U.K. Slower Economy to Hurt Petchems
Many European chemical companies will report reduced cash flows during the next few quarters, because of deteriorating macroeconomic conditions in the European chemical industry ahead of an expected downturn in the petrochemical sector in... Ineos Declares Force Majeure on PE and PP at Strike-Hit U.K. Site
Ineos has declared force majeure on deliveries of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), and polypropylene (PP) after a strike closed the company’s Grangemouth, U.K. refining and petrochemical complex last week... HCL Supply to be Consumed Close to Production
Supply of hydrochloric acid (HCl) in Europe is expected to increase by more than 330,000 m.t. between 2007 and 2010, according to a recently released report by consulting firm Harriman Chemsult (London). “Because of the logistical costs of transporting... Innospec’s Net Income Up
Innospec reported net income up 22%, to $7.3 million ($0.30/share), on sales up 16%, to $168.7 million. Included in company results are goodwill impairment and a restructuring charge, which reduced net income by $1.4 million ($0.06/share), compared with... Perstorp Starts Work to Double Caprolactone Capacity
Perstorp says it has begun work to double caprolactone capacity at Warrington, U.K... More Stories » SWEDEN Brenntag Buys Two Yara Facilities
Brenntag says it has agreed to acquire Yara International’s nitrogen chemical distribution and production facilities at... Perstorp to Acquire Rhodia, Lyondell Isocyanate Units
Perstorp says it has entered into exclusive negotiations to buy the isocyanates businesses of Lyondell and Rhodia. The deal includes Rhodia’s aliphatic isocyanates operations, which produces a range of... Akzo to Cut Jobs at U.K. Coatings Plant
Akzo Nobel says it will cut up to 109 jobs at its Darwen, U.K. industrial finishes plant. Akzo says it carried out a review of the site, and decided the plant was “no longer cost effective.” The company says it has proposed to... Brussels Clears Ineos’s Purchase of Hydro Polymers
Ineos says it has received unconditional clearance from the European Commission for the company’s purchase of Norsk Hydro’s petrochemical business, comprising mainly polyvinyl chloride and related assets in Norway, Sweden, and the U.K. The deal... European Commission Clears Ineos's Acquisition of Hydro Polymers
Ineos Capital says it has today received unconditional clearance from the European Commission for the purchase of the Hydro Polymers polyvinyl chloride and related businesses in Norway, Sweden and the U.K. from Norsk Hydro (Oslo). The acquisition was agreed... More Stories » FINLAND Nordic Capital to Buy CPS Color Group from Industri Kapital
Private equity firm Industri Kapital (Stockholm) says it has agreed to sell CPS Color Group (Vantaa, Finland), a global supplier of advanced tinting systems, to private equity firm Nordic Capital Fund VI (Stockholm). Financial terms were not... R&H Completes Emulsions Purchase
Rohm and Haas (R&H) says it has completed its acquisition of Finndisp (Hanko, Finland), the water-based emulsions business of Oy Forcit (Hanko), for approximately €60... Kemira Forms a Separate Coatings Board
Kemira says it will appoint a separate board of directors for the company’s Kemira Coatings subsidiary, to emphasize the “independent nature” of the business. The board will have some external members, Kemira says. Meanwhile, the company... … Plans Phosphate Rock Expansion in Finland
Kemira GrowHow, a subsidiary of Yara, says it is planning a phased expansion of the company’s Siilinjarvi, Finland phosphate rock mine and is studying the possibility of... Kemira Announces Restructuring Initiative
Kemira has announced a restructuring plan to improve its profitability. The plan includes aligning its pulp and paper and water treatment... More Stories » DENMARK Borealis's First Quarter Earnings Rise
Borealis reported first-quarter net income up 15%, to €130 million ($202 million), on sales up 15%, to €1.7 billion. Operating profits rose 8%, to €137 million. Growth in the polyolefin target markets of infrastructure, automotive, and advanced... Borealis Fourth-Quarter Net Income Falls
Garrett: Challenging conditions ahead. Borealis says that fourth-quarter 2007 net income fell 42%, to €58 million, on sales up 13%... Symrise to Acquire Chr. Hansen’s Flavor Division
Symrise says it has agreed to acquire Chr. Hansen’s flavor business. Financial terms were undisclosed, but the deal will be “Symrise’s biggest acquisition to date,” the company says. The divested flavor business was about €50... Borealis Names New Board; Launches Base Chemicals Business
Borealis has announced a new executive board and launched its previously announced base chemicals business group. Mark Garrett became CEO and chairman of the board on January 1, replacing John Taylor, who has retired. Garrett is joined by long-time Borealis... Arkema Buys Repsol’s PMMA Business
Arkema plans to acquire Repsol YPF’s polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) sheet and block business for an undisclosed amount. The business has production at... More Stories » NETHERLANDS AkzoNobel’s Earnings Fall on Soft U.S. Decorative Coatings Market
AkzoNobel reported first-quarter net income from continuing operations down 4%, to €136 million ($210 million), excluding €151 million in charges mostly related to its ICI acquisition, which closed January 2. Sales rose 1%, to €3.5 billion. A “soft”... Akzo Launches New Brand
