BEHIND THE MARKETS ^
=*=
HARRY
STENERSON
I m p o r t a n t shifts are t a k i n g p l a c e i n textile fiber c o n s u m p t i o n . . . More a d e q u a t e w a x s u p p l y i n s i g h t . . . P e n i c i l l i n processes p u s h e d to l i m i t . . . S a l e s b a s e f o r s t r e p t o m y c i n s e t a t 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 E. Coll u n i t s INABILITY of some textile branches to return to normal may have a further adverse effect on the movement of dyes, solvents, and bleaching and other finishing agents. Contrary to predictions, cotton yarn shipments did not improve after the turn of the year although a very large civilian demand is accumulating. Cotton spinners, squeezed between rising raw cotton and yarn ceilings, are seeking price relief a s a means of restoring the normal flow of cotton goods. H e a v y consumer requirements at the same time are unsatisfied in worsted yarn, and prices also are the bottleneck in this industry. Worsted spinners are unwilling t o pay quotations prevailing on domestic wool, and operations are almost wholly conducted at present with foreign wool types. Shifts of major importance to dye and chemical suppliers meanwhile appear to be taking place in fiber consumption, and in dyeing and finishing technology. Rayon Organon shows that while cotton accounted for 7 3 % of the four-fiber world total in both 1939 and 1940 (cotton, rayon, wool, a n d silk), it had dropped to 7 1 % in 1942 chiefly as the result of increased rayon production. Cotton, notwithstanding, returned to the 7 3 % figure in 1944 when a sharp decline took place in rayon production. Rayon9s
Share 13 Per
Cent
Rayon's share in the four-fiber total in 1939-40 was 13%. T h i s had been increased t o 1 5 % in 1941, a percentage it held until 1944 when rayon returned to its 1939 level. Wool production at the same time has maintained its relative position at 13 to 14% of the total over the entire 1939-44 period. Synthetic fibers and fabrics m u s t now be expected to make their influence felt in textile markets as research and production resume o n a broad front. T h e positions of cotton and wool in the total consuming picture m a y n o t be affected for a year or two, however, owing to t h e almost famine conditions in textiles which will take several years t o satisfy fully. At the recent meeting of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists in New York, attention was called to one development alone which is displacing cotton in tires, one of its former important outlets. The viscose industry effected a remarkable increase i n its production of strong, tough yarns during t h e war for making tire cord, cargo chutes, tapes, and other i t e m s . T h e peacetime applications for these highstrength yarns will include women's VOLUME
2 4,
NO.
2
hosiery, upholstery, carpet backings, linings, garments for rough wear, lightweight luggage, and various industrial fabrics. Important advances likewise have taken place in rayon staple, and in the dyeing and finishing of rayon fabrics. At the same gathering it was stated that from tests of many types of fabrics it can be concluded that no flammability hazard is offered by either wool, silk, nylon, Vinyon, or Velon fabrics. Certain coated materials, however, while slow to ignite, burn with a violent flame and thereby offer a definite fire hazard. Future
of Tire
Yarn
Before another group this month, the American Association of Textile Technologists, the tire yarn sales manager for Du Pont said he expected that the tire industry would consume ail of the hightenacity rayon yarn produced in the next two years. I t will absorb present output of 195,000,000 lb. for some years to come; certainly wrould consume more if it were available. Viscose filament and cupra production during 1945 was placed at 432,000,000 lb. For tire use, shipments were 195,000,000 lb., leaving 237,000,000 for textile uses. In dyestufïs there is a need for diversification of manufacture to meet a far more complex demand than existed before the war, although spokesmen for the industry continue to stress gains in volume. From 120,190,000 lb. in 1939, dye production rose to 152,000,000 lb. during the war year 1944, but the increase was wholly accounted for by military colors. Output probably remained around this level in 1945. Recent
Dye
Research
Cotton as well as synthetic fabrics may benefit from recent dyestuffs development. Under the new D a n River Mills pigment dyeing process lower grades of cotton may be given complete uniformity of shade on general utility fabrics, according to its spo r ^- T h e process also avoids uneven dy~.> ^ of naps", which has been one of the serious difficulties in using conventional dyeing methods. Chemists also are learning more about the effects of dyes on cotton fabrics. Before the Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists speakers revealed the results of research which indicate that the resistance of such fabiics to weathering is increased when dyed with certain types of dyestuffs. In general, naphthol-dyed fabrics deteriorate more rapidly than undyed bleached fabrics.
