Hungarian chemical industry posts 10% gain in output Current five-year plan will pump $475 million into chemicals; 9% gain in output this year's goal More foreign trade, particularly with western countries. Greater cooperation with foreign firms. Creation of joint ventures with foreign firms in areas of strong mutual interest. These, in short, are the routes to further expansion and diversification visualized by Hungary's chemical industry. A small industry—it accounts for only 0.5% of the worlds total chemicals output—it nevertheless has turned in a creditable performance in recent years. Between 1960 and 1968 production increased twofold. For the past three years the rate of growth has exceeded 10% annually. Today its share of Hungary's total industrial output is 10%, compared to 8% a decade ago. Last year's excellent performance by the industry—output rose about
10%—reflects Hungary's high level of investment in chemicals. From 1966 to 1970, the government will pump some 22 billion Forints ($475 million) into chemicals—about 18% of total investment in Hungarian industry for the same period. The chemical industry goal for 1969 calls for a 9% increase in production. The present five-year plan calls for: • Pharmaceuticals, the best developed chemical industry branch, to be modernized and expanded. • Fertilizer and pesticide production to be substantially increased. Output of nitrogenous fertilizers will reach nearly 400,000 metric tons as nitrogen (N) in 1970. • Production of new plastics, plus output to climb to 100,000 metric tons next year.
manded and production of these fer tilizers will be increased by 150,000 metric tons as Ν during the next 18 months. Phosphate fertilizer production will be boosted 50,000 metric tons by the end of 1970 to about 200,000 metric tons, as P 2 0 5 . Hungary has- no phos phate or potash deposits, and must import these materials. Nitrogenous fertilizer production is concentrated at three plants—Nitrogen Works Pet at Pet, Borsod Chemical Works (BVK) at Kazincbarcika, and Tisza Chemical Works (TVK) at Tiszaszederkény. The oldest plant is at Pet, and its ammonia production
• Synthetic fibers capacity to rise to 11,000 to 12,000 metric tons by the end of next year. • Increased use of hydrocarbons as feedstock. By next year oil and natural gas will account for 40% of the energy consumed by the chemical industry. Development of the Hungarian chemical industry has lagged in some areas, though, particularly in plastics and synthetic fibers. Hungary probably depends more on imports than any other member of Comecon, the Soviet bloc trade group. Practically all its needs in plastics and synthetic fibers must be met by imports. These sectors, together with nitrogenous fertilizers, are emphasized heavily in the current five-year plan, which runs through 1970. Fastest growing. Hungary's pharmaceutical industry accounts for about 1% of the world total on a production basis. It is also among the fastest growing areas, expanding at a 15% clip annually. Value of production in 1968 was nearly $190 million. By 1970, it will be about $210 million, forecasts Joseph Darvas, managing director of Chinoin Pharmaceutical and Chemical Works, Ltd. Today the industry exports about 70% of its production, chiefly to the Soviet Union. About 20% of pharmaceutical exports are to capitalist countries. The push here, however, is to expand exports to the western world—by 60% during the current five-year plan. All of Hungary's Άνβ pharmaceutical companies—Chinoin, Gideon Richter, EGYT, Alkaloida, and Biogal—are expanding their facilities. The drug industry finances R&D by setting aside 4.4% of its gross profits. Fertilizers are another well-devel oped segment of Hungary's chemical industry. Last year's output of nitro genous fertilizers was about 250,000 metrics tons as N, about 1% of world output. But bigger supplies are de-
unit is based on natural gas. Originally based on coke, the plant was converted to natural gas in 1967 and has a capacity of 42,000 metric tons of ammonia. Work is now under way to boost ammonia capacity at Pet to 170,000 metric tons annually, using the design of the Danish firm Haldor Topsoe and equipment from the United Kingdom's Simon-Carves, Ltd. BVK's plant, also originally coke based, switched to natural gas in 1962. This plant has a capacity of about 13,000 metric tons of ammonia. The TVK plant, started up in 1964, is the newest and largest of the three. It uses natural gas and has a capacity
