•
rERNATIONAL
Germany's Chemical Plans Chemical manufacturers by-pass costly new projects because of Germany's limited capital market JL H E DIRECTION O F JP310POSED PLAJMT
investments i n the German Federal Republic is on the brink o f significant change, according -to t h e 1956 picture of capital expenditure projects. Leading German chemical companies are spending less on n e w plants i n L956 than they did in 1955. Even more significant, they are using a more selective approach \vhen formulating new projects. German chemical companies are spending less on new plants because of rising costs and the increasing limitation of the German capital market. I n addition, German manufacturers are unwilling to embark on many n e w schemes of capital expenditures because of the more remote prospects of demand expansions. Behind the prospects of demand expansions lies the vast increase in Ger-
;iOneJ of Germany's newest demand exfpansionssJ^Deutsclie" Shell extends its l Harburg^ i n the Hohe: ;Schaai* area; b y r constructing another ; r e m e ^ a d j à e é h t - toTit
^ 5 8 2 & i c # r Ν J u L Y :2Î3, r 9 5 a
man imports of virtually all basic chemicals needed to maintain the momentum of expansion in the manufacturing sections of the industry. In 1955, German chemical exports rose by 13%, hut chemical imports advanced by 35S& (or more, according t o demarcation) because basic sections of the industry could not meet all domestic requirements. At the same time other sections, notably dyestuffs and pharmaceuticals, for the first time since the war found themselves in possession of surplus capacity. • Demand Expansions· Germany is continuing to expand plant capacities for basic chemicals which face a steadily rising demand. Production in 1955 showed the biggest increase for synthetic ammonia, chlorine, caustic soda, and soda lye. Consequendy, as far as heavy chemicals are concerned, it is in these products that the main accretions to available capacity will occur this year. Among organics, petrochemicals call for substantial plant additions. The proposed extension of the German oil refining capacity to a throughput of 2 5 million metric tons will provide opportunities for building n e w petroleum chemicals installations. Esso has arranged .for cooperation with German chemical interests in using by-product gas fractions from its 5-million ton refinery to be built on the left bank of the Rhine north of Cologne, opposite the Leverkusen works of Farbenfabrflken Bayer. In addition, Deutsche Shell is extending its facilities b y constructing a new refinery in the HoheScbaar area adjacent to its Harburg refinery (with a yearly throughput of approximately 2.5 million tons). Cost of the project will b e $60 million. Extension of the oil refining industry has given a fillip to catalyst manufacture. Kali-Chemie A G , Nienburg, will start a n e w $l-08-million reforming catalyst plant under Adantic Refining licenses next October, and Ruiirchemie AG has stepped up its output of iron catalyst pardy for export. The steady rise in the demand for plastics, foils, and fibers is responsible
Germany's Demand Expansions,, Germany's capital market i s , a t present, unable ta cope with major projects i n n e w fields so chemical manufacturers are putting their capital into necessary extensions to existing installations. Others are trying to build u p reserve capital for unexpected chemical demands. As of now, chemical manufacturers find these chemical fields demand expansion: • • • • • •
Basic Chemicals Petrochemicals Catalyst M a n u f a c t u r e Plastics, Foils, and Fibers Fertilizers Detergents
for a considerable part of the construction work now in progress. Rheinpreussen AG intends to follow others in producing polyethylene b y the Ziegler process. Rheinische Olefinwerke GmbH has reached the output target o f the first stage of development and is now advancing to a higher target. Farbwerke Hôchst AG h a s started industrial production of polyethylene under the trade name of Hostalen and will start making its Trevira polyester fiber in a few months time. Vereinigte-Glanzstoff-Fabriken AG, Wuppertal, expects to market its first Diolen polyester fiber a little later. Kalle & Co. is extending its capacity for foils; Degussa is producing more fillers for plastics and fibers. Other chemical sections i n which substantial investments are being made concern detergents and agricultural chemicals. In all these fields, however, current extensions will do little more than catch up with the rising demand. A somewhat different situation prevails in the fertilizer industry with its high stake in the export trade. T h e German potash producers have n o t allowed the temporary setback r e flected by a 130,000-ton ( K 2 0 ) surplus of production over sales i n 1955 t o deflect tbem from pursuing their long-term expansion plans. Similarly, nitrogenous fertilizer producers are carrying on with their extension projects in spite of the anticipated i n tensification of competition in t h e world market. A 42,000-ton ( N ) synthetic ammonia plant will start up early next year o n the site of a Fischer-Tropsch plant a t Wanne-EickeL, and 26,000 tons will b e made into ammonium sulfate while t h e remainder will be used for producing nitric acid; the cost of this project i s estimated a t $5.03 million. A $48,000-
L. R. Gardner, Vice Presi dent and Director, and Manager of Research & Development Department, of California Spray-Chemi cal Corp., examines seeds which have been treated with OHTHOCIDE 75 Seed Protectant.
