April 2011 Archives

David Byrne has joined Styron in Houston as the Aromatics Commercial Manager Americas, starting on 25 April, he told the Blog.

Byrne, formerly with Shell and Goodyear, will have "primary responsibility for styrenics sourcing activities as part of Styron's global team."

He fills the position recently vacated by Tanya Niu.

The Blog is now looking forward to hearing from him the full reasoning behind the Pennsylvania-based company's impending change of name from Styron to Trinseo.

It brings back memories of some other more entertaining petchem company name changes.

A departure gate manicure is just the thing to fill the dead airport time between the so-called fast bag drop and take-off. One drawback is that it's about double the price of the high street version, but worse than that, is being left in the airport with half-dry nails.

No matter how many chemicals you spray onto wet nails, I want to explain to the manicurist, they will not dry in one minute. Even if the name of the spray is "One Minute Dry." IT'S JUST THE NAME!

I want to get a pen out of my handbag but I can't. I want to do Blackberry but I can't. I want to take out my passport and boarding pass for the boarding check, but I can't.

I am gingerly pouring coffee and eating croissants in the BA lounge. I can't wipe the crumbs off my fingers. Try licking them off and you get a mouthful of quick-dry. You definitely can't have a quick comfort break before the flight either.

The lounge now has a free Elemis massage for longhaul fliers - FREE! I was happy enough with the complimentary breakfast and papers.

On the plane, I have the aisle seat on the centre block: you always get a spare seat next to you for all your stuff because no-one is going to pay premium to sit in the centre. I have completely spread out with newspapers, laptop, handbag, Kindle, Chinese homework, fleece, two sets of BA blankets and headphones. And that's travelling light, because I deliberately didn't bring the noise-cancelling headphones, flight slippers, pashmina or any heavy books which are my usual companions. Overhead lockers are too bothersome. I could easily take up three seats.

(photo: Rex)

Royal Wedding fever is gripping the US, and one story in particular has our Houston friends sitting up and taking notice.

"Jelly bean resembling Kate Middleton to fetch £500." It's a story that has it all, combining the ludicrous with the religious, royals, food, the Wedding and the chance to make a quick buck.

On top of this, one Houston colleague points out that it has a chemicals angle too: "Sorbitol is the main ingredient in sugar-free jelly beans. And many jelly beans contain about 10% food-grade paraffin wax."

(photo: Telegraph)

Recapture the margarita-flavoured haze of San Antonio with this fantastic video clip sent to me by an eminent member of the US NECA  (Northeast Chemical Association.)

In a brief two-minute clip, it brings back with Proustian clarity:

• That meeting with an old acquaintance whose name you couldn't remember
• The bizarre nature of US pharmaceutical advertising on TV
• The dangers of mixing alcohol with industry conferences

Listen carefully to the disclaimer.

Ignoring all the furore about the launch of the new game "LEGO Battles: Ninjago" for the Nintendo DS in April, not to mention the imminent "LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean - the Video Game" due in May, the Blog is forced to concede that Lego is back in the news headlines this week with the construction of a giant skyscraping tower in Sao Paolo, Brazil (see BBC video clip.) 

Blog readers will be scratching their heads over whether the tower or the virtual games will lead to a greater demand for the little ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) bricks.

Two towering figures in the European olefins biz are set to change jobs imminently, the Blog overhears across the office on Tuesday.

Unusually, they both want to keep their moves secret until their feet are under their new respective desks, although not so secret that they didn't want to share their news with prominent news purveyor, ICIS. So the Blog's lips are sealed. Just don't ask.

David Lubbock played in the band at the Gantrade party on Monday night at NPRA, I hear from fellow travellers on the BA flight back to London.

Although the Blog bailed out before the legendary late-night Gantrade party at Michelino's, we hear that there was a fair amount of men-only dancing, as is often the case at industry events. Some partygoers had enjoyed a wine-tasting menu at a separate dinner before the party, so there were some painful meetings the next morning.

More children are following their parents into the chemicals industry. Like "Star Trek 2: the Next Generation," the Blog keeps coming across their fresh new faces at industry events.

At NPRA, we met again Kraasen, son of Miroslav Mladenov at Kolmar. And then Bart, son of Roger Reekmans, now at GE Power and Water.

So that's Fred from Nizhex and his son Max. Anna and her father Sergei at Nizhnekamsk. Ian and his son at Hutton Chemicals. Eran with his dad at BMS. Sofia following her mother Elvira of Peninsula. Birgit following her father Otto at Shell. Dieter, now retired from BASF, and his son Harry at BP. Ruth and her daughter at Kolmar. And Peter's daughter at Interchem.

Caroline adds: "The charming Georgio Bonetti and his lovely son Paolo."

(photo: Rex)

What a pleasant surprise to see the response from the manager of The Hotel (formerly the Brussels Hilton) to the posting "March EPL Brussels: new Hilton same as old Hilton."

"Important decisions are being made every day and we are doing our utmost to guarantee a high level of service and standards .... I can assure you that the renovations and refurbishments of the other areas of the hotel (restaurants, banquet rooms, guest rooms) will follow in the very near future ....We aim to provide a secure environment and are therefore not allowed to store any items from non-residents. We apologise if this has caused any inconvenience for you."

See Mr Verbrugghe's full response under Comments.

My blogging mentor, Simon Robinson, is moving from ICIS to Estates Gazette. He will be on a six month secondment from April 2011.

Simon, whose Big Biofuels Blog and regular podcasts are well known to readers, will be developing similar social media in his new role at Reed Business Information's property publication.