I/EC
INTERNATIONAL
CHEMICAL NEWS ON A GLOBAL FRONT
B
razil, the nation which saw the rise of the commercial rubber industry, is today an area where rubber is a high-priority item. But recent develop ments in this industry are leading the way to self-sufficiency and will be an important factor in supplying the needs of several new automobile fac tories. An upward adjustment of the price of natural rubber is expected to aid development of natural rubber culture in northern Brazil. Industria de Pneumaticos Firestone S.A., of Sao Paulo, has been setting tire produc tion records and now contemplates an expansion program. A new plant inaugurated in March by Β. F. Goodrich do Brasil S.A. is turning out 700 tires daily and is using 60% raw material of Brazilian manufacture. This plant will also be expanded in 1961 according to present plans.
S
inclair Petrochemicals, Inc., has announced completion of negotiations to supply Japanese interests with ortho-xylene over a three-year period. A Sinclair affiliate will construct a new unit at Houston, Tex., to produce the ortho—xylene, and first deliveries are scheduled for the second quarter of 1961. The contract between Sinclair and four Japanese trading companies; Mitsubishi International Corp., Nissho American Corp., Ataka New York Inc., and Toyomenka, Inc.; calls for a total quantity of 66 million pounds annually. The ortho-xylene will be processed by Japan's two largest phthalic anhydride producers, Kawasaki Kasei Chemical Industries, Ltd., in Tokyo, and Japan Catalytic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., in Osaka. Increased phthalic anhydride production will go into manufacture of alkyd paints, vinyl plastics, dyes, and polyester resins.
A
nother product in short supply in Brazil is cement. Despite production totaling 3,123,704 tons in 1959, the country's tremendous building program is swallowing up all that the cement makers can produce and then some more. Approximately 30 cement plants are either in operation or getting ready to begin production in more than a dozen of Brazil's states.
J
apanese process industries, eager to increase their already—growing share of world export markets, are pouring large quantities of money into original research projects. Manufacturers are hiring large numbers of engineers and scientists with the aim of lifting Japan, already noted for high quality production, to a position equaling or exceeding that of other nations in original invention and basic research. Efforts are proving fruitful, too, as evidenced by in creasing numbers of Japanese patents, process licenses, and research award winners.
E
mery Industries, Inc., and Unilever N.V. got together to form a new jointly owned European company, Uni lever—Emery N.V. Venture is based on 50% ownership by each parent com pany, and headquarters will be located at Gouda, Holland. Plant construction is already under way, and initial plans call for an ozone-oxidation plant to convert readily available fatty materials into plasticizers for flexible vinyl products, synthetic jet engine lubricants, and chemical raw materials for various other uses. Unilever-Emery acquired an existing Dutch firm; Koninklijke Stéarine Kaarsenfabrieken "Gouda-Apollo," whose factory adjacent to the new plant site produces basic fatty acids; to supply necessary fatty feed stocks and auxiliary services for the new facility. Company also contemplates facilities for producing unique dibasic and tribasic acids to be marketed as raw materials for making surface coatings, resins, and corrosion inhibitors. VOL. 52, NO. 8
·
AUGUST 1960
17 A
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Amount,
Millions Country
of Dollars
R H O D E S I A AND NYASALAND
11.25
Loan Date A P R I L 12, 1060
Loan Agency
Product
PRIVATE
PULP AND PAPER
Plant Capacity N.A.
Rhodesian Cellulose Development Co. is proceeding with the second stage of a plan to build a pulp and paper mill at Odzi, 20 miles from Umtali. Partners in the company include Imperial Tobacco Co.; Snia Viscosa, Italian associate of Courtaulds of London; Cartiere Beniamino Donzelli, Italian paper maker; and Phillip Hill, Higginson, Erlangers, Ltd., merchant bankers. The company will be assisted during the development stage by the Federation and Southern Rhodesian governments. Included in the second phase of planning are detailed studies of both domestic and export markets, selection of the most suitable plant, preparation of specifications, and the drawing up of a comprehensive financial plan.
JAPAN
N.A.
28.0
ETHYLENE PROPYLENE
PRIVATE
62,000 T O N S / Y E A R 39,000 T O N S / Y E A R
Under a plan recently submitted to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Toa Nenryo Industrial Company plans to enter the petrochemical manufacturing field by 1962. The company will establish a petrochemical subsidiary with an initial capitalization in excess of $5 million. New plant to be located in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, will have main emphasis on production of ethylene and propylene, with some oxyalcohol production for which capacity was not announced. Plant is to be in production in early 1962. Oil to be consumed by the two proposed undertakings is estimated at approximately 330,000 tons per year.
ARGENTINA
5.6
MAY 26, 1960
STEEL
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
N.A.
Credit has been extended to Acindar Industria Argentina de Aceros S.A. for modernization and expansion of steel converting and rolling facilities at Rosario, near Buenos Aires. The loan will be used for purchase of equipment items in the United States, to include, among other items, an oxygen producing plant. The credit is repayable over a period of eight years and was issued under a $100 million line of credit authorized by Eximbank in 1958 for the development of Argentine power and industry.
18 A
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
Circle Nos. 225-1, 225-2, 225-3, 225-4 on Readers' Service Card-
