Events in Africa, South America, and U.S. Threaten Upset for World Copper Industry
Dr. Robert J. Williams Computers will help marketing
millions of customers through many communication vehicles, and often speaks in a "muffled voice through noisy public media." These differences create special problems. In planning consumer marketing actions, an enormous number of alternatives must be considered. A perception of the market place is blurred by the size and diversity of the market and the market is subject to many interacting variables. And there is a considerable delay before the effect of a marketing action is visible. But these are precisely the kinds of problems, Dr. Williams goes on, which the computer expert recognizes as being "just his dish of tea." In the few scattered instances where computers have been brought to bear on these general problems, encouraging successes have been achieved, he adds. For example, computers have proved useful in helping select an advertising media plan for a consumer product. The number of media schedules which can be contrived involving all of the possible combinations of advertising vehicles is very large. Without some kind of mechanical assistance the marketing man can't hope to consider all the possibilities. Computers are also helpful in describing the complex environment in which consumer products are traded. Although only a handful of marketing organizations are presently using such a system, Dr. Williams feels certain that their advantages will shortly be more widely realized and used by marketing executives.
The outcome of events in Africa, South America, and the U.S. could change the outlook for the world's copper industry. The political turmoil resulting from Rhodesia's declaration of independence from Great Britain has cast doubts on the continuation of copper exports from that nation's northern neighbor Zambia, one of the major copper-producing countries in the world. In Chile, strikes continue at three U.S.-owned copper mines. Production is thus being curtailed in a country which ranks second only to the U.S. in copper output. Adding to these uncertainties, officials in Washington, D.C., are scrutinizing the 2 cent-per-pound price hike in copper, which took place earlier this month. Because of the aluminum industry's price hike (and then a rescission under government pressure), copper experts are keeping a close watch on U.S. government actions. Zambia, which turns out about 16% of the Free World's copper, produced nearly 710,000 tons in 1964. This copper travels by rail through Rhodesia to the African coast. The Rhodesian government says it will not hamper the flow of copper
Imports—Mainly from South America—Play Prime Role In U.S. Copper Picture 1000 short tons 1964
U.S. consumption of copper
1682
Copper produced from domestic ores Imports
1250 583
Imports Came From: North America
125
South America
371
Europe Asia
6.5 10.9
Africa: Rhodesia & Zambia
19
Republic of South Africa
43
Other African sources
5
Source: Bureau of Mines, American Bureau of Metal Statistics
across its borders on the way to the coast. But fear of such an action persists. Airlift. In anticipation of rail interruptions, a 1000-mile airlift from the Zambian copper belt to East African ports is to be demonstrated next month. Zambian copper mining companies are financing the demonstration. A Lockheed Hercules turboprop will fly a 25-ton payload of copper from Zambia to the coast and return a similar payload of heavy commercial cargo. That air transport would even be considered for such a cargo is a clear indication of the world's dependence on Zambia's copper. The shadow cast by the political changes in Rhodesia may well reach across the oceans to the U.S. While the U.S. imports little in the way of copper from Africa—some 67,000 tons in 1964—the U.S. is a net importer of copper and depends heavily on imports. Most U.S. copper imports come from Chile, some 254,000 tons in 1964. With three mines struck in that country, Zambia's copper becomes critical to the U.S. as well as to other countries. As tight supplies grow tighter, copper prices are being pushed up. Earlier this year, Chile increased the foreign price of copper to 36 cents per pound, then last month raised it to 38 cents. Domestic producers, except Kennecott, matched this price. Despite Kennecott's silence, the 38cent level seems to be holding. For how long, though, may depend on the Federal Government. The threat to sell stockpiled aluminum was used successfully by the Government to balk the price rise in aluminum (C&EN, Nov. 15, page 25). However, this tool is lacking in the copper situation. The Government has a stockpile of 810,000 tons of copper. Only 35,000 tons of this is considered surplus; the balance is to be kept on hand in case of a national emergency. This amount, if released by the Government, would not be enough to check the price rise. But the Government's arsenal of economic weapons may hold a club equally as effective as selling surplus material. NOV.
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Atlantic, Richfield Clear Merger Hurdle
filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles after the merger is completed. The settlement is conditional upon:
Cities Service and Sinclair Oil have agreed to shed their controlling in terest in Richfield Oil. The Justice Department, in turn, has given its blessing for Atlantic Refining to ac quire Richfield (C&EN, Sept. 27, page 27). The quid pro quo arrangement be tween the companies and the Justice Department provides the way for set tling an antitrust suit started against Cities Service and Sinclair more than three years ago. Legally, the agree ment will take the form of a consent decree ending the suit. It is to be
• Consummation of the merger. • Cities Service and Sinclair fully divesting themselves of their AtlanticRichfield holdings in seven years. (Under the merger plan, Cities Serv ice and Sinclair would each exchange their 30% interest in Richfield for a convertible preferred Atlantic stock.) • Cities Service and Sinclair voting their stock in line with the recom mendations of Atlantic's management. • No officer or employee of Cities Service or Sinclair serving as director or officer of Atlantic.