JANUARY
2 5,
1946
Cloth dyed with sulfur, light-fast direct, and diazotized and developed type dyestuffs resist deterioration more than undyed fabric. Vat dyed cloth is only equal to; or slightly more resistant in this respect than, undyed fabrics. Earlier this month in New York, some 60 manufacturers revealed the extent of textile research by displaying dress fabrics which withstand tests for color fastness, shrinkage in wash hi j and cleaning, and crease resistance. Garments were also shown made up of Du Pont's rainproof nylon, National Carbon's Krene, B . F. Goodrich's Koroseal, A. M. Tenney's Teca, U. S. Rubber's Lastex, Celanese's Fortisan, American Viscose's Vinyon, and Tennessee Eastman's Koda. Chemical
Markets
The price situation in chemicals and related products is still characterized by stability, even for import items. Quicksilver came down SI per flask to a range of about $109 to $114, depending on quantity, and a reductior of 5£ lb. took place in benzyl acetate to 55jf lb. Various descriptions of carnauba wax were lowered about 10£ lb., while castor beans, another Brazilian commodity, were advanced $4 per long ton to S100 at Brazilian ports. Price trends in nearly all heavy tonnage chemicals are quite firm. The carnauba wax market is still full of uncertainties. N o . 1 yellow recently was quoted by leading importers at SI.60 lb. against the previous price of SI.70, and similar reductions were represented in the price of SI.25 for N o . 3 North Country, and S 1.20 for Chalky wax. In other importing quarters it was believed that N o . 1 Yellow might be obtained at S 1.55 or S 1.50, and in view of the forward shipments negotiated with Brazilians for March-April arrival some look for an adequate supply of wax around that time to take care of consumer needs. ΟΡΑ removed ceilings in time to prevent a serious disruption in the carnauba situation, some believe, al though it is still far from normal. Another industry, naval stores, is antici pating the imposition of a price ceiling for gum turpentine. At Savannah, opinion favors a maximum of 83 1 / 2 ^ gal. for gum spirits, f.o.b., still or bulk storage (the market price at this writing) ; also a fixed markup for dealers in producing areas of 1£ gal. in tank cars or bulk storage. Indus trial demand for both rosin and turpentine has subsided somewhat, but export inquiry is active. Offerings of rosin at Savannah are being taken "at the ceilings". Penicillin
Still
Short
With penicillin once more under alloca tion and cinchona remaining a.subject of 277
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278
THE
regulation, the supply situation in both drugs is still far from satisfactory. Penicillin was placed under the terms of Conservation Order M-300 at the start of the month because of unrelaxed demand for export, the armed services, U. S. Public Health Services, civilian hospitals, and numerous other domestic outlets. Penicillin reached the production peak of 647 billion units in June 1945, and after leveling off somewhat from July onward, was reported to have expanded again to 700 billion units in December. In this, a better quality of grain for corn steep liquor was a factor and production will probably b e kept at high levels for an indefinite period. Capacity of present facilities is around &00 billion units a month (C&EN, Vol. 23, No. 24). Canada and Great Britain meanwhile are hardly able t o make penioillin to meet their own needs, and the great bulk of world demand has fallen upon the American industry. Hospitals in some instances here are said to be poorly supplied and shipments to such institutions at times are but one half to one third of actual orders. Increased knowledge of penicillin therapy, methods of application, a severe winter, have all contributed t o the current large requirements of the biotic. The price situation at the same time is very stable, quotations for large quantities t o distributors remaining at 550 per 100,000 Oxford units and ranging up to 95£ for smaller lots. Streptomycin
Sales
Unit
Production techniques are making headway in streptomycin, the other mold product which is proving valuable in the treatment of certain gram-negative infections for which penicillin and the sulfas are not effective. One of the foremost fermentation chemical producers currently is turning out streptomycin' from a pilot plant, which added to the production of others active in this field, is supplying sufficient quantities for much wider use by Army, Navy, and civilian physicians. Medical authorities are finding streptomycin particularly effective in treating tuberculous meningitis. It is being experimented with in the treatment of various other infections and diseases which have been baffling science. Streptomycin is being provided in small bottles of 100,000 E. Coli units each. I t is dried with equipment similar to that used for penicillin, and an almost pure white product is being obtained. Cinchona
Developments
Cinchona plantation projeots in British India promise t o add a new supply source for this material and for quinine in the future, the Commerce Department learned recently. Cinchona acreage has been substantially increased in Bengal and Madras. On the other hand the federally sponsored
CHEMICAL
MARKETS program to develop a cinchona industry in parts of Latin America appears to be running into trouble. The Oil, Paint & Drug Reporter says that the plan to provide a readily available supply of bark for the production of quinine and other alkaloids may be thrown overboard as the result of government plans to cut war expenses. Further funds to finance a 25-year cinchona cultivation project in Costa Rica probably will be withheld by the Recon* struction Finance Corp. Definite news meanwhile is lacking with regard to resumption of cinchona and quinine production in the Netherlands East Indies. During the first seven months of 1945, United States imports of cinchona amounted to only 4,536,255 lb., compared with 14,054,194 lb. during the same time in 1944. A factor in this sharp drop was a substantial reduction in shipments from Colombia.
Who Makes
It?
The following chemicals are wanted by the National Registry of Rare Chemicals, Armour Research Foundation, 33rd, Federal, and Dearborn Sts., Chicago 16, Π1. l-Nitro-8-naphthal«ne sulfonic acid Benzanthrone Nitrogen chlorophosphide Dichloracetaldehyde Piperilene (cis and trans) L3-Hexadiene Hirudin 3-Methoxybenzoic acid Strychnidine 1-Hydroxyphenazine 2-Mercaptobenziminazol Vinyl cyclopropane 3,3-Di (p-acetoxyphenyl)indoline Hexamethylene diisocyanate Boroethane Borobutane 1 - Mercaptoanthraquinone-2- carboxylic acid Hexaphenyl ethane 1,1,12-Tetraphenyl ethane Methyl glyoxal Abrine jS-Diethylamino ethyl diphenyl acetate hydrochloride Tetraline peroxide Dimethallyl ether Pyocyanin Diphenyl tin dichloride Methyl phenyl tin dichloride Alkyl chloroformâtes (π-butyl or higher) Androsterone Aspergillic acid Pyocyanase 2.2 '-Azonaphthalene 0-Methyl isourea Eleostearic acid l-Penten-4-yne 3-Methyl-l-butyne Propyne Aluminum aminoacetate Chlorellin Quinic acid Canavalin Boron phosphate Benzhydrol Ethylene thiourea Nitrogen trifluoride Sulfur hexafluoride 9-l?henyl-5,6-benzoisoalloxazine
AND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
