http://www.chemweek.com/blog CW's Blog: Provoking thoughts and comments on chemical industry issues Thu, 01 May 2008 09:52:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en by Harrie Camps, Program Manager Reach/Sabic Europe It is important to focus on the broader opportunities created by the European Union's (EU) registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (Reach) program, rather than linger on its challenges, and this is what we have been doing at Sabic. We believe that the EU ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2008/02/20/sabic-and-reach-sharing-our-future/ Discussions at the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA; Dubai) second annual forum, held this week in Dubai, illustrate that it is no longer accurate to tag the Mideast as an emerging or developing region, at least when it comes to petrochemicals. Mideast operations now define the world-scale standard in ethylene ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2007/12/13/gpca-2007-mideast-matures/ The Second Annual Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Forum has attracted more than 750 delegates, a big increase on the 450 delegates who attended the first meeting, says GPCA chairman Mohamed Al-Mady, who is also vice chairman and CEO of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC). “I am proud of ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2007/12/13/gpca-2007-forum-attracts-large-turnout/ The rapidly emerging petrochemical industries of China, India, and the Middle East are on course to become the world’s biggest in terms of overall capacity, Mukesh D. Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries told attendees in Wednesday's opening keynote speech at the second Annual Gulf ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2007/12/13/gpca-2007-a-new-petchem-silk-route/ Private equity buyers have conducted about 80% of the M&A in the distribution sector in the last year, Marc Fermont of DistriConsult told attendees at the National Association of Chemical Distributors' (Arlington, VA) annual meeting, held this week at Fajardo, P.R. There are both positive and negative implications of this ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/29/new-type-of-driver-takes-the-distribution-wheel/ CW website's ‘Quote of the Day’ today illustrates an alarming state of affairs regarding the counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals. The quote, "These guys have got some balls," was made by a spokesman for China’s State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) on criminals who set up a fake version of the drug ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/16/counterfeit-pharmaceuticals-these-guys-have-got-some-balls/ Leading industry executives are lining up to support the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign of Republican Mitt Romney, according to a review of contributions filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC; Washington). Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and co-founder of private equity firm Bain Capital, has an impressive roster of ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/16/a-chemical-candidate/ The ongoing credit crunch has put the brakes on large chemical M&A deals. Activity has slowed after a frenzied spring and early summer that saw $1-billion-plus deals frequently surface. Investment banks still need to place $200 billion-$300 billion in leveraged buyout (LBO) financing that was committed before credit markets froze ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/07/ma-in-the-middle/ Chemical makers continue to struggle with high and volatile feedstock costs as third-quarter earnings reports demonstrate. Forecasts that energy and feedstock costs would moderate in the second half have not materialized as crude oil, propane, and ethane continue to notch up to new record highs. Conditions overall are solid but producers ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2007/10/31/facing-the-feedstock-challenge/ Join Chemical Week as it returns to New Orleans for the 13th Annual Chemical Transportation, Distribution and Security Conference – the only event dedicated to supply chain, distribution, security and logistics within the chemical industry. This year’s conference tackles a slew of urgent new issues in transportation, distribution, and security that ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2007/10/30/chemical-week-returns-to-new-orleans-for-13th-annual-transportation-distribution-security-conference-2008/ Chemical Engineering announced today the release of its new beta website. The completely retooled site and online information service will provide up-to-the-minute news and in-depth technical expertise from Chemical Engineering’s global team of chemical engineers, CPI professionals and journalists. “The new che.com site simply capitalizes on Web-based technology ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2007/10/24/chemical-processing-industry-information-now-more-accessible/ Third-quarter earnings reports this week promise to show how well chemical makers are coping with the slowdown in U.S. manufacturing and with surging energy and feedstock costs. Census Bureau data shows that U.S. exports, aided by a weakening dollar, are picking up the slack in U.S. demand. Domestic exports of chemicals ... http://www.chemweek.com/blog/index.php/2007/10/22/offsetting-us-weakness/