INTERNATIONAL .·
C U l l U t l 41. Ο,
rather than making hydrogen electrolytieally or from natural or coke oven gasSi ill uric acid, and oxygen and nitro gen from a conventional air fractiona tion plant, are the other raw materials. The partial c-onibustion plant has an an nual capacity of 16,500 metric tons of fuel; approximately 570O tons of sul furic acid is required yearly. The granulated ammonium nitrate fertilizer will be made in a plant using revolving disks. While this technique has been used i» the European pharmaceutical and candy industries, it is the first time that it has been employed in the west ern hemisphere. Peru lias a very small chemical in dustry. Industrial products in the past were chiefly7 restricted to paints, cane sugar, rayon, explosives, sulfuric acid, lead, and zinc. About 1500 tons of concentrated nitric acid from the Callao plant will go into explosives; 1900 tons will be available to the chemical indus try. The new plant will considerably im prove the supply of fertilizer for Peru's agriculture» which has expanded while its supply of guano, in the past exported in large tonnages, has steadily de creased. The only other chemical fer tilizer plant in Peru went into opera tion in 1957. It uses sulfuric acid be yond the needs of the rayon industry, and phosphate rock imported from Florida, to make superphosphate.
World Steel Output Drops W o r l d steel output slumped in 1 9 5 8 , but Communist coun tries' output w a s up W O R L D crude steel production dur ing 195S dropped to 270 million metric tons—doxvn 7.9r/r from 1957's 293 mil lion metric tons. The 1958 steel output also fell below 1956's output of 284 million metric tons, slipping back to equal 1955's production. According to the Secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, nearly all the main steel-producing countries, except eastern European countries, U.S.S.R., and Red China, were hit by the recent recession. While the eastern European coun tries (Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Ro102
C&EN
MARCH
3 0,
1959
;~ \
..——l
1
ι β IV — i l l i —
*~:~
tons of crude steel last year—up 5'r from 195T, output in western European countries fell 4.4% to S6.6 million metric tons. Production in Belgium. France, West C^ermany, Italy, Luxem bourg, The Netherlands, and the Saar region ( ECSC countries) was oB.O mil lion metric tons in 1958, down 3 ' '< from 1957. Here's how major countries fared in crude steel output for the last two vears: ( millions of metric tons) 1957 1958 DECREASED O U T P U T IN 1958: 102.2 77.2 u. s. West Germany 24.5 22.8 U. K. 22.0 20.0 Japan 12.6 12.1 6.8 6.3 Italy 6.3 6.0 Belgium Total western Europe 90.6 86.6 Total ECSC countries 59.8 5S.0 INCREASED OUTPUT IN 195S: U.S.S.R. 51.0 France 14.1 Red China 5.2 Poland 5.3 5.2 Czechoslovakia Total eastern Europe 16.2
54.9 14.6 11.0 5.6 5.5
16.9
Although crude steel output in the U. S. dropped 24.5' * from 1957's level, the industry has been on the recovery road; monthly production in October last year was 59'< higher than it was in April, the low point. And this up trend in U. S. steel production as ob served in the second half of 1958 is expected to continue during 1959, ac cording to the American Iron and Steel Institute's production forecast of 90 to 100 million metric tons4 for this vear.
• Montecatini's largest petrochemi cal plant—a 895 million, TOOJDOO met ric tons-per-v ear operation—is now be ing built at Brindisi, Italy. The plant will turn out several plastics (includ ing polyethylene and Montecatini's new Moplen isotactic polypropylene >. syn thetic fiber polymers, aldehydes, al cohols, and organic solvents. The plant is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 1962. r Cenco instruments will build a plant in Breda, The Netherlands, to produce instruments and scientific apparatus for industries and schools of the European Economic Community. The city of
r*—ι., .,-.-n i^..;u α-~ —ι—* ui(.via
»» t i t
uutiu
uiv.
ρι«.*111
ι ι cX.HCt
:·.