Hungary maps ambitious chemicals production plan for future 1968
1970
(Thousands of tons)
1
Basic chemicals
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Inorganic: Ammonia Sulfuric acid Hydrochloric acid Potassium hydroxide Organic: Acetylene Ethylene Propylene Propane, butane Benzene Caprolactam
1
Fertilizers and pesticides
346.3 437.2 53.3 46.7
560.0 450.0 55.0 80.0
110.0 8.0 5.0
20.0 26.0 15.0 120.0 20.0 5.0
1
Nitrogenous
(as N)
250.0
400.0
1
Phosphate fertilizers (as P205)
156.0
200.0
8.4 1.6 1.9 2.4
16.4
35.0 6.9
100.0 30.0 24.0 4.0
1
9.1 4.0 2.6
11.2 4.2 5.0
1 1 1
0.04 16.0 205.4 226.0
0.33 22.0 250.0 300.0
1 I 1 1
73.0
9.0 75.0
1 1
1 | 1 1
1
Pesticides DDT HCH Aminochlorotriazine
Plastics
I
pvc
1 1 1 1 1
0.7 2.5
Plastics and man-made fibers
1 1 1 1 1 l 1 1
fertilizers
Polyethylene Polyester Man-made fibers Cellulosic Polyamide Acrylic Polyester
1 1
Fine chemicals Salicylic acid Morphium (in tons) Vitamin Bn (in kilograms) Chloroxide (in tons)
Others 1 1 1 1
Styrene-butadiene rubber Detergents Paints and varnishes Source:
Ministry for Heavy Industry, Hungary
MAY 5, 1969 C&EN
21
The second smallest country of the East bloc countries (smallest is Albania), Hungary covers an area of about 36,000 square miles. This makes it about the same size as the state of Indiana. Population is some 10 million. The country, largely agricultural before World War II, is predominantly industrial now. The most important industry is machine building, representing 28.8% of total industrial production. Ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy is second with 11.5%. And third is the chemical industry with 10.1% of production. Hungary's chemical industry dates back to the 18th century when the first significant manufacture of chemical products was initiated. Development was slow, however, even through the 19th century. Hungary was part of the Hapsburg empire at this time and the economic situation favored Austria. The fledgling chemical industry began to put on some weight at the beginning of the present century. First to be developed were rubber and inorganic chemicals industries. The pharmaceuticals industry also got its start at this time. Between the two world wars, the chemical industry grew rapidly.
of about 200,000 metric tons as ammonia per year. Superphosphate fertilizer capacity, today about 850,000 metric tons as product, will be expanded to more than 1 million metric tons by 1970. The process presently used is Sovietdeveloped, with Hungarian design and equipment. A 110,000-metric-ton nitrophosphate plant will begin operating at Pet in 1971, says Thomas Poros, director of Budapest Chemical Works. The process, design, and equipment used will be Hungarian. Current capacity for sulfuric acid in Hungary is about 450,000 metric tons annually. Sulfur is imported from Poland. In the works is a 200,000-metric-ton sulfuric acid plant at Tisza Chemical Works' (TVM) plant in Szolnok, to come on stream after 1971. It will use a Polish-developed process, design, and equipment. Plastics trouble spot. Meanwhile plastics production, or rather the lack of it, is one of the Hungarian chemical industry's key trouble spots. Output last year was only about 40,000 metric tons. The target for 1970 is 100,000 metric tons. Consumption 22 C&EN MAY 5, 1969
More than a quarter of Hungary's chemical plants were destroyed in World War II. And from 1945 to 1947 many of the chemical plants worked at a fraction of capacity or didn't operate at all, as machinery was not available. Hungary inaugurated its planned economy in 1947 with the initial goal to get back to prewar levels within three years. Instead, by 1950, output exceeded the 1938 level by 40%· Between 1949 and 1958, output increased fivefold, between I 9 6 0 and 1968 twofold. In spite of this good growth, today the industry is unable to meet all the demands of the economy. In 1965 consumption of chemical products in Hungary totaled $835 million. One third of this total, or about $278 million, was purchased from abroad. Part of the reason for this heavy dependence on imports is the lack of natural resources. Hungary has no inorganic raw material base— no phosphorus, no sulfur, no borax, and no crystal salt All of these must be imported. In short, Hungary's chemical industry will always be dependent on imports. The best it can hope to do is reduce this dependence to an absolute minimum as quickly as possible.