AkzoNobel has launched its new corporate brand following the company’s acquisition of ICI in January. Akzo says it decided to keep its name unchanged and, as previously announced, drop the ICI corporate name. Akzo says its name... DSM Profits Up on Higher Volumes and Selling Prices
DSM reported net income up 27%, to €162 million ($252 million), on sales up 10%, to €2.4 billion. Operating profits rose 23%, to 237 million. Selling price increases were “more than sufficient” to offset about a €50-million jump in feedstock and... Akzo Raises ICI Savings Target; Discontinues ICI Name
Wijers: Paint brand names will remain. Akzo Nobel has increased its estimate for annualized cost savings from its acquisition of ICI by 20%, to €340 million ($532 million). Akzo closed the ICI deal on January 2. “This breaks down as €180... LyondellBasell Industries: Building a Global Petchem Giant
Basell’s acquisition of Lyondell Chemical last December creates a global petrochemical giant, filling out product and regional gaps of the two companies. The combined company, which has been renamed LyondellBasell Industries (Rotterdam, the... More Stories » BELGIUM Brenntag Buys Two Yara Facilities
Brenntag says it has agreed to acquire Yara International’s nitrogen chemical distribution and production facilities at... Agrium Buys Majority of Distributor
Agrium says it has agreed to acquire a 70% stake in fertilizer distributor Common Market Fertilizers (CMF; Brussels) for $16 million, plus working capital of approximately $50 million. The deal is expected to... EU Consumer Group Aims to Ban Certain Colorants
European consumer rights group BEUC (Brussels) and 41 public interest groups from across the European Union (EU) are calling on the European Commission to ban six food colorants on the grounds that the substances cause hyperactivity in some children. The six... Solvay Launches Bid to Buy Innogenetics
Solvay Pharmaceuticals says it plans to make a conditional tender offer to acquire the biotech company Innogenetics (Gent, Belgium) in a cash transaction valued at €5.75/share. Solvay initially entered into an R&D co-operation with Innogenetics in... ... Addresses Competitiveness Issues Related to Emissions Trading
Officials from the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP), a European Union (EU) body, have embarked on a scheme to identify which energy-intensive industries in the EU might need “protection” from the financial impact of recently announced... More Stories » GERMANY AkzoNobel to Buy Silica Sol Unit; Organic Peroxide Lines
AkzoNobel says it has signed two agreements to acquire specialty chemical businesses in Europe and Asia. Akzo says its Eka Chemicals pulp and paper chemicals business has agreed to buy H.C. Starck’s silica... Solar Market Sizzles
The total energy output of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells sold around the world in 2007 increased 51% to 3,733 megawatts (Mw) according to independent research group the Worldwatch Institute (Washington, DC) in conjunction with solar energy research group... Wacker Chemie Elects CEO as Chairman
Wacker Chemie has elected outgoing president and CEO Peter-Alexander Wacker as chairman... Evonik Closes Rütgers Divestment
Evonik Industries says it has completed the divestment of its Rütgers Chemicals (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany) subsidiary to private... Industrial Biotechnology: Aiming to Compete on Price and Performance
The higher cost of agricultural commodities is prompting a slew of chemical companies to develop the next-generation of biomaterials, also known as white or industrial biotech, to secure sustainable margins. These firms, including Archer Daniels Midland... More Stories » FRANCE Total Posts Big Fall in First-Quarter Chemicals Earnings; Raw Material Cost Increases Impact Rhodia
Total has announced a 43% fall in first-quarter net earnings at its chemicals business compared with the year-ago period, to €158 million. Sales increased 5%, to €5.2 billion. Net profits at Total's base chemicals operation, consisting mainly of... Rhodia: Re-Energized and Ready for the Next Phase
Rhodia (Paris) is in the final stages of a recovery program—a strict regime of portfolio rationalization, profitability enhancement, and refinancing—that rescued the company from financial meltdown. Rhodia almost crumbled four years ago under the... Energy Issues Raise Concerns
Energy issues were among the key topics raised by executives at the European chlor-alkali industry group Euro Chlor’s Seventh International Chlorine Technology Conference and Exhibition, held April 15-17 at Lyon, France. The European industry is... Arkema Subsidiary to Buy SNF’s Activated Carbon Business
Ceca, an Arkema subsidiary, has offered to buy SNF Floerger’s (Andrézieux, France) activated carbon... Energy Issues Dominate Euro Chlor Event
Energy issues were among the key topics raised in presentations as well as informal discussions at European chlor-alkali industry group Euro Chlor’s Seventh International Chlorine Technology Conference and Exhibition held this week at Lyon, France. The... More Stories » SPAIN Dow Plugs into Concentrated Solar Power Sector
Dow Chemical says its Performance Fluids business has secured three major deals selling thousands of tonnes of its heat transfer fluid Dowtherm A for use in concentrated solar power (CSP) plants in Spain. Financial terms were not disclosed. Two CSP plants at... La Seda and Indorama DrivePTA-PET Consolidation in Europe
The restructuring of Europe’s purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) industries shifted up a gear in December with the announcement of two major acquisitions. La Seda de Barcelona agreed last month to acquire PTA producer...
