I/EC POINTING
Forecast THE E D I T O R I A L
F I N G E R AT T O M O R R O W ' S
Isocyanate Costs Are Down Development of urethane plastics and their markets (page 1383) will skyrocket as raw material prices come down. Latest to hit the headlines is Mobay Chemical Co., announcing substantial mid-August price cuts. Large quan tity shipments of Mondur-S isocyanate went from $1.23 to 85^ per pound, Multron R-2 poly ester from 85έ to 54p. Prices of other isocyanates were also cut. T o push the use of urethanes in adhesives and paints, an additional 1 5 % "service" reduction on Mondur-C isocyanate is offered to paint and adhesive manufacturers who formulate and market finished products in corporating this material.
Premium Plus in Gasoline The octane race brought about by newer auto motive engine designs is generally leading to a higher premium grade of gasoline, although some companies are objecting to throwing out the twograde concept. T o satisfy the increased demand, Aurora Gasoline (Detroit) recently placed the first commercial "Rexforming" unit in opera tion. Based on Universal Oil Products' designs, the process involves a special extraction tower where the low-octane, high-boiling paraffins are separated by solvent extraction. T h e unit pro duces a 410 ° F. end point product, which tests 98 octane unleaded, and over 102 octane with 3 ml. of T E L per gallon.
Chemical Ambassadors The chemical industry is coming up with its equivalent of Fulbright Awards as a weapon against communism. American Latex Products' C. M. Christie feels that American industry is its own best advertisement, and advocates bringing young men from Denmark for a 2-year working tour at the Hawthorne (Calif.) plant.
Ways to Beat "Help Wanted" While technical personnel recruiting problems are old news, some large corporations are be ginning to develop methods to solve the head aches. Olin Mathieson thinks the answer may be found in streamlining recruiting tactics. Rather than having each division conduct its own talent hunt, O M recruits on a corporate basis in the fall instead of waiting until spring.
PROGRES
Evaluation of a year's program shows favorable results. Another approach to alleviating tech nical manpower shortages is being offered by Monsanto in a 6-month-old program of taking nonchemists for technical sales and teaching them the product's chemistry and history. This frees technically trained people for technical positions.
Polyethylene —You Take the High Pressure and I'll Take the Low Industry focus on high- and low-pressure poly ethylene indicates that each has a place and will be on the scene for some time. Spencer Chem ical recently announced the first commercial production of a high density polyethylene from a high-pressure process (page 119A), which it expects to fill the gap between conventional highand low-pressure polyethylenes. Spencer's in troduction of the new resin closely follows their announced plans to use Indiana Standard's process for polyethylene and polypropylene at low pressure.
Food Makers Watch Bug Killers Food processors are paying increasing attention to farmers' pesticide practices. While many major producers, especially those in the baby foods' line, have recommended or required specific applications in the past, lately there's been a growing tendency foi the smaller proc essors to do so, and for larger companies to take an ever stronger hand. Ag chemical people feel that processors have generally been fair, although slow to adopt new practices in the past, partly due to lack of trained technical personnel.
More Synthetic Fibers In Industrial Uses Yearly Did you realize that industrial uses are consum ing more than a third of all man-made fibers? An authoritative industry source estimates the figure at almost 4 0 % in 1955. This is up from 2 7 % in 1949 and overshadows the 1954 drop-off, due in part to the decreased use of high-tenacity rayon. As new synthetic textile fibers are announced (Dow's Zefran, for instance) chemical industry is watching, from both a manufacturing and an end-use view, what it hopes will be increasing industrial applications. VOL. 48, NO. 9
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SEPTEMBER 1956
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