next year is pegged at 140,000 to 150,000 metric tons of plastics, which means that one third of demand will have to be met by imports. The first large-scale plastics plant, for making polyvinyl chloride, was started up in 1963 by BVK at Berente in northern Hungary. Added in the past few years have been facilities for making epoxy, glass-fiber-reinforced polyester, and phenolic plastics—albeit in small quantities. Small amounts of polystyrene foam and polyurethane foam are also being produced. Contractor for the BVK PVC plant was West Germany's Friedrich Uhde, GmbH. Vinyl chloride monomer is produced via Montecatini-Edison's partial oxidation of acetylene process. Current capacity of the PVC plant is about 6000 metric tons, which will be upped to 30,000 metric tons this year. Hungary's first polyethylene plant, now under construction at TVK's Tiszaszederkény site, will go on stream this year. Capacity of the plant will be 24,000 metric tons of lowdensity polyethylene. The process is that of the U.K.'s Imperial Chem-
ical Industries and Simon-Carves is supplying the polymerization equipment. The plant will exceed Hungary's modest domestic demand for polyethylene—at present about 15,000 metric tons. Ethylene for the plant will be produced via pyrolysis of benzene in a 24,000-metric-ton plant, also being built at Tiszaszederkény. A Sovietdeveloped process plus design and equipment will be used. The pyrolysis by-products are mostly propylene and propane fractions, some butadiene, isobutylene, styrene, and indane. A 10,000-metric-ton polyester resin plant is being built at Nitrokemia at Balatonfiizfo. The plant will use Hungarian-developed technology. The glycol raw material will be imported. Startup: late 1969. Polycarbonate plastics are now being made in pilot plants, but there are no plans for a large-scale plant. The process used was developed by the Research Institute for the Plastics Industry. However, it still has some problems, according to the institute's Dr. Arthur Simon.
Polypropylene production is also being considered. Propylene will be readily available from the pyrolysis unit, but plans are bogged down in trying to find a suitable process. Polystyrene is imported and there are no plans to build a plant. Fiber problems. Hungary is also behind in developing a synthetic fiber industry. Output today is a modest 5000 metric tons annually. Anticipated output in 1970 is about 7000 metric tons. But demand in 1970 may be more than 35,000 metric tons. So about 80% of its synthetic fiber needs will have to be imported. Polyamide and polypropylene fibers, produced at Hungarian Viscose Works in Nyergesujfalu, are the only two synthetic fibers now made domestically. The polyamide staple fibers plant, which has a capacity of about 2500 metric tons, uses a process developed in East Germany. Equipment for the plant comes from East Germany, too. Polyamide yarn capacity is about 1600 metric tons annually, but will be expanded to 3000 to 3500 metric tons in 1971. The process and most of the equipment come from West Germany's Friedrich Uhde. Caprolactam for the polyamide is produced by BVK. The plant's capacity is 5000 metric tons and the unit is based on Russian technology and Hungarian design and equipment. A semicommercial plant to make polypropylene fiber has been in operation since 1965. Polypropylene is imported and the capacity of the fiber plant is now about 600 metric tons per year. A Hungarian-developed process is used. Polyamide and polypropylene capacity is being expanded. Plants to turn out acrylic and polyester fibers are planned. The new
Dr. Andreas D o r m a n , right Rubber industry projects
to 1500 metric tons of acrylic fiber annually. The polyester fiber plant will have a capacity of about 9000 metric tons and may go on stream in 1974. Petrochemicals. To date Hungary's oil industry has played only a minor role in chemicals. Last year 1.8 million metric tons of crude oil were produced, while some 3.2 million metric tons were imported via the Comecon pipeline from Russia. About 3% of this quantity was used by the chemical industry. The chemical industry uses some natural gas, chiefly to make ammonia. Hungary has ample deposits of natural gas and currently produces about 2.4 billion cubic meters of gas. Chemical industry consumption is about 15% or 360 million cubic meters annually. Construction now in progress, however, at Hungary's Szazhalombatta refinery on the Danube will change this picture sharply within the next few years, predicts Prof. Laszlo Vajta, deputy general manager of the Hungarian Oil and Gas Trust. A 300,000metric-ton-capacity reforming plant will be started up this year. In the works is a 1 million metric ton hydrocracking plant, which is to be built after 1970, says Prof. Vajta. By 1971 a unit will be added to separate out ethylbenzene, and o-, m-, and p-xylene. In 1975 normal paraffins and phthalic anhydride plants will be added. With the buildup in petrochemical activity, consumption of oil by the chemical industry will jump to about 1 million metric tons by 1975, with total oil consumption climbing to about 9 million metric tons. Chemical industry consumption of natural gas will more than double to about 800 million cubic meters. Production will be about 5 billion cubic meters.
