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May 18, 2012 | By VINCENT VALK This Week on CW: At APIC 2012 in Kuala Lumpur, speakers and attendees discussed the positive outlook for Asia’s petrochemicals sector, calling it a bright spot in an uncertain world. ... May 16, 2012 | By ANDREAS HERDINA “Are public bodies, industry and NGOs reaching our citizens?” I will be chairing a panel at the upcoming Helsinki Chemicals Forum dedicated to this very question. My own gut feeling currently suggests the answer to be “no."... May 15, 2012 | By DEEPTI RAMESH BASF ACQUIRES EQUATEQ, A MANUFACTURER OF OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS FOR PHARMACEUTICALS BASF says it has acquired Equateq (Isle of Lewis, U.K.), a global leader in the manufacturing of highly concentrated omega-3 fatty acids. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. With this acquisition, BASF extends its portfolio of omega-3 products for the pharmaceutical and dietary supplement industries with a new... May 11, 2012 | By VINCENT VALK This Week on CW: Westlake has dropped its $1.3-billion unsolicited bid for Georgia Gulf after the rival vinyls maker refused to enter into negotiations. Ineos is considering divesting two HDPE plants in... May 8, 2012 | By DEEPTI RAMESH LONZA ON TRACK TO MEET 2012 TARGETS Lonza, in its business update announcement for the first quarter of 2012, says that the company’s business performance was in line with expectations in the quarter. Capacity utilization was at good levels across all its business units and there has been a growth in project pipelines in its key business areas, the company says. Lonza acquired biocides maker Arch... May 2, 2012 | By HENRY DELIMA by Henry DeLima, owner of DeLima Associates (McLean, VA) Consumer Product Information Database (CPID) was first introduced at the Helsinki Chemicals Forum congress in 2009. This proved to be an excellent venue to network and exchange ideas related to the use of chemicals in products and the need to disseminate product ingredient information to consumers, workers, health care professionals, researchers for... May 1, 2012 | By DEEPTI RAMESH WATSON PHARMACEUTICALS TO ACQUIRE ACTAVIS FOR $5.6 BILLION Watson Pharmaceuticals (Parsippany, NJ), a leading manufacturer of generic, branded and biologic pharmaceutical products, and privately held generic pharmaceuticals company Actavis (Zug, Switzerland) say that Watson has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Actavis for €4.25 billion ($5.6 billion). The announcement of the acquisition... April 30, 2012 | By ANNA AN, ANALYST, IHS CHEMICAL CONSULTING, SHANGHAI Chemical applications in the automotive industry were a focal point at the 26th Chinaplas exhibition on China's plastics and rubber industry, held April 18-21 in Shanghai. Many multinational chemical companies showcased newly developed products, together with car models, at the exhibition. These included the smart car by BASF, a lightweight high-performance sports car by Lotus and Evonik, and a concept car... April 27, 2012 | By VINCENT VALK This Week on CW: Diversified, commodity and industrial gases firms reported mixed earnings, but companies expect conditions to improve as the year progresses. Specialty firms reported increases in earnings, for the most part... April 27, 2012 | By CW The EPCA/UNESCO/IUPAC film "Chemistry : All About You" received worldwide acclaim and recognition ! On 17 April 2012, the film won a Gold Word Medal...
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ABOUT CHEM IDEAS
Welcome to Chem Ideas, the place for opinions and perspective on the key issues affecting the global chemicals industry. This zone features articles by Chemweek’s regular editors as well as a team of established experts with insights across the chemicals industry. If you would like to contribute a blog or opinion piece contact Alex Scott, Executive Editor/Web and Environment for Chemweek at alex.scott@ihs.com
CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT CHEMWEEK'S EDITORS
ABOUT OUR GUEST AUTHORS
Fine Chemicals / Pharma
Girish Malhotra is the president and founder of Epcot International, an international consulting firm covering chemical manufacture. Girish is an established industry figure having held senior positions at companies including ExxonMobil and Sherwin Williams. He can be reached at girish@epcotint.com
SOCMA
Lawrence D. Sloan became Socma's
President in early 2010. He says he will continue to drive up the interests of his members on issues including regulation and best business practice.
REACH
Lisa Allen is the Technical Manager of ReachReady, the Reach services body affiliated to the Chemical Industries Assocation (CIA; U.K.).
She spends much of her time addressing concerns raised by ReachReady’s customers about Reach.
Environment
Kathryn Sheridan is the founder of Sustainability Consult, providing public relations support with a sustainability focus to a number of chemical industry clients, as well as to other sectors. Sustainability Consult helps organisations develop, promote and communicate their sustainability strategies, plans and activities. ks@sustainabilityconsult.com
Rubber and Plastics
Lou Reade is a freelance journalist and expert in the rubber and plastics fields. Based in the U.K. Lou has more than a decade writing in about rubber and plastics manufacture with a wealth of experience gained while writing for the leading publications in the field in the U.K. and wider afield. Loureade@talk21.com.

EU Regulation
Giles Chappell is an attorney in the Brussels office of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP. His practice focuses on chemicals (Reach) and the CLP Regulation), electronic waste and disposal legislation (WEEE, RoHS), biocides and pesticides legislation, and the developing legal and regulatory framework for nanomaterials.
Security
Steve Roberts is an attorney who practices in the rapidly developing area of homeland security law and regulation. Steve writes and speaks frequently on the legal aspects of homeland security and counterterrorism affecting the nation’s critical infrastructure. www.chemicalsecurity.com
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