INDUSTRY THIS WEEK IN BRIEF
Corporate Hooker Chemical Corp., New York City, plans to purchase Sel-Rex Corp., Nutley, N.J. Terms call for Sel-Rex shareholders to receive, for each outstanding share of Sel-Rex common stock, % share of Hooker common plus a fraction of a share of Hooker $2.16 convertible preferred. Sel-Rex makes and markets metal finishing equipment for use in precious metal electroplating. It also markets precious metal electroplating and metal recovery processes. Wyandotte Chemicals Corp., Wyandotte, Mich., plans capital expenditures of $25 million in 1968. The company's main projects for this year are an expansion of its chlorine-caustic soda capacity at Geismar, La., and a new plant to make chemical specialties at Stroudsburg, Pa. Both projects are to be completed in the second half of 1968. Wyandotte capital expenditures have averaged $20 million per year since 1965. Du Pont's annual report says that it expects 1968 construction expenses to be about $375 million. As late as last month the company was pegging these expenses "as low as $400 million." Du Pont's capital expenditures were $454 million last year, down from the high of $531 million in 1966. U.S. Steel has added a plastics custom-fabricator to its growing chemical activities. The company has purchased for an undisclosed amount of cash the plastics division of General American Transportation Corp. The division designs, makes, and sells injection- and blow-molded, extruded, and vacuum-formed plastic products. The division, which is headquartered in Chicago, had sales of $20 million last year. U.S. Steel is greatly expanding its chemicals capacity and is buying Armour & Co's agricultural chemicals division (C&EN, Feb. 12, page 10).
International Badische Anilin-& Soda-Fabrik, A.G., will design and supply a 3000 metric-ton-per-year sodium cyanide plant to Romania. A corresponding contract was recently signed by BASF and Romania's import organization Industrialimport. Using BASF's process, the plant is scheduled to come on stream in mid-1969. Phillips Petroleum and associates have signed a 25-year contract with the gas council in London for sale of gas to be produced from under the North Sea. Gas deliveries are due to start in mid-1969 and are to reach more than 300 million cu. ft. daily in the sixth year of the contract, according to W. W. Keeler, president of Phillips. The initial price will be about 28.7 cents per 1000 cu. ft. with price escalation. Phillips owns 3 5 % of the group and is the operator for the group which includes American Petrofina Exploration Co., Agip Exploration (U.K.), Ltd., and a 30 C&EN MARCH 18, 1968
subgroup of British firms and private investors. The gas will come from the Hewett field located about 20 miles off the east coast of England. The drilling program, pipeline, processing, and other facilities will cost more than $100 million, Phillips says. British Petroleum plans to spend $30 million to build a 30,000 barrel-per-day hydrocracker unit at Grangemouth, Scotland. Fluor (England), Ltd., has been awarded the engineering and construction contract which includes a 68,000 barrel-per-day vacuum distillation unit, a 72 million cu.-ft.-per-day hydrogen plant, and a 100 long-tonper-day sulfur recovery unit. Completion is scheduled for December 1969. Badische Anilin-& Soda-Fabrik, A.G., West Germany, is expanding its methanol capacity at Ludwigshaften from 250,000 to 400,000 metric tons per year. A single-train plant, which will produce 700 metric tons of methanol daily, is now under construction and is scheduled to go on stream in 1969. Monsanto Textiles, Ltd., a subsidiary of Monsanto Co., plans to build a multimillion-dollar acrylonitrile plant on the Tees River in Durham County, England. The new plant, scheduled to begin operation by 1970, will have a capacity of 150 million pounds per year. Badger, Ltd., London, will design and build the plant. Gewerkschaft Victor Chemische Werke, 50-50 owned by KlocknerWerke, A.G., and Wintershall, A.G., will build a $20 million ammonia plant at Castrop-Rauxel. The feedstock will be natural gas or oil. The firm is one of West Germany's largest nitrogen fertilizer producers. Courtaulds' position in cellulosic fibers and textiles could be affected by a new report from the U.K. Monopolies Commission. The report follows two and a half years of study of Courtaulds, which accounts for 9 5 % of U.K. production and all exports of cellulosic fibers. The report recommends, among other things, that import duties be reduced to 1 0 % (on staple fiber and tow) and 15% (on continuous filament yarn), in line with the common external tariff of the European Economic Community; that Courtaulds end arrangements with European Free Trade Association producers which restrict competition in U.K. cellulosic fiber supplies; and that Courtaulds not, without British Board of Trade approval, acquire further interest in textile or clothing industries if its share of capacity exceeds an amount (possibly 2 5 % ) to be decided by BOT. Du Pont de Nemours International, S.A., has moved its applied technical laboratory for films from Geneva to Luxembourg. The laboratory is now located at Du Pont de Nemours (Luxembourg), S.A.'s Mylar polyester film plant at Contern. According to Du Pont, this move will enable its film department to give important customers of Mylar more technical support than previously.