Thomas Poros Fertilizer output gains
acrylic fiber plant will have a capacity of 5000 metric tons per year. The process will be Snia Viscosa's (Italy) and the plant will go on stream in 1972. Under a recently concluded agreement with Ôsterreichische Stickstoffwerke the Austrian firm will ship 5000 to 6000 metric tons of acrylonitrile to Hungary each year. In return, Hungary will furnish ÔSW with 1000
Joseph Darvas Vigorous drug industry
Hungary has no synthetic rubber industry. Natural and synthetic rubbers plus most of the rubber additives are imported, primarily from the West. United Hungarian Rubber Factories (OGV), which has five plants, coordinates rubber industry activities. OGV plants produce rubber goods that range from tires to camping equipment to inflatable canoes. About 20%
of their production is exported annually. Tire production is small—only 300,000 car and 400,000 truck tires were made last year. But then Hungary only has about 100,000 cars on the road, points out Dr. Andreas Dorman, deputy general manager of OGV. Tires are S BR with rayon cord. This year production of nylon cord tires will be initiated. Hungary does have plans for a synthetic rubber and rubber additives industry, but not until after 1970. In the works are plants to produce polyisoprene and carbon black. "We are looking for partners for these projects," explains Dr. Dorman, "who will take product, or mostly product, in return for their investment." A carbon black plant will be built in about three years, a polyisoprene facility in three to five years. Meanwhile, the rubber industry's goal is to boost exports to 30% of production of rubber goods within the next three years. To attract more foreign know-how and investment to help meet current goals, Hungary's chemical industry leaders are counting heavily on the government's new economic reform program. Until adoption of the new system, in January 1968, a government planning commission together with various industry ministries directed all investment, production, distribution, wages, and prices. Now most of the decision making has been turned over to company directors. Under the new system, prices are no longer simply fixed, now they more nearly reflect changing market conditions. The new policy is a combination of official (fixed, maximum, and limited) prices and market (free) prices. Individual firms have more freedom in concluding export and import agreements, as well as joint undertakings, with foreign firms. How is the chemical industry faring under the reform? "Cooperation with enterprises abroad has already been more active," says Gabor Szekeres, deputy assistant Under-Secretary of the Ministry for Heavy Industry. In February, for instance, representatives of Hungary's Nitrokemia and Budapest Chemical Works, and West Germany's Farbwerke Hoechst met in Budapest to discuss cooperation between Hoechst and Hungary's research institutes in pesticides R&D. An agreement was concluded whereby Hoechst will supply the two firms with raw materials, process, and equipment to produce Hoechst plant protection agents and insect killers under the Hoechst name in Hungary. In another move, Austria's Ôsterreichische Stickstoffwerke will ship polyacrylonitrile to Hungary and will receive acrylic fiber in return. MAY 5, 1969 C&EN 23
