2Q 2002, sales of Lifebuoy soap werehigher by 30.3%, Fair & Lovely by21.5%, Liril by 12.4%, Lux by 14.5%and Surf by 10.4%. Fair & Lovelyhas grown to be a Rup 5 bn brandsince 1970s besides Rup 2 bn byway of exports. HLL expects itsAyush range of herbal products,which has 5 products at present, tobecome a major brand like Fair &Lovely. The company proposes togrow in the herbal segment throughorganic growth and the acquisitionroutes. The company is alsoexploring the possibilities of exportsfor Ayush range of products and hasalready registered for exports in 20countries. The herbal segmentaccounts for about 25% of the Rup100 bn market for personal careproducts.

Business Line, 23 Jul 2002, 9 (203), 4

Lion estimate 5% climb in fiscal 2002interim group operating profit

For the six months ending Jun 2002,Lion Corp is forecasting aconsolidated operating profit of Yen2.2 bn, compared with an earlierforecast of Yen 1.5 bn. The firm hasseen a 15% rise in sales by volume ofits mainline domestic detergents,helping sales for the period to reachYen 144 bn. For the full year, a groupoperating profit of Yen 8 bn isexpected, up 27%, on sales of Yen309.5 bn.

Nikkei Net, 3 Jul 2002 (Website:http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/)

COMPANYNEWS

Algeria detergents: Henkel closes deal

Chelgoum Laid, Algeria’s state-owneddetergent production facilities, havebeen acquired by Henkel ENADAlgerie. The acquisition formed partof the deal for the formation of HenkelENAD Algerie, a 60:40 joint venturebetween Henkel and ENAD. It will bethe company’s third production facilityin Algeria. Sales by Henkel ENADAlgerie exceed €100 M/y.

European Chemical News, 10 Jun 2002, 76 (2009), 6

European Commission merger control:Johnson ProfessionalHoldings/DiverseyLever

European Commission decisionadopted on 4 Mar 2002. The decisionclears the acquisition by the US firmJohnson Professional Holdings Inc ofthe Dutch firm DiverseyLever, theworldwide industrial and institutionalcleaning and hygiene products arm ofthe Unilever group. The Commission’sscrutiny of the case showed that thecompanies’ activities were essentiallycomplementary and that, where theyoverlapped, there would still besufficient competition. (Full text).

Bulletin of the European Union, 17 Jun 2002, (3)(Website:http://europa.eu.int/abc/doc/off/bull/en/welcome.htm)

Dow sells former Ascot unit tomanagement

Dow Chemical has sold theWorkington, UK, operation of DowHaltermann Custom Processing to amanagement buyout team, which hasnamed the operation PentagonChemical Specialties. The DowHaltermann biocide and surfactantoperations at Billingham, UK, havealso gone to Pentagon. Pentagon isto expand its custom manufacturingand merchant sales. Customersectors include flavours andfragrances, oilfield services, paperand drugs.

Chemical Week, 26 Jun 2002, 164 (26), 16

Chemical industry in Yugoslavia.Privatisation of 3 washing detergentsmanufacturers. Production continuesto fall

The government in Yugoslaviaintends to privatise 3 large state-owned detergent and toiletriesmanufacturers, but so far only minorinterest has been shown by domesticand foreign investors. One of thesecompanies is detergent and toiletriesplant Himijska Industrija Nevena inLeskovac (Serbia) with 70% of capitalup for sale estimated to be worth €8.2M. Nevena has around 750employees and is the third-largestmanufacturer of soaps, detergents,cosmetics and toothpaste inYugoslavia. The article invites tenders(address given) until 6 Sep 2002. Thesecond company up for sale (68.33%

of capital worth €12 M) is HemijskaIndustrija Merima in Krusevac. Thecompany primarily manufacturesdetergents, cleaning agents andsoaps, and a small range ofcosmetics. Detailed productioncapacities are listed. The thirdcompany is DP Slavica-Parafarm inSubotica, with a 70% stake up forsale worth only €615,427. Thecompany manufactures decorativecosmetics such as lipstick and eyeshadow, haircare products, toiletries,household cleaning agents anddisinfectants.

Nachrichten fuer Aussenhandel, 9 Jul 2002, 65 (129),5 (in German)

Unilever closes Toronto plant

Unilever NV announced in March thatit will close a plant in Toronto,Canada, that makes powderedlaundry detergent and shift productionto other North American plants. Thecompany has closed a total of threelaundry-detergent plants in the lastfew years; the others were in LosAngeles and St Louis.

Unilever said that the Toronto planthad excess capacity and wasconfigured to produce powdereddetergent in a market that isincreasingly moving toward liquidlaundry detergent.

Inform, Jul 2002, (582)

Unilever creates distribution networkwith Prologis

Unilever is to collaborate with Prologisin setting up a distribution network inthe US for Unilever Home andPersonal Care products. The networkwill take 3 years to establish and willcomprise 5 regional distributioncentres in Georgia, Pennsylvania,Texas, Illinois, and California.Unilever currently has 15 smallcentres in N America. The newnetwork will make it possible forUnilever to serve all its N Americancustomers within 1 day, whichrepresents a 15% improvement inefficiency compared with the presentsystem. It will also save Unilever 7%of total transport costs. Prologis willinvest over $200 M in the new network.

Het Financieele Dagblad, 17 Jul 2002. (Website:http://www.fd.nl/) (in Dutch)

SEPTEMBER 2002 7

F O C U S O N S U R FA C T A N T S