BUSINESS CONCENTRATES

Index, 1967 308 r~τ—

306

100a

304

302

300

298

296 f : 4 c f i fë i l I i I I A M J J A S O N D J F M A

-1986- J L, 987-

Chemical prices Chemical prices contin­ued their recovery in April, al though those for industrial chemicals are still below year-earlier levels. According to the latest data from the Labor Department, the producer price in­dex for chemicals and allied products in April was 306.7 (1967 = 100), a rise of 0.7% from the month before. March had been up 0.9% from February. On an annual basis, the April index was up 2.2% from the same month in 1986. The March index was essential­ly level with March 1986. Prices of industrial chemi­cals, which had been down until a couple of months ago, rose 1.0% in April to an index of 331.1. This follows a 1.4% rise the previous month. Year-to-year, the index for April was 2.4% ahead of April 1986, in contrast to March, when the index was down 2.6% from the year-earlier level.

Repligen, Merck sign AIDS pact Scientists at Merck & Co. and at Repligen, Cam­bridge, Mass.-based biotechnology firm, will work jointly on a vaccine against acquired immune defi­ciency syndrome (AIDS). Under an agreement an­nounced by the two companies, Merck and Repligen will share with each other the know-how from their AIDS research programs. During the first year of the agreement, Merck will pay Repligen $7.5 million, a portion of which will go for further AIDS research, with additional research funding over the next few years. Merck will receive wor ldwide rights to Repligen's AIDS vaccine research, and Repligen will supply Merck with the finished product. Repligen will be given royalties on any successful AIDS vac­cine marketed by Merck.

Himont operating income doubles Operating income of polypropylene giant Himont more than doubled to $77.4 million for the three months ending April 30 compared with the year-earlier period. Sales for the same three months were up 7.6% to $283 million. The company attributed profit improvements to lower raw material costs, increased resin vo lume, and h igher opera t ing efficiencies. According to Alexander F. Giacco, chair­man and chief executive officer, "We have rein­forced our stature as a world-class polymers compa­ny, and are in a strong position to consider acquisi­tions, joint ventures, capacity increases, and other strategic objectives/' In February this year, Himont

made an initial public offering of 12.5 million shares of its stock that resulted in net proceeds to the com­pany of $379 million. Hercules and Montedison each continue to own 40% of the outstanding shares of Himont common stock.

Ciba-Geigy offers to acquire laser company Swiss-based pharmaceuticals manufacturer Ciba-Geigy has offered to acquire all outstanding shares of Spectra-Physics of San Jose, Calif., a large manufac­turer of lasers and laser-based systems. Ciba-Geigy, which owns 19% of Spectra-Physics, says it will pay $32 a share or about $195 million for the shares it does not already own. The Swiss firm is thought to have made the offer as a reaction to the purchase of 13% of Spectra-Physics' shares by Reliance Financial Services Corp., which is controlled by financier Saul P. Steinberg. Herbert M. Dwight Jr., president and chief executive officer of Spectra-Physics, said, "We are shocked and disappointed by Ciba-Geigy's deliv­ery of an unsolicited takeover offer. Despite the presence of two Ciba-Geigy nominees on our board, this proposal came without any prior discussions with us." Dwight urged stockholders not to take any action until its board reviewed and acted on the offer.

Airco plans $135 million expansion Airco Industrial Gases will open four new air separa­tion plants and expand two existing facilities over the next two years at a cost of $135 million. As a result, the company said it will increase its capacity to produce oxygen, nitrogen, and argon more than 15%. The new plants will be built in Trail, B.C.; Nashville; Courtright, Ont.; and Tulsa. Moderniza­tion and expansion of existing facilities will take place at Claymont, Del., and Vancouver, Wash. Fuel­ing the expansion is increased demand for oxygen, nitrogen, and argon in new metallurgical processes as well as developing applications in electronics, food, and chemicals, says executive vice president Robert Lienhard of BOC Group, Airco's parent. Airco's capital investment program is in addition to two new carbon dioxide facilities scheduled to start up this summer in Baltimore and in Carson, Calif.

Du Pont to construct two new plants Du Pont plans to construct two new plants: one in Parkersburg, W.Va., to produce formaldehyde, a sec­ond at Uentrop, West Germany, to manufacture Butacite polyvinyl butyral sheet ing . The new multimillion-dollar Parkersburg facility will have an annual capacity of 150 million lb of formaldehyde and is slated to be completed in 1988. Output will be used at the site to make Delrin acetal engineering resins. The Uentrop plant will cost $30 million. Du Pont expects production of Butacite interlayer for architectural and automotive safety glass to begin at the new plant by late 1989.

