News of the Week near weightlessness on the quantity and rate of lignin formation in slash pine, mung bean, and oat. • Monodisperse latex reactor (flown inside the shuttle cabin) de veloped at Lehigh University will attempt to produce a solution of identically sized, miniature latex spheres. • Plasma diagnostics package de veloped at the University of Iowa that consists of an assembly of elec tromagnetic and particle sensors will study the interaction of the shuttle with the electromagnetic fields and plasma through which it is passing. • Shuttle-spacelab induced atmo sphere experiment developed at the University of Florida will provide data on the plume produced by dust particles and volatile materials evap orating from the orbiter. • Solar flare x-ray polarimeter de veloped at Columbia University is designed to measure the polarization of hard x-rays emitted during flares; such polarization carries information about the motion of the electrons that produce the x-rays. • A spectrometric monitor devel oped at the Naval Research Labora tory will measure the variability of the sun's ultraviolet radiation over a range of wavelengths. • Thermal canister experiment developed at Goddard is designed to test a simpler design for thermal protection of instrumentation in space. D
Stauffer to scrap its last PVC plant For Stauffer Chemical, the polyvi nyl chloride business has come to an abrupt halt. Unable to find a buyer for its 140 million lb-per-year PVC and vinyl chloride plant in Long Beach, Calif., the company has decided to scrap it, probably by the end of this month or the beginning of April. Stauffer, which, according to one financial analyst's estimate, lost $33 million in 1981 on its plastics opera tions, had decided at the beginning of last year to get out of the PVCvinyl chloride business. It was able to sell its Delaware City, Del., PVC plant in the second quarter of last year to Formosa Plastics. But it never could find a buyer for Long Beach, given the generally depressed condition of the PVC business. Moreover, the company decided to no longer run the plant itself, in part because of the capital expense 10 C&EN March 22, 1982
PVC output faded in second-half 1981 Production, millions of lb 6001
500 f"
400 Ι
Average monthly production, 1979
300
£
.{
D J F M A M J J A S O N D
-1981Source: Society of the Plastics Industry
it would require to meet California's ambient air quality standards. The company will raze the plant, then develop the property for other, unannounced-as-yet uses. To some extent, the move is not surprising. When Stauffer reported on its 1981 sales and earnings in January, it noted that "a nonrecur
ring gain in the fourth quarter of 1981 was reserved to cover the an ticipated loss from the planned dis posal of a property in 1982." Stauffer next must grapple with is its Anderson, S.C., plastics fabri cation plant. According to Wall Street sources, that plant was run ning at less than 50% of capacity at the end of 1981, with production going into such suffering industries as home furnishings and automobile markets. The closing of the Long Beach plant has eased some drain on the company, and that might re lieve Stauffer from some of the pres sure to get rid of or close the Ander son plant. But some industry sources say it makes strategic sense for the company to shed it eventually, be cause the fabrication side of the plas tics business doesn't fit in with the company's chemical strengths. Stauffer's action is the latest of a flurry of recent activity in the trou bled PVC business, which has seen monthly production slump from 467 million lb in December 1980 to 321 million in December 1981. But Stauffer's move is not likely to be the last. Tenneco's PVC operations, for example, are reported on the sell ing block, and Diamond Shamrock has indicated it would like to be completely out of the business. D
Procter & Gamble buys MortonNorwich drug unit Procter & Gamble disclosed last week its plans to buy the worldwide pharmaceutical operations of Mor tonNorwich, representing a major di versification for the household prod ucts company. The price for the deal, which is subject to government ap proval, is $371 million cash. The pur chase includes office, research, and production facilities in Norwich, N.Y., and production facilities in Greenville, S.C., Puerto Rico, Mex ico, and Colombia. MortonNorwich said last month that it was re-evaluating its position in the pharmaceutical industry and was considering selling the opera tions. Chairman Charles S. Locke said that the company was holding preliminary discussions with a num ber of companies. However, from the time the announcement was made, speculation centered on Procter & Gamble as the most likely buyer. MortonNorwich's pharmaceutical operations account for about 22% of the company's sales and about 21% of operating profits. In fiscal-year 1981 the pharmaceutical operations had about $216 million in sales for
an operating profit of about 23%. Through the first six months of the current fiscal year, the pharmaceu tical operations' sales amounted to $116 million, a 5.9% gain from the comparable period last year. Oper ating profits increased 39.5% to $18.0 million in the first six months of fiscal 1982. MortonNorwich was formed in 1969 by a merger of Morton Salt Co. and Norwich Pharmacal. Besides salt and pharmaceuticals, the com pany's principal product lines include household products and specialty chemicals. Earlier this month the firm said that it would acquire three chemical divisions of Philip Morris Industrial. The divisions, located in Germany and the U.S., produce mainly adhesives and sealants. MortonNorwich's pharmaceutical operations include over-the-counter medications such as Pepto-Bismol antacid and Chloraseptic throat med ication, a line of prescription drugs, and other drug products which are sold primarily to hospitals. P&G says that it does not plan any immediate changes in the operation. D
