INTERNATIONAL
Germany: Sales Up, Costs Too ' T h e Big T h r e e " W e s t G e r m a n chemical c o m p a n i e s all show rising sales, but increased costs X H E BIG T H R E E " of the West German
chemical industry—BASF, Bayer, and Hoechst—all report increases in total sales for 1956. Profit figures have not been announced, b u t manufacturing costs have definitely risen.
How to keep a library in a 12-inch drawer
• Wages and salaries are higher. The amount paid out for these items was up 2 0 % at Hoechst, a n d 1 5 % at Bayer. Part of this increase results from the hiring of more employees, b u t pay scales are also up about 9 % . T h e
West Germany's Chemical "Big Three" Increased 1956 Sales You can keep a n y t h i n g from a com plete file of research reports to a 250volume library of all t h e basic litera t u r e in your field, right a t your finger tips—on microprint cards. As m a n y as 60 pages go on a single 3 χ 5 " card. Y o u r library is on t h e backs of i t s own catalog c a r d s ! You j u s t feed microprint cards into t h e K o d a g r a p h Microprint R e a d e r and read, whether for fast scanning or intent scrutiny. T h e screen is glareless green, tilted 11° because t h a t seems t o be t h e most comfortable angle. N o need t o d i m lights. Big enough so others can read along with you. Accepts cards u p t o 8 ^ χ 1 4 " size. Does this sound like t h e answer t o a library problem y o u have—or a library y o u ' d like t o αοςμπ-β?
Company Badische Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik Farbenfabriken Bayer A.G. Farbwerke Hoechst A.G. 1 DM = 24 cents
1956 Total Sales (in Million DM)
Per Cent Increase Over 1955
1498 1600 1481
10 11 16.6
• Costs for fuels, steel, raw materials, and wages have all gone u p . More coal h a d t o be imported from the U. S. Freight rates were u p for coal and crude oil. Prices of phosphate rock and pyrites—chief source of sulfur in Germany—rose too.
New Invest ment ( in Million DM) 300 230 240
Per cent Sales Exported 34.6 40 30.2
45-hour, five-day work week is becom ing standard in the West German chem ical industry. I n addition, more paid holidays are being given. German companies are quick to point out that a direct comparison of wages in Germany and t h e U. S. does n o t tell
What's available on microprint cards ? M o r e technical literature in science, the humanities, law, a n d finance b e comes available each year. F o r free condensed catalog, " W h a t ' s Avail able on Microprint C a r d s , " check box below.
r
1 EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY Graphic Reproduction Division Rochester 4 , Ν . Υ .
3 2 1 -\
Please send m e the m a t e r i a l checked: D " W h a t ' s A v a i l a b l e on Microprint C a r d s / " folder on the K o d a g r a p h Microprint Reader, a n d sample microprint card D N a m e of m y nearest dealer w h e r e I can see a Reader D N a m e s of organizations that can convert m y o w n material to microprint card f o r m
NAME-
t Glass from St.-Gobain I n France Saint-Gobain is as well known for its manufacture of glass as it is for chemicals. The new fine at its Chantereine plant produces a continuous strip 3.2 meters wide in a highly mechanized operation. T h e furnace feeding t h e line has a 1000-ton capacity; output per day runs from 200 to 250 tons. 70
C&EN
MARCH
I 8, I 9 57
•ïjff W-*«
r
H O W T H E 3 Q[LQ@°)CG@Q Κ ϋ ^ Κ Ι H I
Deliver o Hot B/osf to Co/d Jets / Get 'em into the air- fctst! B u t , complex machinery must he warmed up . . . and pumping high temperature, high pressure a i r into the jet engine melts ordinary hoses. T h e solution : A touigh, flexible hose with two inner layers of high temperature silicone rubber bon dec! to an outer cover of closely woven " D a d O n " fiber. Developed by Quaker Rubber Division. H. K. Porter Company, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., t h i s liose utilizes U N I O N CARBIDE Silicone Rubber to resist temperatures from —1-450 t o —80 deg. F . Weighing less than one pound per foot, it offers great flexibility for ease of handling, and is highly resistant to abrasion. This is another" example of how the U N I O N CARBIDE Silicones Man has taelped solve an "impossible" problem. A booklet— "Look t o UNION CARBIDE for Silicones" —describes silicone rubber and many other silicone products. Write Dept. M-33 today. Silicones Division, Union Carbide and Carton Corporation, (C^ r ^ T J l V l O N C A R B I D E 30 East 42nd Street, New York 17, N.Y. " ' T h e term "Union Carbide'^ is a registered trade-mark of U C C . In Canada : L i n d e Air P r o d u c t s Company, Division of U n i o n Carbide Canada L i m i t e d , Toronto.
