INDUSTRY

C & Ε Ν P R O G R E R E P O R T

Expansion in the Chemical Industry Here are compa

che P L A N N I N G . . ·

Company and Site Allied Chemical & D y e Corp.

Solvay Process Division Mounds ville, W . Va.

Aluminum Corp. of America Wenatchee, Wash.

Best Fertilizers Lathrop, Calif.

Davison Chemical Co . Casper, Wyo.

Dow Chemical Co. Freeport, Tex.

W. R. Grace & Co. and Pechiney Co.

Possibly Puer to Rico Mississippi Chemical Corp.

Yazoo City, Miss. Union Carbide Chemicals Co.

Putnam County, West Virginia Victor Chemical Works

Mt. Pleasant, Tenn. Wah Chang Corp.

Albany, Ore.

nies making news last month, adding to the mical process industries by . . .

Plant or Unit Vinyl chloride monomer unit

Aluminum plant expansion

Ammonia p lant

Sulfuric acid plant

Acrylonitrile plant

High purity silicon plant

Nitric acid plant

Ethyl and isopropyl alcohols, and ethylene oxide plant

Organic chemicals plant

Zirconium plant

STARTING C O N S T R U C T I O N . . . Air Reduction C o .

Calvert City, Ky.

American Enka Corp. Enka, N. C.

Atlas Powder C o . Atlas, Mo.

Callery Chemical Co. Lawrence, Kan.

Carborundum Co . Niagara Falls. X. Y. Vancouver, Wash. Shawinigan Falls, Que .

Heyden Newport Chemical Corp. Pensacola, Fla.

Heyden Newport Chemical Corp. Telogia, Fla.

Linde Co. Fontana, Calif.

Monsanto Chemical Co. Texas City, Tex.

Olin Mathieson Chemical Corp. Model City, Ν . Υ.

Shell Chemical Corp. Martinez, Calif.

Sylvania-Corning Nuclear Corp. Hicksville, Ν. Υ.

Two plants, one to make methyl butynol and pentynol; the other vinyl stéarate

Nylon plant expansion

Nitric acid and ammonium nitrate

Boron specialty chemicals plant

Silicon carbide plants

Terpene alcohol esters plant

F F grade rosin, turpentine, pine oil, and dipentene plant

Industrial gases uni t

Styrene and acetylene expansion

High energy fuels plant

Allylamines plant

Plant to make nuclear fuel elements for atomic reactors

Size

Will more than double capacity

$10 million program will bring capacity to 125,000 tons a year

100 tons a day

$2 million plant will have 200-ton-a-day ( 1 0 0 % basis) capacity

20,000 pounds a year

150 tons a day

Will boost ethylene oxide capacity 150 million pounds a year

$1.5 million

$1 million expansion will bring capacity from 400,000 to 550,-000 pounds a year

3 million pounds methyl butynol and pentynol, 2 million pounds vinyl stéarate

$5 million; to triple production of fine denier nylon textile yarns, increase total capacity 7 5 %

$4 million unit will make 250 tons a day of nitric acid

$4 million

$3.2 million program to increase combined capacity of three plants 2 5 %

Large volume of terpinyl acetate, isobornyl acetate, menthyl ace­tate, and neomenthyl acetate

Will process thousands of tons of s tump wood a month

Increase oxygen capacity to 180 tons a day

40-million-pound increase in sty­rene monomer capacity; 12-mil-lion-pound increase in acetylene capacity

$36 million

Will m a k e mono-, di-, and tri-allylamines on semicommercial basis

2 4 C'&EN A U G . 5. 1957

C & E N P R O G R E S S REPORT cont inued

STARTING P R O D U C T I O N Allied Chemical & D y e Corp.

Cleveland, Miss. American Synthetic Rubber Co.

Louisville, Ky. Koppers Co.

Arroyo, W. Va. Monsanto Chemical Co.

St. Louis, Mo. Olin Mathieson Chemical Corp.

Niagara Falls, Ν. Ύ. Phillips Pacific Chemical

Kennewick, Wash.. Scientific Design Co.

Northern New Jersey Spencer Chemical Co.

Vicksburg, Miss.

Cotton insecticides plant

Synthetic rubber plant expansion

Niacin plant; high boiling tar chemicals

Maleic anhydride

High energy fuels plant

Ammonia plant

Catalyst plant

Urea plant

$3.5 million; new capacity 69,000 long tons a year

500,000 pounds a year of niacin

10% expansion of capacity

$15 million, 200 tons a day

10,000 tons a year

NPFI Steps Up Program Fertilizer trade organization makes all-out effort to help industry develop bigger markets

JF ERTILIZER markets, though big, could be bigger. Toward this end the Na­tional Plant Food Institute is boost­ing its budget so it can expand its activities. This, of course, is in bopes of showing farmers that to use more fertilizer is the smart thing to do. It hopes it can help industry capture the vast potential market that many pre­dict for the future.

There's a good chance it will take quite a few years to develop the full potential. However, Russell Coleman, executive vice president of NPFI, is expressing no concern. He expects a steady rise in fertilizer use.

Nevertheless, NPFI 's plans to inten­sify its work seem t o indicate that things could be better. (The 1955-56 Scholl Report on Fertilizer Use shows a 2 .3% total tonnage drop from the previous year. ) Feeling is that farmers need to be educated to the profits of increased fertilizer use.

The fertilizer market is big; its poten­tial is greater. NPFI's stepped-up pro­gram is modeled to go after it by:

• Broadening and strengthening fer­tilizer research through increased grants to universities and colleges.

• Initiating a farm demonstration program in cooperation with state and federal agencies.

• Getting out to farmers in a better way results from research and demon­stration projects.

NPFI places great emphasis on the

first, saying the program will be built around land grant scliools.

Actually most aspects of the program are not new to NPFI. Yet, to help carry it out, the institute will set up four regional offices—"extension arms" —and appoint a naanager and-other per­sonnel to man each. This is new to the group. Three offices will most likely be in Chicago, San Francisco, and Atlanta. In any event, the regional offices ΛνύΤ be located so NPFI can

m

reach all major farm sectors of tbe U. S. more easily.

Other new aspects could be adopted as the program begins to roll. This would depend on a survey NPFI is hav­ing made—a market study on why farmers do or do not use fertilizer.

NPFI says the study will guide it to do a more effective job. For instance, if the survey shows that a need exists for better understanding between bank­ers and farmers on proper use of credit, then NPFI would work to bring about that understanding.

Things like credit and many other factors influence fertilizer growth. Take the soil bank. Coleman says i t has taken out 10% of the crops tha t use the bulk of fertilizer. NPFI, registered as a lobby organization, will keep its

ÊSliP mSStè

ëoftifl

llo'hftl i/Uffl

•Ρ» pÉP^blÉ

Blta

jpwA

1ÊÊÈM

WWÊ

ni l

pi ÏRBI ̂ É^S^^SIS

ïllllllitl mW&ÈÊ Ë^H| l^^^^s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^S

NPFI Moves to I Ensure Upward Trend X^

BHHHHHHHHBBB SËl

ï jÉ|

m 2 6 C & E N A U G . 5, 1957