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

NPIL to raise $80m in equity funds
Nicholas Piramal (NPIL) is seeking to expand its business, even as the Indian government passed a law that made the copying of patented drugs illegal.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Specialities roundup
Ciba Specialty Chemicals India plans to set up a new plant to manufacture speciality effect chemicals for export, the company said. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Acrylic faces tough climb
Acrylic fibre producers may have enjoyed a favourable 12 months, but it is hardly the time to relax as the future promises to throw more challenges.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

A cracking start for India
Bullish growth projections for the Indian economy and petrochemicals consumption have prompted a fresh wave of interest in cracker projects. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Farmers can help polymers
THE recent National People’s Congress (NPC) meeting did not offer instant good news for China’s petrochemicals industry. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Soda ash supply trails demand
Soda ash supply in China is not expected to keep pace with demand throughout 2005 despite various new capacities that are due onstream. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Nylon 6,6 markets will stay bullish
Robust demand, rising raw-material costs, and tight supply are likely to keep polyamide 6,6 (nylon 6,6) markets bullish in H1 2005, producers told.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Global roundup
Fifteen people died in a blast at a BP refinery in Texas, and a huge earthquake hit an Indonesian island but left petchems in the country unscathed.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Chi Mei-Asahi PC in Q2 ‘06
Chi Mei-Asahi Corp is to start up its 75 000 tonne/year polycarbonate (PC) unit in Tainan, Taiwan, in Q2 next year, according to a company source. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

OOC invites bids for methanol FEED
Oman Oil Co (OOC) is inviting bids from companies to provide a front-end engineering design (FEED) service for its 3000 tonne/day (990 000.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

TAF to build fifth acrylic fibre unit
THAI Acrylic Fibre (TAF) is building its fifth acrylic fibre unit in Sara Buri, Thailand, a company source told ACN . Construction had started on.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Wison methanol: Work starts soon
WISON Nanjing Chemical Co is to start building its methanol plant in Nanjing Chemical Industry Park (NCIP), Jiangsu, China, later this month, said a.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Mitsubishi mulls PTMEG link to BDO project
Mitsubishi Chemical is considering building a polytetramethylene glycol (PTMEG) unit downstream of its 1,4-butanediol (BDO) project in China,.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Firm eyes 200ktpa acrylic fibre
Hangzhouwan Acrylic Fibre Co plans to produce 200 000 tonne/year of acrylic fibre in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China, by 2010, according to a company source. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Bayer mulls Shanghai MDI increase
BAYER MaterialScience is considering increasing the capacity of its crude methyl di-p-phenylene isocyanate (MDI) project in Shanghai Chemical.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Blast firms MTBE prices
Asian methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) prices were expected to remain firm in the coming weeks on the back of news of an explosion at BP’s Texas.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Benzene plunges
Benzene tumbles while gaps between bids and offers hamper trade in phenol. Trade is thin for all other commodities too, but mixed xylenes prices stay.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Butadiene surges
Ethylene languishes with no cfr deal reported for close to two weeks. Not so the markets for MTBE and ammonia, which are now bullish more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Low cotton prices hit PSF producers
Pakistan’s record cotton crop for 2004-05 is expected to have a significant impact on Ibrahim Fibre’s sales and profits, but less so for Dewan Salman.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Two more opt for Hazchem
Two more companies were due to join the UK’s Hazchem Network last week. This will take the membership to 38 since its inception six months ago. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

€18m for drug service centre
New Jersey, US-based pharmaceuticals company Schering-Plough is investing €18m in a distribution centre in Belgium. The facility is being built at.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Chemical tanker trio is agreed
The Norwegian shipowner Camillo Eitzen has joined with Bergshav Management in a deal for three new chemical tankers. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Expansion focus on ARA
The Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region in Europe will need further investment in logistics as expansions continues in petrochemical capacity. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Poor demand impacts market
Key producers blame discounted spot deals for some of the very low numbers appearing in March. Meanwhile, Asia’s recovery was not as strong as had.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Fortune’s cookie
China is predicted to become the world’s second-biggest chemical market after the US. But there are risks attached, as Glenda Thisdell explains more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Nepic will boost regional growth
The UK’s Pharmaceutical & Speciality Cluster has merged with the Teesside Chemical Initiative to form the North East Process Industry Cluster (Nepic).... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

45% will be fine and speciality
China’s push to boost production of fine and speciality chemicals to 45% of overall chemicals manufacture offers remarkable opportunities for.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Share placement nets €34.5m
Belgian biopharmaceutical company Innogenetics has raised over €34.5m through the private placement of new shares with institutional investors and.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Naphtha prices begin to slide
Naphtha numbers have been hit by a supply surplus. However, most markets have been quiet, the BP explosion in Texas bringing a little uncertainty to.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

BASF to put $260m into South America
BASF plans to invest $260m in South America over the next five years. The investment will be used to modernise and expand the company’s existing.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

CSCIL plans speciality unit
Ciba Specialty Chemicals India (CSCIL) plans to build a plant to manufacture and export speciality effect chemicals. The proposed unit would cost.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Heavyweight reactors shipped
Sasol is shipping two technology reactors from Japan to Qatar for implementation in the $1bn Oryx GTL project . more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Is China about to implode?
China continues to dominate thinking in almost all sectors of our industry, be it commodity, speciality or fine chemicals. Phenomenal growth in the.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

French chemicals forecast to make 2005 comeback
The French chemical industry should enjoy ‘a real rebound’ in 2005, with production growth of 3.2%, said the president of trade group Union des.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Coatings firm loses appeal
US coatings group PPG Industries faces a bill of about $150m after losing a legal battle with a customer who had claimed one of its wood.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

BASF brings together nylon production
BASF has announced plans to consolidate its US nylon 6 polymers production into its site in Freeport, Texas, by 2007, in an effort to reduce costs,.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Rhodia in accountancy breach
France’s stock market regulator has accused Rhodia of infringing accounting rules for up to three years going back to December 2000. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Solvay boosts pharma unit
Solvay, the Belgian pharmaceuticals, chemicals and plastics group, has agreed to buy French family-owned drug maker Fournier Pharma for €1.3bn in.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Mg drives on with merger plan
Mg Technologies has finalised plans for a merger with its subsidiary GEA, and will ask the annual general meeting on 7 June to approve a change to.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

BP focuses on raffinate splitter as root of deadly explosion
Investigators of the deadly explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery are focusing on the raffinate splitter within the refinery’s isomerisation unit,.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Chemical sales on the up
German chemical firms forecast a gradual slowdown in 2005 following strong performances during the fourth quarter of 2004, figures released by.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Solutia set to restructure nylon output
Solutia, the US fibres, performance films and speciality chemicals maker, plans to shut its nylon industrial fibre manufacturing unit at its.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Petro-Canada buys stake
Canadian energy and petrochemicals firm Petro-Canada has bought US-based El Paso’s stake in Coastal Petrochemicals for approximately Can$92m.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

GM framework of ‘high’ calibre
The European Commission has expressed ‘full confidence’ in its existing GMO regulatory framework. more
(01 April 2005 13:01)

Illegal GM corn is in food chain
Syngenta has confirmed that a non-commercial and untested strain of GM corn, Bt10, has been inadvertently mixed with an approved and cultivated.... more
(01 April 2005 13:01)