Israel Chemicals Buys Henkel's Water Treatment Business
Israel Chemicals (ICL) says it has agreed to buy all of Henkel's industrial water treatment business for €60 million ($89 million). The acquired business will become part of ICL's performance products segment, giving the segment annual revenues of... La Seda Agrees to Acquire Interquisa
La Seda de Barcelona has agreed to acquire Chemical Intercontinental (Interquisa) from Compania Espanola de Petroleos (Cepsa; Madrid) in a deal that values Interquisa at €595 million including working capital. La Seda is funding the deal by issuing new... Kemira Closes Coagulants Deal
Kemira says it has completed the purchase of Arkema’s coagulants business for water treatment (CW, March 28, p... More Stories » ITALY Dr. Reddy’s Buys Italian Marketing firm
Pharmaceutical firm Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (Hyderabad, India) says that it has acquired Jet Generici Srl (Italy), a marketer of generic finished dosage forms. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition provides access to an... Arkema to Buy SNF’s Activated Carbon Business
Arkema subsidiary CECA has offered to buy SNF Floerger’s activated carbon and regeneration business (Legnago, Italy). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. SNF’s activated carbon business generates sales of about €4 million/year ($6.4 million). The... Azelis Maintains Fast Track
Azelis is one of the recent success stories of the European chemical distribution sector. The company was formed in 2001 through a private equity-backed merger of two small distributors, one based in France and the other in Italy. Azelis has since expanded... Tecnimont Signs Silicon Deal with Italian Firm
Maire Tecnimont says it has signed a contract with Silfab (Padua, Italy), a private-sector company, to build a 5,000-m.t./year, solar-grade silicon plant... Arkema Buys Repsol’s PMMA Business
Arkema plans to acquire Repsol YPF’s polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) sheet and block business for an undisclosed amount. The business has production at... More Stories » SWITZERLAND Lonza and Biotech Firm Settle Legal Dispute
Lonza (Basel, Switzerland) says it has settled a legal dispute with biotechnology company Northwest Biotherapeutics (Bethesda, MD) involving Lonza’s GS Gene Expression System. All claims and counterclaims between the companies are to be dismissed, based... Clariant, Ciba First-Quarter Earnings Fall
Swiss chemical companies reported a decline in first-quarter income, mainly because of unfavorable currency exchange rates and economic slowdowns. Clariant’s net income from continuing operations fell 52%, to SF41 million ($39 million), on down 2%, to SF2.1... Syngenta Expects a Big Rise in Sales
Syngenta says its financial performance for the first quarter of this year exceeded expectations and that preliminary sales for the period... Akzo Unveils Plans for Remote-Controlled Chlorine Plants
Akzo Nobel unveiled plans yesterday to operate small-scale chlorine production units at customers’ plants in Europe, via remote control. Engineering and construction firm Uhde (Dortmund, Germany) will construct the plants, and Uhdenora (Milan) will supply... Clariant Announces Board Appointments; Chairman Steps Down
Clariant says its board will propose to elect Dominik Koechlin, Hariolf Kottmann, and Carlo Soave to the board, at the company’s annual meeting on April 10. Clariant, meanwhile, plans to appoint Jürg Witmer chairman and Rudolf Wehrli vice... More Stories » AUSTRIA BASF Expands in Construction
BASF has acquired the business activities of construction chemical firm BCD Rohstoffe für Bauchemie (Klosterneuburg, Austria). BCD supplies polymer dispersions... M&A and Price Hikes Lift Lenzing's 2007 Earnings
Lenzing reported full-year 2007 net income up 33%, to €117.6 million ($187 million), on sales up 21%, to €1.26... BASF Expands Construction Chemicals Business
BASF has acquired the business activities of construction chemicals company BCD Rohstoffe fur Bauchemie (Klosterneuburg, Austria). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. BCD supplies polymer dispersions primarily for cement-based coating systems, and... Tronox, Exxaro to Expand TiO2
Tronox and Exxaro Resources (Pretoria, South Africa) say that their boards have approved a previously announced project to expand... Lenzing' s Profits Rise
Lenzing reported full-year 2007 preliminary net income up 33%, to €117.6 million ($183.8 million), on sales... More Stories »
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