June 1, 1987 C&EN 7

BUSINESS CONCENTRATES

Business roundup • Du Pont has acquired a minority equity interest in

HEM Research and has obtained certain rights to selected HEM products including Ampligen, a po­tential AIDS drug. Terms were not disclosed.

• This summer Polysar will begin constructing a plant at Orange, Tex., to produce its new Tornac hydrogenated nitrile rubber. Sample quantities of the high-performance synthetic rubber already are available from the company's pilot plant in Sarnia, Ont. The new plant, slated to be on stream next year, will have an annual capacity of 3.5 million lb.

• Arco Chemical will restart its idled styrene plant at Beaver Valley, Pa., and will expand ethylben-zene production at Channelview, Tex., to meet feedstock requirements for Beaver Valley. The firm also has slated a minor debottlenecking of the styrene unit at Channelview. The moves will in­crease Arco's annual styrene capacity 325 million lb to 1.63 billion lb.

International

Henkel profits, sales volume up Earnings at Henkel, West German maker of chemi­cals and detergents, rose 28% to $104 million ($1.00 = 2.171 deutsche marks in 1986) last year. World sales fell 6% to $4.01 billion. The fall, the company says, was due entirely to foreign-exchange losses, as sales volume was up 6%. Spending for R&D was up less than 1% to $108 million. Most of the R&D in­crease was in the U.S., where the value of the dollar in 1986 became steadily lower in relation to the West German mark.

Sales, earnings up at U.K.'s Courtaulds Courtaulds, the London-based fibers, chemicals, and textiles producer, registered a strong year. Sales were up 4% to $3.80 billion, and profits up 41% to $338 million ($1.00 = £0.595 on May 18), a compounded growth of 32% per year since March 1982 (for more on Courtaulds, see page 9). Following a restructur­ing of the company's businesses last year, chemicals and industrial products accounted for about 60% of sales and 70% of profits; textiles contributed 40% of sales and 30% of profits.

Sales of detergent builders grow in Europe Because of voluntary and mandatory phosphate re­strictions in many West European countries, use of phosphates for household detergents there has de­creased an average of 6% per year from 900,000 metric tons in 1984. However, the market for phos­phate replacements, though still relatively small, has increased more than 65% per year. According to a new study by Colin A. Houston & Associates, Mamaroneck, N.Y., polyacrylate and copolymers have

registered the fastest growth, with use increasing more than 130% per year since 1984. Demand for both zeolite A and trisodium citrate in household detergents has increased more than 50%. Growth for these products will remain above 10% per year through 1995, the study predicts.

Shell plans polypropylene boost in Europe Convinced that the demand curve for polypropylene will continue to rise steeply, Shell International Chemical Co. intends to build a major new facility for making the polymer in West Germany. A 264 million lb-a-year plant will be constructed in Wesseling, near Cologne, on 133 acres of land bought from Rheinische Olefinwerke (ROW), a joint ven­ture with BASF. Completion is scheduled for the end of 1989. The plant will match in size a polypropyl­ene unit ROW already operates at the site. Feedstock will come from ROW's naphtha cracker, and from Shell's refinery nearby. Shell already has its own polypropylene production facilities in France, the Netherlands, and the U.K., which together have an annual capacity of some 682 million lb. And it is considering a second French 220 million lb-a-year unit at Berre, near Marseilles.

Qatar will develop its offshore gas field Following a number of years of study, Qatar General Petroleum Corp. has appointed Bechtel and France's Technip to develop the large natural gas deposit that lies off the coast of Qatar in the politically troubled waters of the Arabian Gulf. Known as the North Dome, the field has proven reserves of 150 trillion cu ft. Probable reserves are pegged at twice that amount. Plans call for eventual construction of a liquefied natural gas plant with a capacity as high as 13.2 billion lb per year in which British Petroleum and Cie. Française des Pétroles will each have a 7.5% stake. Most of the recovered gas will be exported.

ICI starts novel DN A diagnostic service This week the world's first testing service that can unequivocally identify individuals from samples of body fluid or tissue opens for business. The tech­nique, referred to as "DNA fingerprinting," is used by Cellmark Diagnostics in the U.K., part of ICI Diagnostics, which in turn is wholly owned by Im­perial Chemical Industries. The method is an out­growth of fundamental genetic studies by Alec Jeffries, professor at Leicester University, which were funded by the U.K/s Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine. Cellmark claims that the test is the first that will positively prove or disprove the parentage of an individual, often a basic issue in legal disputes, particularly paternity suits. Until now, conventional tests can only disprove a direct blood relationship. It also is expected to find application in forensic sci­ence. Cellmark now is considering setting up similar testing facilities in other countries, including the U.S.

8 June 1, 1987 C&EN