C&EN PROGRESS REPORT
EXPANSION IN THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
Here are companies making news last month, adding to the chemical process industries by PLANNING . . . Company and Site Celanese Corp. of America Bay City, Tex.
Plant or Unit Hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid
E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc. Gibbstown, N.J. Farbenfabriken Bayer, A.G. Monsanto Chemical Co. Mobay Chemical Co. New Martinsville, W.Va. Imperial Chemical Industries Celanese Corp. of America British Nylon Spinners Fiber Industries, Inc. Salisbury, N.C. Lone Star Gas Co. Lone Star Producing Co. Kerens, Tex.
Strong nitric acid
Miles Laboratories, Inc. Miles Chemical Co. Elkhart, Ind.
Dextrose solution
Monsanto Chemical Co. Addyston, Ohio Olin Mathieson Chemical Corp. Mcintosh, Ala.
Styrene resins
Polycarbonate resins
Doubling capacity for a total of about 10 million pounds a year
Polyester fiber
Output will be heavy-denier fiber for use in tire cord. Production to begin in late 1965
Phosphoric acid and complete fertilizers
Construction to begin next spring and be completed in March 1965. Capacity for complete fertilizers to be 100,000 tons a year Badger Co. will build the $3 million unit. Output will be used as raw material for citric acid. To be operating by the end of 1964 Capacity increase to be completed during the first half of 1964 Boost of 1 0 % will bring daily capacity to 300 tons of chlorine and 340 tons of caustic. Cost: $500,000 Increasing capacity from 38 to 98 million pounds a year. To be on stream in the late autumn of 1964 Capacity to be increased from 70 to 100 million pounds a year by the end of 1964 Capacity to be increased from 200 to 290 million pounds a year before the end of 1964
Chlorine and caustic soda
Richfield Oil Corp. Long Beach, Calif.
Ethylene
Union Carbide Corp. South Charleston, W.Va.
Low-density polyethylene
Texas City, Tex.
Remarks Capacity for 30 to 35 million pounds a year of adipic acid. Construction to begin early in 1964 and production to begin early in 1965 Will add 4 0 % to its capacity
Low-density polyethylene
STARTING CONSTRUCTION Continental Oil Co. Baltimore, Md.
Polydodecy I benzene
Monsanto Chemical Co. Muscatine, Iowa U.S. Rubber Co. Baton Rouge, La.
Randox weed and grass killers
To be completed next spring. Output to be used in making dispersants and rust preventives in diesel fuel and lubricating oils To start production next July
Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resins
Increasing capacity from 40 million pounds a year to 80 million. To be completed in September 1964
Styrene resins
Capacity increased to 40 million pounds a year Capacity is 30 million pounds a year
STARTING PRODUCTION Brand Plastics Co. Medina, Ohio E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc. Beaumont, Tex. Fairmount Chemical Co. Newark, N.J.
Ethylene-propylene terpolymer Hydrazine
Continued on page 18 16
C & E N J A N . 6, 196 4
Expanded capacity from 250,000 pounds a year to 750,000 and converted from urea process to basic ammonia process
Al Ba
Ca Cd Cu Li Mg
Mn Na NH 4 Ni
Pb Zn
a co
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ORGANIC CHEMICALS DIVISIONj
WITCO 4§[ CHEMICAL COMPANY, INC. J DEPT. Y-13, 122 EAST 42ND ST., N. Y. 17, N. Y.
Expansion in the Chemical Industry Continued Foster Grant Co. Peru, III. Mesa Plastics Co. Des Plaines, III. Mine Safety Appliances Co. MSA Research Corp. Callery, Pa. Monsanto Chemical Co. St. Louis, Mo. Texas City, Tex. Phillips Pacific Chemical Co. Kennewick, Wash. Shell Oil Co. Shell Chemical Co. Houston, Tex.
BRIEFS American Metal Climax has purchased a one-third interest in Eastern Schokcrete Corp., Bound Brook, N.J. Terms of the agreement call for Amax to purchase 3 3 l / 3 % of the outstanding stock of Eastern Schokcrete at a cost of $1 million, and also about $1.5 million of the company's convertible notes. Eastern Schokcrete is presently licensed by Schokbeton Products Corp. to produce and market concrete products on the East Coast from Maine to Virginia. As part of the agreement, license rights will be extended to the remaining southeastern states.
Polystyrene resins Diallyl phthalate and alkyd molding compounds High-purity potassium, cesium, and rubidium Saccharin Lactic acid Urea-ammonium nitrate solution Butanol and isobutanol
the company's polyethylene resin business. Effective Jan. 1, three new operating divisions of the plastics department will have similar research, production, and marketing responsibilities. They are the commercial resins, fluorocarbons, and plastic products divisions. Long-range research and development for new plastics products will continue in the department's research and development division. A new accounting and business analysis division will take over the functions of the present planning division. The polyolefins division remains unchanged.
Allied Chemical's General Chemical U.S. shipments of aluminum ingot and mill products climbed 13% this year, according to the Aluminum Association, which estimates that such shipments approached 3 million tons. About 2 million tons were shipped in 1962. Primary aluminum production was about 2 million tons, the association says—8.5CU more than in 1962. Stepped-up use of the metal in automobiles and railroad freight cars and a doubling of aluminum consumption for cans were important factors in making 1963 the second consecutive record year for aluminum shipments, the association adds.
Du Pont is reorganizing its plastics department along product lines. It' follows the lead set by the plastic department's polyolefins division, established three years ago to conduct research, production, and marketing of 18
C&EN
J A N . 6, 196 4
Increases company's capacity to 110 million pounds a year
Division has increased the price of its cadmium salts. The price of cadmium chloride has been raised 18 cents a pound to $2.41 a pound in 100-pound drums; cadmium fluoroborate is up 9 cents to $1.36 a pound for truckload quantities; and cadmium nitrate is up 14 cents per pound to $1.49 in truckload quantities. The new prices were necessitated by a recent increase in the price of cadmium metal to $3.00 per pound, Allied says.
United Cork Companies, Kearny, N.J., has been acquired by BASF OVerzee, N.V., Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, a subsidiaiy of West Germany's Badische Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik. United Cork produces polystyrene foam; Badische is a large producer of polystyrene beads. United Cork will continue its present activities in the field of expandable polystyrene. Badische will provide United Cork with tech-
Adds 5 0 % to company's capacity for a total of 1.5 million pounds a year Capacity is 10 million pounds a year. Uses synthetic process Capacity is 55 tons a day. D. M. Weatherly Co. built the plant Capacity estimated to be 25 million pounds a year
nical know-how. United Cork will operate as a subsidiary of BASF Overzee, N.V.
NEW FACILITIES Skelly Oil Co.'s new phenol-acetone plant is now on stream at its El Dorado, Kan., refinery. The plant has an annual capacity of 50 million pounds of phenol and 30 million pounds of acetone.
Monsanto plans to build a new facility at its Springfield, Ohio, site to make a new intermediate for the surface coating industry. The unit will have a capacity of 5 million pounds per year and is expected to be operating by next summer. The intermediate, called RJ-100, is a resinous polyol styrene-allyl alcohol copolymer. Applications will include both watersoluble and solvent-based coatings.
Nuclear Data, Inc., Madison, Wis., manufacturer of instruments used in the detection, measurement, and analysis of nuclear radiation, has purchased an 8.26-acre site in Schaumberg, 111. The company will build new production facilities and executive offices on the site. The new building, which will be completed in May 1964, and the land will cost $400,000. When the move to Schaumberg is completed, the company's Madison quarters will be occupied by Scientific Data, Inc., its newly formed research and development subsidiary.
