Expansion
Cargill will expand its bioethanol production by constructing four 100 million gallon/year plants in the Midwest United States.  The company is considering potential sites for the corn-based plants, with a heavy focus on Indiana, Missouri, Illinois and Kansas.  

Acquisition
Air Product’s acquisition of BOC Gazy in Poland allows the U.S. industrial gas major to take advantage of Central Europe’s strong growth.  The company purchased BOC Gazy for $480 million from Linde.  The acquisition serves as a bridge for Air Products to Ukraine, Russia and other countries in Eastern Europe as those markets expand.  Included in the acquisition were on-site facilities serving chemical and steel firms as well as assets in liquid bulk and packaged gas. 

Up For Sale
Citigroup believes that General Electric should be able to sell its GE Plastics business for $10 billion or more because the business is attractive to both strategic investors and private equity.  Interested bidders could include BASF, Dow Chemical and Saudi Arabia’s SABIC along with private equity firms.  It’s believed that the chronically disappointing performance of GE Plastics increases the odds that the business gets sold as GE is continuing to upgrade its portfolio to focus on growing organic revenue.  GE’s comment on the possible sale is that they continue to review their businesses to maximize shareholder value, including the consideration of both dispositions and acquisitions.

Fine Levied
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has fined Bayer $3.2 million for false advertising of its One-A-Day Weight Smart drug.  This is the highest fine the FTC has ever levied.  Bayer violated an earlier order to cease what the FTC said were bogus claims.

Production Resumed
Nalco’s specialty chemical plant in Sugar Land, Texas was suspended for a few hours after ethylenediamine was released into the air.  Three employees were taken to a hospital and 14 others were treated at the site, which makes chemicals used in petroleum refining and oil production.  The plant has reopened and an investigation is underway as to the cause of the chemical release.

Home Use Rejected
The EPA has denied an industry petition to allow the use of a chromium-based wood preservative in lumber sold for decks and playground equipment.  The Forest Products Research Laboratory was requesting to treat lumber for residential use with acid copper chromate (ACC), which contains high concentrations of hexavalent chromium, a known human carcinogen.  The EPA believed that the risks associated with residential uses of ACC outweighed the minimal benefits.  Residential use was believed to pose a cancer risk to treatment and manufacturing workers, as well as non-cancer risks to homeowners, children and contractors.  In addition, the treated wood would be considered hazardous waste for disposal purposes.

Online Resource
Rohm and Haas now offers an online resource for the flexible packaging industry that discusses adhesive facts, recommends proper uses, and highlights performance benefits.  The platform is a resource to help flexible packaging converters, end-users and specifiers choose the right formulated adhesives, handle them correctly and obtain optimum performance.  Users can expect that development time for new and innovative products that rely on adhesives will be shortened and that the marketing of higher performance materials can be enhanced.   

Expansion
The Dow Chemical Company’s Water Soluble Polymers business unit will increase its focus on paint and oilfield applications with enhancements to certain manufacturing processes and capacity additions for CELLOSIZE hydroxyethlcellulose (HEC) in Institute, West Virginia.  The investment will yield an additional 5 million pounds each year along with numerous process improvements leading to energy cost savings of more than $3 million/year.  The multi-phase project should be completed during the first half of 2009.  The capacity expansion will primarily support additional production of more new CELLOSIZE products for use in paint and oilfield applications.

Raising Cash
Shasun Chemicals & Drugs has decided to raise Rupees (Rs) 198 million ($4.5 million) through an issue of 2.25 million warrants at Rs 88 each, which can later be converted into shares worth Rs 2 each.  The company recently signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences for the manufacture and sale of a generic version of an HIV/AIDS drug, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, using Gilead’s proprietary technology.

Petrochemical Project
Pak-Iran Joint Investment Company (PIJIC), a new joint-venture company between Iran and Pakistan, is considering establishing refineries and petrochemical projects.  PIJIC is focusing on naptha-based cracker projects that will probably be built in Pakistan.  There is also the possibility to invest in LNG, LPG, coal-power generation, gas pipeline and mineral projects.