ingredient in Chile, Canada, the USand Japan. The process to obtainapproval in Europe is underway.AstaXin will be produced utilising Tate& Lyle’s world-leading fermentationcapability together with uniquetechnology developed by Igene.

Part of Tate & Lyle’s existing citricacid facility at Selby (Yorkshire) will bemodified to include the production of1500 tonnes/y of AstaXin. Themodifications should be completed in2004.

Press release from: Igene Biotechnology Inc, 9110Red Branch Road, Columbia, MD 21045, USA,Website: http://www.igene.com (19 Mar 2003)

US: Accel – plastics colorants

Accel is planning to increase thesize of its unit in Naperville, IL from31,000 to 61,000 sq ft and add fivepeople to its workforce before theend of 2003. Accel reported its salesat $15 M for 2002 and it expectssales to reach $18 M in 2003. Thiswas partly thanks to increasedproduction from the Avon, OH plant.(See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Feb2002, 5). Accel makes colourcompounds based on polyethylene,polypropylene and polystyrene,aswell as Color Gem colorants andconcentrated additives.

Plastics News, 14 Feb 2003 (Website:http://www.plasticsnews.com)

US: Entec – plastic compounds

Entec Engineered Resins hasexpanded its factory at Manchester,TN from 90,000 sq ft to 125,000 sq ft(floor area). It also installed a fifthextrusion line and increased the sizeof its laboratory by 100%. TheManchester factory produces 27,000tonnes/y of plastic compounds, mainlybased on nylon, acrylonitrilebutadiene styrene (ABS),polycarbonate and polycarbonatealloys. Colour compounds account forone-half of its output.

Entec reported sales revenue at$125 M for 2002 and anticipatesdoubling that figure in 2003. Thecompany is owned 51% by itsPresident and certain directors andemployees; the other 49% has beenowned since 1999 by Ravago NV (ofBelgium). With Ravago’s backing,Entec acquired Hinds Co Inc last year

and earlier this year it acquired WestCoast Polymers.

Plastics News, 27 Feb 2003 (Website:http://www.plasticsnews.com)

COMPANIESBirla Carbon’s worldwide sales teamgains a foothold in China

The Aditya Birla group (based inIndia) currently controls 360,000tonnes/y of carbon black capacityworldwide and it has plans to expandthis to 450,000 tonnes/y over the nextfew years. To optimise its marketingpower, the group has decided todelineate sales territories for itsvarious operating subsidiaries and toinsist that all products sold by allsubsidiaries will carry the brandnameBirla Carbon. Indian Rayon will caterfor sales to India, Sri Lanka andBangladesh. Thai Carbon Black(TCB) will cater for sales to all otherAsian markets, including China.Alexandria Carbon Black (of Egypt)will cater for sales to European andUS markets.

TCB’s business will bestrengthened by the Rup 400 Macquisition of a majority stake inDashiqiao Chemical Co, thanks to anagreement with the Wu family. AdityaBirla plans to invest Rup 800 M toincrease Dashiqiao’s carbon blackcapacity from 15,000 tonnes/y to50,000 tonnes/y.

Chemical Weekly, 18 Mar 2003, 48 (30), 116

Clariant plans major divestmentprogramme following heavy financialloss in 2002

Following a SFR 890 M write-down onits life science activities, the Clariantgroup reported a net loss of SFR 648M for the year to end-December 2002.The huge write-down is mainlyattributable to goodwill in relation toClariant’s acquisition of the BTP finechemicals business in 2000.Underlying earnings before interest,tax, depreciation and amortisation(EBITDA) increased by 2.4% to SFR1.11 bn in 2002, while overall salesfell by 3.3% to SFR 9.33 bn. EBITDAfor the Textile, Leather & PaperChemicals division was down by 7%at SFR 299 M on sales of SFR 2.8 bn.

EBITDA for the Pigments & Additivesdivision was down by 4% at SFR 285M, while sales were down by 3% arSFR 1.8 bn. EBITDA for theMasterbatches division shot up by20% to SFR 127 M, while sales wererelatively unchanged at SFR 1 bn.

In order to regain profitability,Clariant intends to reduce itsworkforce by 5% over the next twoyears, cutting 1400 jobs. It also aimsto reduce costs of distribution,logistics and administration by 10% orSFR 150 M. Clariant’s capital basemay be increased by about SFR 600M.

The Pharmaceutical, CustomSynthesis and Electronic Materialsbusiness units and the Masterbatchesdivision have been registered asseparate legal entities. This could bethe prelude to disposal of thesebusinesses, either by outright sale orby bringing in joint venture partners.In fact, Clariant spokesmen haveindicated that businesses earmarkedfor disposal over the next two yearscurrently generate SFR 700 M insales revenue.

Chemical Market Reporter, 3 Mar 2003 (Website:http://www.chemicalmarketreporter.com) & EuropeanChemical News, 3 Mar 2003, 78 (2042), 7 & NeueZuercher Zeitung, 26 Feb 2003, 224 (47), 11 (inGerman)

Indian Takeover Code forces Clariantto bid for remainder of Colour Chem

Clariant inherited a 50.1% stake inColour Chem (the Indian organic dyesand pigments manufacturer) as aresult of its takeover of Hoechst’sglobal pigments business. Theacquisition of majority control inColour Chem is deemed to haveoccurred in November 1997, but incontravention of the local StockExchange Takeover Code Clariantfailed to prepare a bid for theoutstanding shares in Colour Chem.In a directive dated 16 October 2002,the Securities & Exchange Board ofIndia (SEBI) ruled that Clariant mustmake an open market offer for theshares of Colour Chem that it doesnot already own. Furthermore, SEBIruled that Clariant must pay 15% perannum interest in respect of sharepurchases made by minorityshareholders participating in the openmarket offer. Clariant’s appeal againstthis ruling was rejected by theSecurity Appellate Tribunal in early

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