!CtUS»C i l
to Cenco for 20 years, after which Cenco will own the structures. Con struction will start immediately and the first building is to be ready tor oc cupancy by August. W V * · · %··«?• ·
G.m.b.H. is a new firm set up by SudChemie AG of Munich and Chemetron. The new joint company's name was misspelled in an earlier story (C&EN, Feb. 16. page 7 4 ) . pany in El Salvador to make and sell its complete line of paints to Central American countries. To be called Sherwin-Williams Co. de Centro America, S.A., the company will have its headquarters in San Salvador. A paint plant with an initial capacity of about 250.000 gallons of paint prod ucts annually will be built shortly; com pletion is scheduled for mid-year. r Udex unit, now operating at Shells Stanlow refiner\- at Ellesmere Port, England, is said to be the first of its kind in any Shell refinery. Designed by Universal Oil Products, the Udex unit is a solvent extraction plant which uses a special solvent mixture of diethylene glycol, dipropv lene glycol, and water to extract certain aromatic com ponents from the feedstock. The aromatic extract is distilled off from the solvent and used in aviation gasoline. The insoluble, nonaromatic portion will be used as an additional feedstock for other processes. • Chemical plants now on stream at Société Anonyme des Produits Chimiques Saint-Gobaiii's site at Bene, France, will enable Shell Saint-Gobain (in which the Royal Dutch/Shell companies have 60"' interest) to make Epikote resins, carbon black, and base materials for detergents, as well as to expand its line of organic solvents. • Phthalic anhydride plant will be designed and engineered by Badger Mfg. for the Montecatini subsidiary, Aziende Colori Xazionali Affini ( A C X A ) , of Milan. Italy. Construction of the 10,000 metric ton-per-year plant is scheduled to be finished late this year. • Fluor Corp. of Canada has been awarded a contract of about $3 million to engineer and build a gas processing plant for d i e Nevis Operators' Committee at Nevis. Alta. When completed in November, the plant will yield about
4 3 million cubic feet per day of gas a n d 125 long tons per day of b y p r o d u c t sulfur. • National Gypsum and its Canadian subsidiary. National Gypsum ( C a n a d a ) are drilling for gypsum deposits in O n tario's Β rant ford area. If findings a r e satisfacior\. and if lut- iirrns receive mineral rights, they hope t o set u p a gypsum plant there—a $5 million enter prise. • New a l u m i n u m s h e e t mill boosts capacity of Alumino Iberico's plant at Alicante, Mmlhern Spain, to 18,700 tons of semifabricated aluminum prod ucts a year. Alumino Iberico is an as sociate company of Aluminium, Ltd., of Canada. Development of the Alicante plant is progressing with both Spanish and Canadian financing; Aluminium, Ltd., equity participation being about ί Bleached sulfite pulp ( Stora 5 9 ) made from pine wood is now being marketed b y the Swedish firm, Stora Kopparberg, for papermaking uses. • W o r l d Bank has loaned $37 million to nine private companies in Finland's pulp and paper industry for expansion and modernization of their plants. T h e projects being financed will enable the companies to increase their output of chemical pulp and newsprint. T h e net foreign exchange earnings from the new production should b e about $45 million a year. • Scotland's first nuclear p o w e r sta tion at Chapelcross is now providing electricity with t h e first of four reac tors. T h e Chapelcross station will have a generating capacity of 184,000 kw. when all four reactors are completed. ψ ϋ.
lend t h e Pioneer Chemical Corp. of Taiwan u p to $1 million to help set up a by-product coke oven plant in Taiwan. The plant will be built at Nankong, a n d will make 131,000 metric tons of coke per year from coal mined in Taiwan. It will also yield tar, creosote, pitch, ammonium sulfate, and benzene, some of which must now be imported.
I tUHMU\L 5ALt5 Career opportunities in an honest-togoodness Sales Training program of several months'* duration t including our eight-week» coiiege-ievei Applied Products School. A s s i g n m e n t s t o individual sales territories in United States a n d C a n a d a follow t r a i n i n g . O t h e r training o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r future
m a n a g e m e n t assignments are also available. Grow personally with America's largest and fastest-growing manufacturer-distributor of laboratory apparatus and reagents. B.S. Chemistry or equivalent required ; two to three years analytical laboratory experience preferred.
Indicate your area or plant preference hy sending your résumé, including starting salary desired, to the Sales Manager at one of these plants: 711 Forbes Street Pittsburgh 19, Pennsylvania 635 Greenwich Street New York 14, New York Gulph R o a d (Route 23) King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 8505 Devonshire R o a d Montreal 9, Quebec
r ίο H r n
r loncn
2850 South Jefferson Avenue St. Louis 18, Missouri 7722 Woodbury Drive Silver Spring, Maryland 245 Cariaw Avenue Toronto 8, Ontario All replies confidential
SCIENTIFIC COMPANY moisture determination balance by A combination drying unit a n d Precision Balance, this instrument can be used for solids o r liquids, a n d shows t h e percentage of moisture di rectly t o plus o r minus 0 . 1 % . V a r i a b l e control o f 6 5 0 watt u n breakable heating element a n d a d j u s t a b l e h e a t e r t o sample dis tance m a k e possible a w i d e r a n g e o f d r y i n g temperatures. The timer, with one minute settings up to 6 0 minutes, shuts o f f a u t o m a t i cally upon completion of t h e drying cycle.
f U. S. Atomic Energy Commission has
received its first shipment of uranium orange oxide from t h e Belgian firm, Union Minière d u Haut-k-atanga. Société Générale Métallurgique d e Hoboken prepared t h e oxide.
OHAUS SCALE CORPORATION
1050 Commerce Avenue Union, New Jersey
MARCH
3 0,
1959 C&EN
103