W e know the advantages of t h e Pluronic series in solving application problemsψψ — says L. R . G a r d n e r , Vice P r e s i d e n t , California Spray-Chemical C o r p . , Richmond, California *'As the world's largest formulator of agricultural chemicals, we are con stantly researching surface-active agents for our many products for the farm, ranch, and garden. "We have used Wyandotte Pluronics consistently, over the past three years, in manufacturing our captan-based ORTHOCIDE 15 Seed Protectant. They are employed as a secondary emulsifier, making use of their excellent dispers ing action. "We have noted the unique qualities of the Pluronic series, and the advan tages of the interrelationship of the various grades, as shown on the Plu ronic Grid. Now, we are working with them toward solving problems in other applications as well."
I t is highly likely that your prod ucts, too, can be improved by using Wyandotte's Pluronic* nonionic sur factants. Our newly compiled "Pluronic Grid" can help you select grades with the best balance of properties for your application. By evaluating these grades in· your laboratories, you will be ahle to choose those which best answer your needs. Wyandotte Pluronics provide an over-all balance of desirable properties: ease of formulation, stability, con trolled sudsing, a range of surfaceactive properties, low hygroscopicity, dedusting properties, and a. low order of toxicity. Check into the many benefits Plu ronics can bring to your products.
Write us today for further information, and your copy of the Pluronic Grid. Wyandotte Chemicals Corporation, Wyandotte, Michigan. Offices in prin cipal cities* *REG. u.s. PAT. OFF.
-WjcnJofte CHEMICALS MICHIGAN ALKALI DIVISION HEADQUARTERS
FOR ALKALIES
Soda Ash · Caustic Soda · Bicarbonate of Soda · Chlorine Muriatic Acid » Calcium Carbonate · Calcium Chloride Glycols · Chlorinated Solvents. · Synthetic Detergents
Other Organic and Inorganic Chemicals
J U L Y 2 3 , 1 9 5 6 C&EN
3583
INTERNATIONA!!
ton ( Ν ) iiitrogen plant is beiag built at Salzgitter i n connection -with the iron and steel plant there. A. synthetic am monia project of Knaps»ck-Griesheim AG which provides for erection of a 20,000-ton ( N ) plant, on t h e other hand, has been shelved aaid will not be carried out until more urgent work on extending the phosphonxs and carbide capacity has been completed. > New Installations. Capital ex· penditure on n e w productive installa tions varies between 1095? and 13% of sales for most leading chemical pro ducers in the German Federal Republic —a figure roughly equivalent t o that in other European chemical industries. Leaders of the industry believe that capital expenditure at aibout this rate is required to provide For needed ca pacity extensions, new processes and products, and mechanization and auto mation. While up t o one half of the capital sum required is now obtained out of the companies* own financial re sources, the domestic capital market has, of late, shown itself unwilling or unable to cover the remainder, with the result that certain costly and capi tal-intensive projects in n e w fields have had t o be postponed. Lack of re serve capacity to cope with unexpected increases in demand remains one of the most pressing problems o f the German chemical industry.
