Business

Owens-Corning: boom for reinforced plastics The next five years will bring major growth for reinforced plastics, par­ticularly in automotive applications, according to ever-optimistic Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., a major producer of sheet molding com­pounds and other thermoset com­posites. A renewed surge would be quite a relief, since reinforced plastics have idled with no new growth since 1978.

Although 1980 saw total con­sumption of reinforced plastics drop some 18% (C&EN, Feb. 23, page 17), Owens-Corning says current and emerging composites technology will bring renewed growth. The firm is in the midst of a two-year "SMC 1982" program to upgrade glass-fiber-rein­forced sheet molding compound technology for the automotive in­dustry. The "rib-sink" problem causing surface imperfections virtu­ally is solved, the company says, and the achievement of "Class A" surface finishes, comparable to sheet steel, is within reach.

William P. Jenks, manager of Owens-Corning's transportation materials division, predicts that consumption of thermoset compos­ites for auto and truck body panels and other exterior parts will more than double over the next five years, rising from 80 million lb in 1981 to 170 million lb in 1985. That represents a compound annual growth rate of 20.7%.

Of 1981's 80 million lb, truck body panels and components will account for 57.1 million lb, or 70%. By 1985, truck use will have grown to 83.1 million lb (a 9.8% compound growth rate), or 49% of the total. During the same period, use in passenger autos will nearly quadruple, from 22.9 mil­lion lb in 1981 to 86.6 million lb in 1985.

Grill opening panels, at 43.9 million lb, will represent more than half the 1981 use of thermoset composites, Jenks says. That application will continue to grow, at an 11% growth rate, to 58.9 million lb in 1985, or 35% of the total. However, Owens-Corning believes that the really big increases in applications will be in exterior body panels.

"By 1985, hoods, now using just 3.1 million lb, should increase to 30 mil­lion lb and represent almost 18% of thermosets used," Jenks says. "Doors in 1985 also will reach 30 million lb and deck lids will grow to almost 6 million lb." D

CHECKOFF MERGERS •Ashland Oil—Sells its one-third interest in Carbon Black Espanola S.A. of San Roque, Spain, to Continental Carbon Co., which already holds one-third interest in the Spanish company. The remaining partner is Compania Espanola de Petro-leos S.A.

•Borden—Sells adhesives-pro-ducing Mystik tape division for about $18 million to Chemical Investors Inc. of Indianapolis. Mystik's 1981 sales are forecast at $35 million.

•Great Lakes Chemical—E/M Lubricants subsidiary has bought for cash Penn Dixon Co. subsid­iary of Dixon Industries Corp. of Bristol, R.L Penn Dixon is solid-film lubricant and custom-coat­ings applicator with facilities at Sharon Hill, Pa., Atlanta, and Westboro, Mass.

• NL Industries—Completes purchase of Sun Co.'s oil field services subsidiary, Sperry-Sun, of Stafford, Tex., for $252.3 mil­lion in cash. Already strong in oil field services, NL Industries now enters rapidly growing directional drilling market. In 1980, Sperry-Sun had sales of about $100 mil­lion and net income of more than $10 million.

• N o r t h American Philips— Agrees in principle to sell Philips Roxane subsidiary of St. Joseph, Mo., to Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd. of Ridgefield, Conn., the U.S. arm of Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH of West Germany. Philips Roxane pro­duces biologicals and drugs for animal health market. Proposed divestment follows North Amer­ican Philips' decision two months ago to divest more than half its total chemical operations (C&EN, March 2, page 7).

• P Q Corp.—Purchases Nyacol Inc. of Ashland, Mass., producer of silica sols. Terms undis­closed.

• S u n Co.—Considers disposing of its Corpus Christi, Tex., oil refinery and related petrochem­ical plant. Facility has crude oil capacity of about 60,000 bbl per

day and additional feedstock ca­pacity of 15,000 bbl per day. Its output is about 50% gasoline with the rest largely in light fuels and petrochemicals. Petrochemical capacity is 11,000 bbl per day of cumene, ρ-xylene, ο-xylene, and various specialties.

•Tenneco—Sells its polyvinyl chloride calendering and printing plant at Bound Brook, N.J., to Nobel Plastics, subsidiary of Dynamit Nobel of America, Northvale, N.J.

• Union Carbide—Agrees in principle to sell its blood analyzer equipment and reagents business to Baker Diagnostics, Bethlehem, Pa., division of newly renamed Richardson-Vicks. Closing of transaction is expected in sec­ond-quarter 1981.

• U . S . Filter—Merges with Kentucky Bitulithic II Inc., sub­sidiary of Ashland Oil, after ap­proval by U.S. Filter stockhold­ers. Each share of U.S. Filter common stock—other than shares already owned by Ken­tucky Bitulithic Inc., Ashland Oil subsidiary, and shares of prefer­ence stock owned by Flick of West Germany—was converted into right to receive $33 in cash. Kentucky Bitulithic II is now sole holder of U.S. Filter common stock.

• U . S . Steel—After re-entering negotiations, makes definitive agreement to sell about 28% of its coal reserves to Standard Oil (Ohio) for about $700 million.

•Vels ico l Chemical—North­west Industries unit reaches preliminary agreement to sell its flame retardant business and El Dorado, Ark., plant to Great Lakes Chemical for about $30 million. El Dorado plant is Vel-sicol's only nonagricultural chemical plant and is last prin­cipal asset derived from its merger with Michigan Chemical Corp. in 1977. Velsicol also will lease its research center in Ann Arbor, Mich., to Great Lakes Chemical.

•Witco Chemical—Agrees in principle to sell two spray-drying facilities for producing laundry detergents in Chicago and Pat-erson, N.J., to Purex Industries of Lakewood, Calif. Payment is undisclosed sum of cash.

16 C&EN May 25, 1981