BUSINESS CONCENTRATES

Inde 130

128

126

124

1?2

x, 1982 = 100

—

• ' Ι ' J J A S O N D J F M A M J

- 1990 ' ' 1991 1

Chemical prices U.S. chemical prices slipped again in June, according to data from the Department of La­bor, and except for a slight blip in April fell every month since Janu­ary. The government figures show the pro­ducer price index for chemicals and allied products declined 0.5% in June from May to 125.0 (1982 = 100). May prices fell the same per­centage from April. On an annual basis, June prices rose 2.1% from a year earlier, and May prices were up 2.7%. For the subcategory of industrial chemicals, June prices fell 0.6% from May to an index of 111.7, following a 0.9% monthly decline in May. Year-to-year, industrial chemical prices in June were up a slight 0.5%, but in May they were up 1.5% from a year earlier.

Court bans firm from making EPO Genetics Institute has been enjoined from the manu­facture of erythropoietin (EPO) in the U.S. The deci­sion came from Judge William Young of the U.S. Dis­trict Court in Massachusetts. As the result of an earli­er federal appeals court decision, Genetics Institute's own patent was found to be invalid and the company was found to infringe certain claims of Amgen's patent on EPO. On July 1, Genetics Institute filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to con­sider overturning the appeals court decision. Genetics Institute has not manufactured EPO in the U.S. since the appeals court decision in early March and there­fore does not believe its operations now will be affect­ed. Genetics Institute had been supplying its Europe­an licensee, Boehringer Mannheim, with EPO manu­factured in the U.S., but now European facilities are being readied for EPO production. In the Far East, Ge­netics Institute licensee Chugai Pharmaceuticals man­ufactures EPO for its own commercial needs.

OxyChem to build MTBE unit Add to the recent spate of announcements of capacity additions for methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) one by OxyChem, which plans to build its first MTBE plant, a $15 million, 1900 barrel-per-day unit at its Chocolate Bayou, Tex., petrochemicals complex. Slated for start­up by fourth-quarter 1992, the new unit will be engi­neered by Jacobs Engineering using isobutylene-based technology licensed from Arco Chemical. Con­struction will get under way in December. Together with MTBE produced for it under a tolling arrange­ment with Champlin in Corpus Christi, OxyChem

will have a marketing capacity of 3570 bbl per day of gasoline blending-grade MTBE. Ray R. Irani, chair­man, president, and chief executive officer of Oxy-Chem's parent company, Occidental Petroleum Corp., says, "Because the [new] plant will use C4 feedstocks from our newly revamped butadiene unit at Choco­late Bayou, it will be in a superior competitive posi­tion to higher cost MTBE plants that are based on bu­tane technology." However, he says, "since we're cur­rently selling the isobutylene to other producers for MTBE production, this facility will not result in any net increase to MTBE industry capacity." Recently an­nounced MTBE expansions include a 4500 bbl-per-day increase by Texaco Chemical (C&EN, June 24, page 8), a 7000 bbl-per-day unit from Exxon (C&EN, June 17, page 9), as well as units from Tenneco Gas, Coastal Chem, Global Octanes, Valero Energy, and Freedom Group that will collectively add 55,100 bbl per day of MTBE capacity (C&EN, June 10, page 13).

Henkel starts new sulfation unit... Henkel's Cospha (cosmetics and pharmaceuticals) Di­vision has started up a new $11 million sulfation unit at the company's Kankakee, 111., facilities. Henkel, headquartered in Gulph Mills, Pa., is the North Amer­ican arm of the German Henkel Group. Product will be used in production of surfactants. The automated plant will allow for production of sulfated materials tailored to customer requirements. Two of Henkel's surfactant product lines are made from natural oleo-chemicals based on processed vegetable oils and ani­mal fats feedstocks.

. . . and introduces new reactive coatings Henkel's coatings and inks division, based in Ambler, Pa., has introduced a new line of radiation curing acrylate monomers. The products will be sold under the Photomer 8000 series tradename. Photomer 8061 and Photomer 8127 are monofunctional acrylates with low surface tensions and cured film shrinkage proper­ties that contribute to improved adhesion on various substrates, according to Henkel. In addition, the com­pany claims these two products show improved reac­tivity and cured film properties in comparison with other commercial acrylate monofunctional monomers. A third product being introduced is a diacrylate monomer, Photomer 8149.

