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August 31, 2010 | By TONI LANGLINAIS AND VARUN RATTA A recent survey featuring 1,300 companies conducted jointly by Accenture and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) has reveals that chemical firms will have to be more deliberate if they are to meet the varied expectations of customers across regions. The survey also found that building operational excellence that enables customers to deliver the basics of product performance, quality and supply reliability is key to customer’s success.... August 27, 2010 | By PETER HSIAO By Peter Hsiao, partner with law firm Morrison & Foerster (Los Angeles), and colleagues William F. Tarantino, and Andrea L. Tozer. In a highly anticipated new development, California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) issued its draft Regulation for Safer Consumer Product Alternatives to implement its innovative Green Chemistry regulatory program. The program reflects a... August 27, 2010 | By VINCENT VALK This Week on CW: BHP Billton's quest for PotashCorp continued this week. The Australian mining giant said it would exit from potash distribution network Canpotex, a move Agrium's CEO called "crazy." Meanwhile, Brazilian mining firm Vale has ruled out a bid for PotashCorp. Sinopec reported a 75% rise in operating income, driven by Chinese... August 26, 2010 | By JIM STOPPERT Answers by Jim Stoppert, CEO Rivertop Renewables (Missoula, MT) · How fast is the renewable chemical/biomaterials sector developing? How is the overall health of the sector? o This sector got off zero with the launch of new products from Cargill Dow (NatureWorks) and DuPont in the late 90’s, but little... August 25, 2010 | By GUEST AUTHOR An article by the American Peptide Company (Sunnyvale, CA) These days, many companies facing increasing pressure, to reduce costs, risk, and time-to-market, and maximize efficiencies, have converged on a similar strategy: outsource non-core functions. This is why companies as small as start-up biotechs and as large as the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical majors, outsource peptide production... August 25, 2010 | By GIRISH MALHOTRA A ‘square plug in a round hole’ is a statement about situations that do not fit in normal life but under the right circumstances we can live with them. If this happens in a manufacturing operation, common wisdom is that money is lost on such a product/process and it would not be commercialized. However, if it happens in an operation where the money can be recovered by passing the inefficiency... August 20, 2010 | By VINCENT VALK This Week on CW: BHP Billiton has gone hostile in its $130/share bid for PotashCorp. The offer is a 32% premium over PotashCorp's average price for the month up to August 11. In another fertilizer deal involving Australia, Agrium has agreed to acquire Melbourne-based grain marketer AWB for A$1.50/share. LyondellBasell... August 13, 2010 | By VINCENT VALK This Week on CW: A variety of chemical companies saw solid earnings increases, driven by rises in volumes. Braskem, however, was not among them, as the Brazilian's firms earnings slid with the real. The company also detailed its investment plans for the U.S. and the Americas, though it does not... August 5, 2010 | By VINCENT VALK Editor's note: I'll be away on vacation tomorrow, so here's an early (if somewhat abbreviated) news round-up. This Week on CW: Earnings continued to be strong, though there were some hiccups. Dow Chemical swung to profit in the second-quarter, though earnings fell a bit short of analyst estimates. DSM... August 2, 2010 | By CARA VAN HEEST Marketing Manager, IDTechEx (Cambridge, U.K.), a market research and consulting firm There are about 3,000 organizations worldwide actively involved in the development of printed electronics. By number of organizations, Europe has the edge over the U.S., then comes Asia. However, this disguises the fact that those involved in Asia tend to be large conglomerates that can invest much more than those in the...
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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 ascott@chemweek.com
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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 epcotint@ix.netcom.com
.jpg) 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.
Basic Chemicals
John Pearson is responsible for Access Intelligence's Chemicals portfolio. In addition to managing Chemweek John's other activities include managing SRI Consulting. You can reach him at jpearson@accessintel.com
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.
 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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