July 1999 Pump Industry Analyst

from different sources, will guarantee the physical quality of the natural gas passing through it. The project itself will be run by Tractehel Engi- neering, working in co-opera- tion with its Thai subsidiary, PRO-EN Technologies Ltd.

M E R G E R TALKS END FOR

CHEVRON, TEXACO

Chevron Corp has confirmed that Texaco has terminated discussions about a possible business combination.

Ken Derr, Chevron chair- man and CEO, expressed sur- prise that the Texaco board turned down what he described as a very competi- tive offer. Derr said Chevron would continue to evaluate attractive acquisition opportu- nities that would benefit Chevron shareholders.

ROHM AND HAAS, STOCKHAUSEN

FORM JV Rohm and Haas Company of Philadelphia, USA and Stockhausen of Krefeld, Ger- many, intend to form a glob- al partnership for the manu- facture of acrylic acid.

The 50-50 joint venture will be fully operational by the end of 2000, with combined manufacturing capacity of 330 000 metric tons per year. Rohrn and Haas will also acquire Stockhausen's mer- chant monomer business in Europe.

Lawrence Wilson, Rohm and Haas chairman and CEO, said the venture with Stock- hausen would give the US company an excellent source of acrylic acid in Europe and strengthen its global monomer supply network, supporting the growth of its US$2.4 billion acrylic product portfolio.

Under the planned venture, Rohm and Haas will contribute 165 000 metric tons of its Deer Park, Texas, acrylic acid man- ufacturing capacity. Stock- hausen will contribute 90 000 metric tons of existing acrylic acid capacity in Marl, Ger- many, where an additional 75 000 metric tons of capacity, presently under construction, will come on-stream before the end of 2000.

Together, the two compa- nies plan to add more than 100 000 metric tons of new acrylic acid capacity at Marl before the end of 2003. In addition, Rohm and Haas will build a world-scale butyl acrylate plant there so that it can make acrylic acid esters for its European network of acrylic polymer plants, as well as for the merchant market.

LILLY CLOSES 3 US PLANTS

Industrial coatings and spe- cialty chemical products manufacturer Lilly Indus- tries Inc plans to shut three satellite manufacturing facil- ities located in Dothan, Alabama; Paulsboro, New Jersey; and Woodbridge, Connecticut.

Robert Taylor, Lilly's pres- ident and COO, said that the closures represent the cornpa- ny's ongoing programme to increase operating efficiency and capacity utilisation. Manu- facturing will be relocated to various Lilly facilities over the next year, with full closure of these satellite-manufacturing plants by the middle of next year.

KEMIRA INVESTS IN JORDAN

Finnish chemical company Kemira and the Jordan- based Arab Potash Company are to invest ~90 million in a potassium nitrate and dical- cium phosphate production plant in Aqaba, Jordan.

The joint venture will use leading edge ion exchange technology developed by the Danish subsidiary of Kemira Agro. The company will pro- duce 150 000 tonnes of potas- sium nitrate and 75 000 tonnes of dicalcium phosphate under licence. The products will be marketed through Kemira's global distribution network.

The Jordanian joint ven- ture will be finished in 2001. This investment continues Kernira's strategy of expand- ing outside Europe. It also widens the Kernira Agro spe-

I

cial fertilisers business. Invest- : rnents in China and Malaysia

will also increase Kemira Agro's special NPK fertiliser production.

SOUTH AFRICAN COMPANIES SIGN

HYDROGEN AGREEMENT

Air Products South Africa (Pty) Limited will design, engineer, supply and install a new hydrogen plant at Sasol Chemical Industries Limit- ed's (SCI) Sasol site in South Africa.

SCI will operate and main- tain the plant. The hydrogen produced will be supplied to a number of customers via pipeline and tube trailers. The two companies are investing more than Rd20 million in the project, which will expand Air Products' existing high purity hydrogen supply and pipeline network in the Vaal Triangle region. The hydrogen plant uses pressure swing adsorption technology to produce hydro- gen at purity greater than 99.999 per cent by volume.

BASF COATINGS DOUBLES MEXICAN

PRODUCTION The annual output of auto- motive OEM coatings at BASF Coatings' Tultitlfin site

in Mexico is to increase from 7500 to about 15 000 metric tons by the year 2003.

This will be achieved through a number of technical and organisational measures that will halve the current lead times in some production processes. The company will invest several million US dol- lars in more efficient produc- tion equipment, including dis- solvers, grinding mills, mixing vessels and closed vessels for small batches. This will help BASF reach higher quality standards and ensure improved environmental protection.

WORLD SHIPBUILDING

FACES OVER-CAPACITY

A meeting in Paris of the OECD's Council Working Party on Shipbuilding has found that the world ship- building industry is in crisis, with prices plummeting and future demand likely to remain weak for some years.

Over-capacity in the ship- building industry is expected to grow reflecting increased productivity, new facilities and the conversion of naval shipyards to commercial pro- duction. The growing partici- pation in shipbuilding by emerging nations such as China is adding to the market imbalance.

The meeting participants agreed on the need fbr urgent action to improve market trans- parency through improved infor- mation and analysis of supply and demand. They also agreed on the need to enhance partici- pation of shipbuilding countries that are not currently members of the Working Party, including OECD members such as Aus- tralia and Turkey and non- OECD countries such as China, Croatia, India, Brazil and Chi- nese Taipei.

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