Industrial gas prices rise Strong demand for industrial gases, even while the U.S. economy remains slow, have resulted in price in­creases. The Linde Division of Union Carbide is in­creasing price schedules for bulk oxygen, nitrogen, and helium, effective Aug. 1. Airco also plans price increases for bulk industrial gases, effective Aug. 15, and Air Products will increase prices on liquid/bulk oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, and helium, effec­tive Aug. 1. The Linde Division price increases will range from 5 to 9%. The division's price schedules for

August 5, 1991 C&EN 7

I BUSINESS CONCENTRATES

argon and hydrogen will not be raised, but the com­pany says customers will experience de facto price in­creases through the reduction or elimination of dis­counts. Linde also plans to increase monthly service charges to customers to reflect capital investments in tanks, associated equipment, installation, mainte­nance, and servicing of equipment. Airco price levels will be up approximately 7% for liquid oxygen, nitro­gen, and argon; 11% for bulk liquid and gaseous hy­drogen; 8% for liquid helium; and 14% for gaseous he­lium. Airco attributes the price increases to continuing cost increases for electricity, labor, and new invest­ment. Air Products will increase unit prices from 7 to 12% and will increase charges on storage vessels by 10% for customers supplied under a monthly service charge format. The company also plans cylinder and specialty gas increases.

U.S. microbials for Laporte British specialty chemicals company Laporte is ex­panding its developing business in microbials and feed flavors, by the acquisition of FMF International, a privately held U.S. company based in Dolton, 111. FMF's 1990 sales were about $4 million. Laporte plans to link FMF with its Great Lakes Biochemical subsid­iary in Milwaukee, which makes microbial and en­zyme products for the industrial and agricultural mar­kets.

Akzo to buy Goodyear tire cord plant Akzo, the Dutch chemicals producer, has agreed to buy the polyester tire yarn plant of Goodyear Tire & Rubber in Scottsboro, Ala., for about $105 million. The plant has a capacity of 33 million lb per year and em­ploys about 600 people. Akzo also has agreed to take over Goodyear's R&D facilities in polyester yarns. Af­ter the purchase, the plant will continue to supply Goodyear. Akzo is the market leader in industrial fi­bers in Europe.

Grace to sell businesses to Cargill As part of its strategic restructuring, W. R. Grace is selling two animal feed operations to the Nutrena Feed Division of Cargill. The operations are Iowa-based Walnut Grove Products, which serves Midwest swine, beef, and dairy producers, and Colorado-based Farr Better Feeds, which supplies cattle feed to feed-lots, range operators, and dairies in the High Plains. Details of the transaction have not yet been made public.

International Joint venture to make acrylamides A new joint venture, Kasei Belgium, has been formed between Japanese companies Mitsubishi Kasei and Mitsubishi Corp., and Belgian chemical company

UCB, to make acrylamides. The venture will build a new plant at UCB's Ostend, Belgium, facility for pro­ducing the compounds, mostly used in water treat­ment. Annual capacity will be 22 million lb, with start­up scheduled for the end of 1992.

Shell to study China project Five Chinese partners and Royal Dutch/Shell have signed an agreement to study a joint-venture oil refin­ery and petrochemical complex in Guangdong prov­ince. The Chinese partners and Shell each would have a 50% share in the project, to be sited at Aotou, and costing roughly $2.5 billion. The complex would have the capacity to process 5 million metric tons of petro­leum per year, and plans include a 450,000 metric-ton-per-year ethylene cracker. Some of the production would be for the Chinese market, and some for ex­port. The feasibility study will take about 18 months to complete. Chinese partners in the project are China National Offshore Oil Corp., China Petrochemical Corp., China National Oil & Gas Corp., the Guang­dong provincial government, and China Merchants Holdings Co.

Akzo finally sheds Spanish fibers After at least one abortive attempt, Akzo has sold its 57% stake in Spanish fiber producer La Seda de Barce­lona (C&EN, July 22, page 8). The price: one peseta, or about one cent. Spanish lawyer Jacinto Soler Pâdro paid the symbolic peseta. He, in turn, is to offer the stock to all minority stockholders within 60 days, also for one peseta. Any shares not taken will be kept in part by Soler and partly offered to management and personnel at La Seda.

ICPs second-quarter profits drop 3% First-half pretax profits for British chemicals company ICI were $821 million, a 31% decrease from first-half 1990 but a smaller drop than expected by most of the financial community in London. The fall was almost entirely accounted for by the first-quarter results; sec­ond-quarter pretax profits were $500 million, down only 3% from the same period in 1990. Sales in the first half were $10.3 billion, down 7% from first-half 1990, with most of the company's businesses showing "at best, flat" sales. The only categories to show sales growth were pharmaceuticals and explosives.

Interox to build in Europe Interox, the joint venture between Belgium's Solvay and Britain's Laporte, has decided to build a new 110 million lb-per-year hydrogen peroxide plant in Eu­rope, to supply the eastern part of Germany and Cen­tral Europe. Startup is scheduled for 1994. The site is yet to be determined, but Interox is considering a lo­cation at the Solvay industrial estate in Bernburg, in eastern Germany, which is still sequestered and which Solvay is negotiating to recover.

8 August 5, 1991 C&EN