In the three-year-old suit, Justice charged Cities Service and Sinclair with agreeing not to compete with Richfield or each other in six western states in violation of the Sherman Act. The complaint also charged that Rich field agreed not to compete with Cit ies Service or Sinclair in other areas. In the view of Attorney General Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, the dives titure agreement, if consummated, will promote competition. He says the settlement makes it more likely that Sinclair and Cities Service will enter the West Coast market for petro leum products and that Atlantic will enter the Midwest market. For Atlantic Refining, the settle ment means that it is on the way to clearing one of the biggest obstacles in its climb to annual sales of $1 billion. (Atlantic's sales last year were $636.3 million and Richfield's were $398.9 million. ) Atlantic has already cleared some of the other hurdles. Directors of both companies and the Securities and Exchange Commission have approved the plan; and Atlantic has completed its audit of Richfield's assets. Still to come are Internal Rev enue Service approval and the Dec. 30 stockholder vote.
Diamond Enters Aluminum Plating
Olin Starts up Lake Charles Ammonia Plant Olin Mathieson's big 1400 ton-per-day anhydrous ammonia plant at Lake Charles, La., started operating last week. Fifty-four tank cars were lined up on a railroad siding to symbolize the quantity that can be produced there in a single day. Olin's older, 93,000 ton-per-year ammonia plant at Lake Charles will be shut down eventually (C&EN, Feb. 3, 1964, page 25). 28
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NOV. 22, 1965
Two new processes for plating alu minum with chromium and other ma terials will be competing next year for major markets such as automotive parts and appliances. By mid-1966, Diamond Alkali will have commer cialized its Duramir 100 process (which it obtained by an exclusive license from General Development Corp., Miami, Fla.). Already com mercial is M & Τ Chemicals' Alstan 70 process (C&EN, Nov. 15, page 4 1 ) . M & Τ Chemicals (a subsidiary of American Can Co.) has long domi nated the proprietary chromium plat ing market. Diamond began to com pete in 1964. Diamond's Duramir 100 plates a layer of chromium directly onto alu minum. Nickel or more chromium can be plated onto this initial layer. M & T's process plates a thin layer of bronze onto the aluminum; this thin layer acts as a base for subsequent plating with various metals such as tin, nickel, or chromium. Plating re sults in improved corrosion resistance and brighter finishes.
COMMENT Here, in this community of scholars, we like to think, is the home of truth. Here is the charmed spot where minds are stretched and misconcep tions corrected. Here, it would seem, is an opportunity to let the hot light of reason burn off the fog of confusion surrounding what a corporation is, what it does, and why it does it. Unfortunately, since the corporation is fundamentally an economic institu tion, this involves some understanding of the dark art of economics, and it is here that the boat is missed again. It has been suggested by some rep utable professors of economics that economics may be one of the worsttaught subjects throughout our entire school system. Given its importance to an understanding of contemporary society, however, there can be little quarrel with the fact that it is cer tainly among the least taught. Although . . . the nation now boasts some 20 million stockholders, a survey made a few years back by the New York Stock Exchange itself yielded the melancholy finding that only 23% of the adult population so much as knew what common stock was. Other surveys have found that the general public has no understanding of such basic matters as the level of profits or the division of corporate income, or nearly any other general economic fact of life . . . . In terms of our discussion here, the significance of all this is that relatively few of our young people are being given the tools with which to sort out fact from fancy when it comes to busi ness. As a result, statements which downgrade the corporation as a career choice are likely to be taken at face value; and because much criticism of the corporation directly or indirectly presents it as a selfish and impersonal institution, it undoubtedly has an un usually strong negative effect on the current younger generation. One thing is certain. If it does be come a pattern for the brightest, most creative, and most dynamic students to turn automatically and permanently away from business careers we are go ing to have a problem on our hands.
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BRIEFS
ORGANIC CHEMICALS
Koppers has purchased all of the se curities which Pitcairn Co., Wilming ton, Del., owned in Universal Moulded Fiber Glass Corp., Bristol, Va., a reinforced plastics manufac turer. Koppers also purchased the Universal Moulded securities owned by First Boston Corp., New York, N.Y. Both transactions involved cash. Kop pers is making an offer to the remain ing Universal Moulded shareholders for purchasing their common stock in the company at $1.25 per share.
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Longhorn Portland Cement Co. has merged with Kaiser Cement & Gyp sum Corp. (C&EN, July 12, page 45). Longhorn operates a 2.7 million bar rel cement plant at San Antonio, Tex. Kaiser Cement issued 1 million shares of new convertible preference stock to be exchanged in the merger for Long horn common stock on a share-forshare basis. The new preference stock is convertible into Kaiser Ce ment common at an initial ratio of 0.8 share of common for each share of preference stock.
