Chemical Industry Weekly News Round-Up, Dec. 9

This Week on CW:

Output growth in German chemical industry is expected to slow to 1% during 2012, according to industry association VCI (Frankfurt). The slowdown was widely predicated and related to the EU debt crisis.

DuPont cut its fourth-quarter earnings outlook to a range of 29-37 cts/share on lower demand and inventory destocking by customers. Destocking has been influenced by weakening demand in consumer electronics, and continued softness in construction. Meanwhile, 3M affirmed its full-year 2011 guidance and said it expects earnings of $6.25-$6.50/share in 2012, which would represent a 6% year-on-year increase.

The U.S. FDA will decide by next year whether to restrict bisephenol A (BPA) in food packaging. The decision came in a settlment with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC; Washington), an environmental group. ACC called the settlement a “non-event.”

Dow Chemical is planning to expand cellulosic production capacity in Asia. The company produces several cellulose ether grades, and the expansion will focus on construction grade applications.

Around the Web:

A Bloomberg poll found that investors have growing confidence in the U.S. economy, in Business Week.

EU leaders have agreed on a treaty deal to, hopefully, save the euro, though a blogger in Reuters is skeptical.

A U.S. federal panel says that the government should pay more attention to concern about the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, in The Wall Street Journal.