News of the Week which represents about 25% of its total capacity, was necessary because of weakness in the nylon carpet area and is an effort to stop inventory buildup. A company representative says that demand in July was soft, and this softness was continuing into August. A huge decline in housing starts in July also played a part in the decision. The company, however, has not given up on carpet nylon. Forecasters at Monsanto say that the situation is expected to improve in September. And they still feel that demand for carpet nylon will be up about 10% this year over 1980 levels. The closing of the Monsanto facilities will affect about 200 workers, although none are expected to be laid off. Instead, they will be transferred to jobs in other areas of the two plants, or will take vacation or unpaid leave, and their benefits will be continued. The situation at Monsanto is not unusual in today's fiber industry. Other companies say that they also have cut back on carpet nylon production. Akzona, for instance, has cut back production 20 to 25%. Other companies are suspected of doing the same. Industry observers see the cutback as a positive sign rather than bad news. A spokesman for one producer says it now appears that companies would rather cut capacity than cut prices to sell excess product as has been done in the past. The cutting of prices, especially during the laggard summer months, has been one of the chief troubles for fiber profits in past years. The problems of carpet nylon are not so great as the capacity cutbacks may indicate. Nylon demand generally was better in the first half of this year than it was in the same period of 1980. Total shipments of nylon fiber
First-half fibers shipments up generally, but some are down Shipments, millions of lb
Acetate Rayon Total cellulosics Polyester Nylon Acrylic, modacrylic Olefin, vinyon Total noncellulosics Grand total
First-half 1981
% change from 1980
142.7 233.9 376.6
-11.5 -2.0 -5.8
2110.7 1278.5 372.6 401.8 4163.6
5.6 10.6 -9.5 8.8 5.8
4540.2
4.7
Source: Textile Economics Bureau
6
C&EN Aug. 24, 1981
through the first six months of 1981 were 1.28 billion lb, an increase of 10.6% over last year. Shipments of nylon staple, most of which goes into carpets, totaled 436 million lb in the first half, an increase of 36.3% over first-half 1980, and shipments of nylon carpet filament totaled 396 million lb, up 10.5% from last year's levels. However, for the past few months, shipments have been drifting downward. For instance, June total nylon shipments were off 2.6% from May, and staple shipments were down 1.3% and carpet filament was off 6.1%. Meanwhile, inventories have been building, but they are nowhere near unmanageable. Inventories for most fibers are still below a four-week supply at current demand levels. •
FDA approves drug to treat heart arrhythmia The Food & Drug Administration has approved use of the calcium antagonist drug verapamil to treat abnormal heart rhythms. The drug will be marketed by Knoll Pharmaceutical Co., Whippany, N.J., and G. D. Searle & Co., Skokie, 111. Approval of a drug of this type will give doctors an alternative to jS-andrenergic blocking agents, which cannot be used for patients with such other conditions as asthma. Calcium antagonists work by inhibiting calcium transport through cell membranes, stopping unwanted electrical stimulation, decreasing oxygen demand in the heart, and restoring normal rhythm. Verapamil also relaxes coronary artery and peripheral blood vessel walls. Outside the U.S., the drug is approved for treatment of angina and hypertension in addition to abnormal heart rhythms. The two firms already have begun marketing an injectable form for hospital use. A Knoll spokesman estimates this drug market currently is valued at $10 million per year. The oral form, which the two companies will introduce later for patient use outside hospitals for arrhythmia, will compete in a market worth $125 million to $150 million annually. FDA could approve verapamil to treat angina as early as March or April 1982. The drug is effective not only with angina caused by atherosclerosis but with the type caused by spasms of coronary arteries. The total value of drugs used for angina in the U.S. exceeds $200 million. The Knoll
spokesman says the firm will not be ready to file a new drug application for hypertension for another two years. Verapamil is made in the U.S. by Knoll, which sells it to Searle for that company's own formulation under a marketing agreement between the two (C&EN, Sept. 29,1980, page 31). The parent company, Knoll, of Ludwigshafen, West Germany, a subsidiary of BASF, developed the drug 20 years ago. •
Ethanol projects to get federal loan guarantees The Department of Energy will provide loan guarantees to 11 companies for construction of facilities to produce ethanol. The product is expected to be used primarily as a blender and octane booster for gasoline, says James G. Stearns, director of DOE's Office of Alcohol Fuels, but it may be used also as an industrial chemical or feedstock. The 11 firms were selected from a group of 57 proposals submitted to DOE in October 1980 under provisions of the Energy Security Act. Loan guarantees totaling $813 million can be made, or three times the funds actually set aside by the act. Awards will support up to 90% of the construction costs of the ethanol plants but cannot be used to cover the costs for building roads, water development, or other ancillary expenses. Most of the recipients are newly formed partnerships, Stearns says, and none have asked for the maximum loan coverage. The final loan guarantees are conditional on the companies' meeting financial and technical criteria set by DOE. "We have chosen those projects having the best chance of making it under the law," Stearns says. "We have to show that the builder can produce ethanol for a profit. If one of these projects cannot pay back its loans, it would make private financing of future plants for this industry very hard," he says. Total production from the proposed plants is expected to be 365 million gal of denatured ethanol per year, more than triple current U.S. output of 150 million gal, according to DOE. Most of the projects will produce ethanol from corn, but one plans to use sugarcane as a raw material. Estimated completion time for the facilities ranges from 12 to 32 months from the time the loan guarantees are made. •