INTERNATIONAL
••JiMflHH»
Kydrogenoted and Distilled F a t t y A c i d s and Stearic Acid . . . Hydrog e n a t e d Vegetable, Fish, Sperm O i l and Tall o w . . . Hydrogenated Castor O i l . - . Stearyl, Cetyl, O l e y l Alcohol . . „ S p e r m O i l s and Spermaceti . . . Behenic Acid . . . Er u c i c A c i d . . . Hydroxystearic Acid.
Chemifatsj [ that put S E U into y o u r products
W a n t to test a high-quality liquid fatty alcohol with excellent color stability, low viscosity, a n d high chemical reactivity? Write A D M for a sample of A D O L 3 2 , a straight chain unsaturated monohydric alcohol, essentially oleyl. Chemical reactive groups include one double bond a n d one hydroxy! group. This material is non-corrosive a n d soluble in a wide variety of solvents. These characteristics make ADOL 32 ideal as an emollient, a super-fatting agent, and a compound for detergents. Other possible a p p l i c a t i o n s — c h e m i c a l interm e d i a t e s , s u r f a c t a n t s , soaps, germicides, emulsifiers, resins, plasticizers, textiles, l u b r i c a t i n g o i l a d d i t i v e s , cutting oil bases and sulfonates. ADOL 3 2 , as well as thirty new fatty alcohols (many never before available), is being produced a t A D M ' s new Ashtabula, O h i o , p l a n t . W a r e h o u s e stocks a r e being maintained for immediate shipment in drums or tank cars. Be sure to keep posted b y writing for our latest Chemical Reactions Bulletin No. 907R and Specifications Bulletin N o . 9 0 8 A .
•JVl'k'çl )'^Wh::'''-Q-^':-^P'^^. Ϋ < M IN Ν Ε Α Ρ Ο L
72
C&EN
MARCH
18.
1957
t h e whole story. In Germany larger plants usually invest a considerable a m o u n t in housing for employees. Hoechst, for example, p u t u p 816 n e w dwelling units in 1956. This brings the total t o 9000, almost half of w h i c h h a v e been built since 1952. > E x p a n s i o n . A considerable effort h a s b e e n m a d e to lower costs b y mod ernizing plants. Of course, expansion still takes u p the bulk of investments. T h e s e have been high, although the biggest investor, BASF, predicts its n e w construction will b e somewhat less this year. Heavy chemicals, synthetic fibers, and titanium white pigment expansions have highlighted Bayer's 1956 expan sion program. Hoechst has h a d a n u m ber of new installations come on stream. A n e w elemental phosphorus f u r n a c e at a subsidiary plant at Knapsack, near Cologne, is already producing 80 tons per day. Hoechst's polyethylene plant c a m e on stream in 1956, as d i d its pe troleum cracking, plant. T h e company is looking more to petrochemicals for raw materials. Shortage of electric p o w e r is making it difficult to expand production of carbide—the basic raw material for much of Hoechst's organic output. • E x p o r t s . "Competition in t h e world markets is nowhere so strong as it i s in the chemical sector," says Hoecrist's president Karl Winnacker. But ex ports, which are relatively more impor tant to European than to U. S. com panies, are managing to hold their own in all three companies. Fertilizers, however, h a v e faced a difficult market situation because of the large expan sion of U. S. capacity. While exports to other highly indus trialized countries in E u r o p e will re main quite important to West G e r m a n chemical companies, Winnacker thinks his company should b e able to increase its exports in many overseas areas. D E G U S S A , a producer of rare metals and also quite strong in the chemical field, mentions in its report t h a t com petition from Eastern Bloc countries has been a problem. Methanol de rivatives—formaldehyde, paraformalde hyde, hexamethylenetetramine, and pentaerythritol—have been sold by these countries at very low prices. D E G U S S A also reports total sales in crease for 1956 b u t states t h a t profits did not keep pace. W e s t German chemical c o m p a n i e s are continuing to p u t forth large re search efforts. These, coupled w i t h continuing expansion plans, m e a n t h a t W e s t Germany is in a strong position to> hold its newly regained place a t , or near, the top of the list of E u r o p e a n chemical producers.