Copper Process-Brazil Brazil's copper miming industry, which so far has not been a large pro ducer of commercially marketable cop per because of the high «cost of extract ing the metal from the ore, will be stimulated into activity i£ a new process is successful. A pilot plant will be erected i n the laboratories of the Bureau of Mineral Production to test the n e w process of extracting electrolytic copper. Laboratory tests h a v e been encour aging and have shown advantages for a country like Brazil. The amount of copper recovered has "been given as 98% of that contained in the ore. It dispenses with the use o f a metallurgi cal combustible, an important develop ment for a country whdch is in short supply of this resource. Also, it re quires a l o w consumption of electricity —4 to 6 kw. for each kilogram of elec trolytic copper in its crushed and con centrated states.
C&EN Foreign Correspondent Con tributing to This Issuer ; G. ABRAHAMSON", England 3584
C&EN
JULY 1
23.
1956
Ϊ CANADIAN by S. J. COOK
Strength of α Nation In 1776, Benjamin Franklin was sent to Montreal by the Continental Congress o f the American Revolu tion to use his influence mipon Montrealers whose city w a s then held by a Revolutionary arrxiy. When he discovered that Montreal had no printing press, and had never had one, lie brought from Phila delphia the? printer, Fleuury Mesplet, to establish the craft of printing in the city. Mesplet remained in Montreal, and brought out the first issue of The Gazette o n June 3, 1778. Recalling this event, a ceremony recently took place in t h e office of The Gazette when a medal was presented to the newspaper on be half of the Congress of die United States. This medal commemorates the 250th Anniversary o f Benjamin Franklin's birth and is o n e of those being presented to institutions which owe their existence to Ben jamin Franklin's influence. It was awarded t o The Gazette in recogni tion of t h e historic role Franklin played i n founding the paper. Never before has Congress ordered a medal t o be struck antd presented to a newspaper in anotJher country. It was an historic occasion. In thanking the U. S. Minister who made the presentation, Charles HL Peters, president of The Gazette, said "As printers w e honour these great traditions that were cherished b y Benjamin Franklin îiimself, and w e are deeply movecl that this institution is the only one in Canada that has been singled out by the Lnited States Congress for this special recognition." Apart from its general news value, this item points up the contribution that may b>e made to progress by one maa's initiative. Crawford H. Greene-wait, president of E . I. du Pont cle Nemours, has put it this way: "Behind every advance of t h e h u m a n race is a germ of creation growing in the mind of some lone individual, an individual whose dreams waken him in tihe night while others lie contentedly asleep- W e need those dreams, £or today*s dreams represent tomorrow's realities."
And Herbert H. Lank, president of D u Pont Co. of Canada, addressing the annual conference of the University Counselling and Placement Association said business requires "people who h a v e from their education developed their thinking, creative and imaginative powers: those with courage t o face the unknown/' • Canadian Economy. The Canadian economy is bounding ahead. Rate of growth in 1956, as reflected in official figures for the first quarter, shows the Cross National Product at an annual rate of $28.3 billion, as compared with $25.4 billion a year ago. A record program of capital investment is under way, aided by surging imports of funds, machinery, and equipment. Capital expenditures in the chemical industry alone in 1956 are estimated at $201.9 million as compared with $ 1 2 5 . 6 million in the preceding year. For all manufacturing in Canada, the comparable figures are $ 1 8 0 5 . 2 million for 1956 and $1246.4 million in 1955. External investment in Canada has played an important part in the postwar growth and for 1955 is officially reported at $14.5 billion or almost double the total of $9.9 billion recorded in 1945. In the light of this extraordinary industrial growth pattern, it is not perhaps surprising that Queen's University president W . A. Macintosh was able to play host to a group of 35 key executives, as '"students," and a dozen experts in finance, economics, research, and management who served as "discussion leaders.** One American participant suggested that Canada should make an effort to increase her supply of technical people, even beyond this country's requirements, so that further assistance might b e given to undeveloped countries. Importance of effort in this direction has been stressed by President Eisenhower: "The central fact of today's life is the existence in the world of two great philosophies of Man and of Government. They are in contest for t h e friendship, loyalty, and the support of the world's people." "Franklin," said Hervé L'Heureux i n his medal· presentation address, "fought his battles with ideas. W e must b e prepared to use the same weapons—ideas."
