INDUSTRY bile mining plant is minique. T h e plant can be shifted neaar the producing area, reducing cost of jpipe and other items,** says Bill On oxf Newgulf* assistant general manager who had overall supervision of the? mobile plant construction. • Competition Sets I n . "The sulfur industry centered in Texas and Louisiana faces competitionftnomforeign producers for the first time," Nelson declares. This opinion bias been voiced earlier (C&EN, Aug. 1, 1955, page 3 1 5 2 ) , but only recently have American producers admitted! it openly. Mexican producers aare bidding now in the U. S. market, because there is no tariff on sulfur. And they have the advantage of being able to use foreign flag ships, which have lower rates than American flag ships,, according to Nelson. Freeport slashed the? price on export Texas Gulf Sulphur floats two barge-mounted units down to Mexico to open up its Sulfur from $31 to $2S> a ton f.a.s. sevNopalapa deposit. The company has spent more than $8 million in Mexico already eral months ago, leaving a differential between the f.o.b. mine price of only $1.50 per ton. In the trade circles they're saying these temporary price* reductions are likely to stay in effect: until sales are readjusted among the various producers. Even so, some Aonerican compaTexas Gulf Sulphur floats two barge-mounted units nies like Jefferson L a t e haven't offered lower prices. But it "-will mean lower to Mexico; sulfur will soon flow from N o p a l a p a profits from loss of eqport sales. "Many buyers of smilfur in the forORLD-'S MAJOR SULFUR PRODUCER, production. This move has caused a eign markets are takung advantage of Texas Gulf Sulphur, will soon start stampede south of the border, with the lower price, and a s a result, sales of your company will "fee off and profits mining sulfur on the Isthmus of Te- Texas Gulf now joining the race. huantepec, operating through its Mexi"Texas Gulf has expended over $8 will necessarily be down during the can subsidiary, Compania Exploradora million in Mexico," Nelson says. The second quarter," says Jefferson Lake's del Istmo, S. A. company's deposit is located near the president, Eugene HE. Walet, in his Two barge-mounted units, making Coachapa River, from which the com- first (1956) quarterly- report to stockWalet also indicates that up a self-contained sulfur-producing pany dredged a canal tp the plant site holders. plant, have just arrived in Mexico and for water transportation of personnel, shortage of cargo space available for will be used to mine the Nopalapa de- equipment, supplies, and future pro- sulfur and high freight rates increase the difficulty toward mutually satisfacposit, says Fred M. Nelson, company duction. president. It will be the first time Through this canal and river, Texas tory transactions in tfcie export market. On June 5, the (Louisiana) House Texas Gulf has used the Frasch proc- Gulf's mine is only 25 miles from the ess outside of Texas, where it has plants Free Port of Mexico, regular port of Ways and Means Cootimittee approved at Newgulf, Beaumont, and Moss Bluff. call for many ocean-going vessels. and sent to the floor o>f the House a tax The barges were built along the Nelson points out that these facilities bill that would triple Xouisiana's sulfur Houston Ship Channel by Todd Ship- will enable his company to ship by severance tax. The committee voted 15 to four for House Bill 671, which yards, engineered and outfitted by barge and effect savings. Brown & Root, and finally tested at The Free Port of Mexico (on the proposes to raise the tax from $1.03 a Texas G u l f s Moss Bluff plant on the Gulf) connects with Salinas Cruz (on ton to $3. Alternate measures for raisTrinity River. G&H Towing moved the Pacific Coast) by a 150-mile rail- ing the tax to $1.40 and $ 2 were dethe barges 800 miles from Galveston to way line. Rail movements will elimi- feated 12 to seven and 1 3 to six, reMexico i n five days. nate Panama Canal charges on ship- spectively. Gov. Earl K. Long per• Stampede to Mexico. Three other ments to all ports on the Pacific Ocean. sonally appeared before the House companies are now producing sizable Texas Gulf will get its fuel oil from panel to push the 3j>3 bill and beat quantities of sulfur for world markets the Minatitlan refinery, located on the down the alternate proposals for lower on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec: Pan Coachapa River about half way be- taxes. If the bill goes through both the American, Mexican Gulf, and Gulf tween the mine and the port. "Natural Sulphur (C&EN, May 14, page 2412). gas, in sufficient quantities for our pur- House and Senate a n d is approved by To encourage development of natural poses, may soon be available from the voters next November in the genresources, the Mexican government has fields in the adjoining state of Tabasco," eral elections, profits from Louisiana domes will drop. granted tax exemptions, applicable to Nelson indicated. sulfur producers during early years of ^More Mexican Sulfur. Seymour Company engineers believe their mo-
TGS Goes South of the Border
3246
C&EN
JULY
2.
