Plant Shutdown

Acquisition

Basell has signed a definitive agreement with Solvay by which Basell will acquire Solvay Engineered Polymers, Inc., a leading supplier of polypropylene compounds in North America.  The transaction, which is expected to close in early 2008, is subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

Expansion

Texas Petrochemicals Inc. (TPI) plans to more than double its current production of polyisobutylene (PIB) by mid 2008 with the addition of a new manufacturing facility at its Houston, Texas plant site.  The plant is designed to produce both highly reactive PIB (HR-PIB) and conventional PIB.  Upon completion, the expansion will supplement the company’s existing production capacity of more than 65,000 metric tons/year, which has been de-bottlenecked during the past several years.

Acquisition

Celgene has agreed to acquire Boulder, Colorado-based Pharmion for $2.9 billion.  Pharmion is the firm’s first major acquisition and will bring Celgene several drugs and drug candidates, including Vidaza (approved in the U.S. for myelodysplastic syndromes – MDS) and a myeloma treatment that Pharmion is developing for Europe based on thalidomide licensed from Celgene.  The acquisition is expected to close by the second quarter of 2008.

Dow Chemical Company plans to expand its facilities in Correggio, Italy, making the site Dow’s global research and development center for polyurethane systems formulation and application technology.  The $20 million expansion is scheduled for completion in 2009, however is subject to appropriate government and regulatory approvals.

Coal to Methanol Plant

Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. is performing feasibility studies and devising plans for the potential development of a coal-to-methanol gasification plant in China.  The plant would support the company’s facilities in China and address the region’s increased demand for clean petrochemical feedstocks.

Production Boost

BASF is raising its production capacity in Ludwigshafen, Germany for higher oxo alcohols by 80,000 metric tons to a total of 390,000 metric tons/year, which will be built up stepwise through the end of the first quarter of 2009.  The additional capacity will be mainly used for the manufacture of plasticizers, whose production capacity BASF plans to raise by 40,000 metric tons to 300,000 metric tons/year by the second quarter of 2008.  Plasticizers are added to materials like PVC to make them soft and elastic.

Petrochemical Complex

KazMunaiGas Exploration Production plans to build a $5 billion petrochemical complex in Kazakhstan as part of its diversification efforts.  Plans are in their final stages and the company hopes to build the complex with joint venture partners.  The facility is being designed to produce more than 1 million tons of ethylene, polyethylene and polypropylene.

New Plant

Merck & Co. plans to invest $280 million towards construction of a vaccine plant in Carlow Town, Ireland.  The plant will be the first stand-alone human vaccine facility in Ireland and is expected to be fully operational in 2011.  As part of its operations, Merck also plans to cooperate with Irish universities on biologics production. 

New Plant

Sanofi-Aventis plans to build an influenza vaccine plant in Shenzhen, China.  Construction is scheduled to begin in 2008, with the goal of producing seasonal influenza vaccines for the Chinese market by 2012.  The facility is being designed for easy expansion to keep pace with anticipated market growth.  In addition, it will be flexible enough to switch production for pandemic influenza vaccines.

Phosphate Acid Investment