Air Products appears to see big things in small packages, again. After a brisk exit from the North American packaged gases sector in 2002, it is seeking a grand reentrance via a hostile takeover of Airgas (p. 6). Air Products says that a strategic review...
Chemical makers have returned to profit and volumes are starting to turn positive again, but a look at volume trends makes clear that recovery still has a long way to go. Double-digit volume gains year-over-year are being seen in Asia and Latin America, but...
Chemical makers this year face regulatory or legislative action on each of industry’s top priorities—climate, energy, a rework of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), chemical plant security, and railroad competition (CW, Jan. 11, p. 21)...
All indications point to continued recovery this year, led by China. Producers are optimistic that the gradual demand improvement since second-quarter 2009 can be sustained in the new year. Forecasts call for global chemical output to increase 4.6% this year...
CW’s cover story this week surveys the stories and trends that had the biggest impact on industry over the past 10 years ( p. 20). The overarching trend was globalization, which advanced rapidly despite two recessions and fears of backlash against...
While the region may not be entirely immune from the global recession, the Mideast continues to advance its position as the world’s export hub for petrochemicals. A decade ago, Mideast imports and exports of...
This week’s cover story features climate change, and showcases varying opinions about the approach that the chemical industry and the world’s leading politicians should take going into next month’s climate change summit in Copenhagen (p...
In-depth interviews with senior executives at AkzoNobel, BASF, Dow Chemical, DuPont, and Shell Chemical, combined with the findings of a survey undertaken jointly by CW and CSC (Falls Church, VA), a business solutions and IT provider, show that the complexity...
BASF, with chemical sales of $58.3 billion, again tops CW’s fifteenth annual Billion-Dollar Club ranking of the largest chemical companies in the world by revenue (p. 23). Less than $1 billion separates the top three players this year with ExxonMobil...
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