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Systron-Donner Corp., Concord Calif., an electronics manufacturer, will ac quire 100% of the stock of Alpha Scientific Laboratories, Berkeley, Calif. Purchase will be completed over a four-year period for an eventual cost of more than $1.5 million. Alpha will become a wholly owned subsid iary of Systron-Donner. Alpha, founded in 1962, designs and manu factures instruments for electron para magnetic resonance measurements.
United Nuclear Corp. has completed sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Ray Proof Corp., Norwalk, Conn., to a private group headed by Arnold M. Zais, president of Ray Proof since 1959. Ray Proof makes radiation shielding materials and systems.
Archer Daniels Midland Co., Minne apolis, Minn., plans to purchase the plant and product lines of Synco Res ins, Inc., Bethel, Conn. Synco pro duces specialty phenolic resins. The addition of Synco's phenolic resins to ADM's existing lines of synthetic and natural resins will enable the company
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Shell Readies Plant for Offshore Gas These storage tanks, pipelines, and stabilization facilities under construction at Shell Oil's Buccaneer plant near Freeport, Tex., will receive and process natural gas f r o m Shell's offshore oil and gas fields ( C & E N , April 1 9 , page 2 3 ) . Gas f r o m t h e fields will be sold to Dow Chemical for use in its Freeport plants ( C & E N , May 1 7 , page 2 9 ) . Shell's Blue Dolphin Pipe Line Co. has a l r e a d y built a pipeline beneath t h e Gulf of Mexico to transport gas and liquids f r o m t h e Buccaneer fields, located 3 0 miles off Galveston, to the plant. Delivery of 1 0 0 million cubic feet of gas per day will begin in January 1 9 6 6 and will rise to 1 7 5 million cubic feet per day in 1 9 6 7 .
to expand into new markets with promising growth potentials. Solar Nitrogen Chemicals, Inc., Lima, Ohio, has purchased Foster Farm Fertilizers, Inc., Deshler, Ohio, for an undisclosed price. Foster, which has plants in Deshler and Holgate, Ohio, is a bulk blender of fertilizers for the farm market. The former owners will remain as consultants and a manager from Solar Nitrogen will be assigned to operate and administer the business.
Basic Products Corp., Milwaukee, Wis., has changed its name to Sola Basic Industries, Inc. The new name reflects "the fundamental change in our company's structure and longrange objectives," says Frank H. Roby, president and chairman. Sola Basic Industries is the parent company of Lindberg Hevi-Duty, a leading manufacturer of industrial and laboratory heat-processing equipment with headquarters in Chicago, 111.
Center for Fundamental Oil Shale Research, administered by Denver Research Institute (DRI), University of Denver, has enlisted the participation of three industrial firms. The three initial participating sponsors in the three-year research program are Shell Development Co., Oil Shale Corp., and Aquitaine Oil Corp., a subsidiary of Société Nationale des Pétroles d'Aquitaine.
NEW FACILITIES Bethlehem Steel Corp. has awarded Girdler Corp., Louisville, Ky. (a subsidiary of Chemical and Industrial Corp., Cincinnati, Ohio), a contract for a shop-assembled hydrogen plant. The new plant, to be constructed at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point, Md., plant, will start up late in 1965.
FINANCIAL Beckman Instruments disclosed firstquarter earnings of $954,202, or 60 cents a share, compared to $838,308, or 54 cents a share, for the same period last year. Sales for the quarter which ended Sept. 30 were $23,541,244, compared to $23,303,255 a year ago.
C0 2 cyclone stabilizes pre-reduced nickel catalysts Carbon dioxide has become one of the CPI's most versatile servants. Manufacturer of Girdler catalysts, for example, uses C0 2 as a carrier gas in a multi-stage cyclone to produce non-pyrophoric, pre-reduced nickel catalysts. But whatever its use, you can be sure how this versatile medium is applied makes a difference in the degree of processing efficiency attained. This is why so many chemical producers specify Cardox® Carbon Dioxide for all their C0 2 requirements. We are carbon dioxide specialists. Our manufacturing facilities and handling equipment are specially engineered to deliver clean, dry, economical carbon dioxide wherever it is needed. Our technical service staff offers specialized talent and experience to assist in the design of C0 2 systems to meet individual processing needs. In short, our entire operation is geared to deliver total carbon dioxide service. For prompt, confidential attention to your C0 2 requirements, call our Technical Service Director, and reverse the charges. CARDOX, Division of Chemetron Corporation, Chicago, Illinois 60611. ©i965, chemetron corporation also manufacturers of performance engineered Fire Extinguishing Systems
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NOV. 22, 1965 C&EN 31