1956
INDUSTRY Schwartz, president of S. Schwartz & Associates (sulfur consultants), was recently quoted as saying: "Sulfur production in Mexico has been growing like a house afire, although 1954 output was only 86,000 tons compared with about 6 million tons in the United States." Last year Mexican production skyrocketed to more than 500,000 tons. **Mexican output is expected to reach at least 825,000 tons by the end of this year," says Harry C. Webb, president of Pan American. Exports from Mexico may reach 450,000 tons this year and 650,000 tons in 1957, Webb indicates. Meanwhile U. S. imports from Mexico are increasing at a rapid rate, according to Schwartz. He says imports will probably go to 150,000 tons this year, compared with 31,000 tons in 1955. "I wouldn't be surprised to see American imports reach 300,000 tons by 1957 and 500,000 tons by 1958," Schwartz says.
Carbide Takes Low Route Two plants to make low pressure polyethylene are scheduled for completion next year by Union Carbide. The plants, located at Institute, W. Va., and Seadrift, Tex., will have a combined rated annual capacity of 55 million pounds. The new facilities will be equipped to produce polyethylene by a number of new techniques, using not only the Ziegler and Phillips low pressure proc-
esses (Carbide has licensed b o t h ) , but also using its o w n process improvements for olefin polymerization. The unit at Institute is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 1957. The Seadrift unit will b e in production just a few months later. The n e w facilities are being built and will be operated by Carbide & Carbon, and sales will b e handled through Bakelite.
^Turco Products/ in a joint research and development effort with North American A v i a t i o n , has established a complete pilot line for chemical milling of steel and titanium. This pilot plan is similar to o n e installed by Turco for the Chern-Milling of aluminttm (C&EN, Aug. 2, 1954, page 3 0 5 1 ) . It duplicates actual production-line conditions. • Watts Mfg., Ronceverte, W . Va., manufacturer of lab test* equipment, and American Tung Mills, Florala, Ala., producer of tung oil and meal, will receive loans from the Small Business Administration. • Air Products, Allentown, Pa., has recently been appointed sole agent in the U. S. for the products of International Electrolytic Plant Co., Sandycroft, Chester, England. Air Products will market and service the British concern's electrolytic cells and related equipment as a supplement to its own
line. International Llectrolytic's installations use the Knowles mercury cathode electrolytic cell to produce hydrogen and oxygen or hydrogem, chlorine, and caustic soda of high purity. • General Electric says that work on designing the 180,000 kw. Dresden Station atomic power plant for Commonwealth Edison about 5 0 miles southwest of Chicago is "on schedule" despite many engineering problems which. remain to be solved. • American Cyanamid's rubber chemical department is in pilot plant production of a new delayed action accelerator. Called Dibs Accelerator, i t was specifically developed to encounter the high processing temperatures built up during mixing and extruding of super abrasion furnace black stocks. Dibs Accelerator is 2v*,N-diisopropyl "benzothiazole-2-sulfenamide. Its melting range is 131° to 139° F. • A. O. Smith Corp. is now offering a service to help in solving corrosion and other problems through glass coating. Where feasible, it will use its furnace facilities at Milwaukee, Kankakee* and Cleveland for coating and firing customers' products. >Olin Mathieson is realigning sales management responsibilities in its industrial chemicals division. Kenneth C. Grazier has been appointed manager of general products sales department; field sales activities will be under the direction of Derek Richardson an
