U.S.

Owner Denies LyondellBasell Request for Credit Extension
LyondellBasell Industries said that a demand for a credit extension by its Lyondell Chemical subsidiary under a revolving credit agreement with an entity controlled by its owner Access Industries was denied last week. The company reported last week that it...

Dow Ready to Pursue Legal Action Against Kuwait, Seeks Alternative JV Partners
Dow Chemical says it will pursue legal action against Kuwait’s Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) after Kuwait’s decision last month to pull out of the $17.4 billion K-Dow joint venture. Dow also says it has been approached by other interested...

Süd-Chemie Completes Ceramic Filters Acquisition
Süd-Chemie says it has completed its previously disclosed acquisition of Hi-Tech (Alfred Station, NY), the ceramic filters business of Cookson Group (London). The acquisition strengthens the company’s...

NAM Creates Custom and Border Coalition
The National Association of Manufacturers (Washington) says it has formed the Customs and Border Coalition to help monitor and shape trade and border security policy. The coalition will be composed of individual businesses...

Dow's Credit Rating Is Lowered Following Collapse of K-Dow
Moody’s and Standard & Poor's (S&P) have each lowered Dow Chemical’s senior unsecured rating in response to Kuwait’s decision to back out of the K-Dow joint venture. Moody’s lowered Dow’s rating to Baa1 from A3, and...

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CANADA

Dow Closes Three Latex Sites; Signs Deal for Chlor-Alkali Supply
Dow Chemical says it will permanently close its Pittsburg, CA; King’s Lynn, U.K.; and Varennes, PQ latex manufacturing plants. Dow says it transferred most employees from these sites to other parts of the company. The decision was based on...

Pesticide Makers Urge Canada to Drop Plans for Product Ban
Pesticide manufacturers are urging Canada’s Ontario province to drop plans that would prohibit the sale and use of certain pesticides used for cosmetic or non-essential purposes around homes, businesses, and public areas. The proposed ban would apply to...

Georgia Gulf Permanently Closes Plant in Sarnia, ON
Georgia Gulf says it will permanently close its 450-million lbs/year polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin facility at Sarnia, ON, due to “continued weakening” in the housing and construction markets. The company had idled the plant earlier this month...

Fertilizer Firms Plan Production Cutbacks
PotashCorp, Agrium, and K+S Group (Kassel, Germany) say they are cutting back fertilizer production, citing lackluster demand in the fourth quarter and expectations of further weakening early next year. PotashCorp says it plans to reduce its 2009 potash...

Specialties Price Watch
Sun Chemical says it will increase packaging, commercial sheetfed, and news ink prices in Canada by 5%-12%, effective January...

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MEXICO

APLA: Latin American Firms Brace for a Difficult 2009
Latin American countries are bracing for a difficult 2009 as  regional GDP growth is expected to be far lower than earlier predictions, according to speakers at the Latin American Petrochemical Association (APLA) annual meeting, being held in Rio de...

Mexico: Energy Sector Reform Hangs in the Balance
Dwindling output from state-owned oil and petrochemical facilities has prompted the administration of Mexican president Felipe Calderón to propose widespread reform of the country’s energy sector. An overhaul of state oil company Petróleos...

Mexichem Suspends Stock Offering
Mexican polyvinyl chloride producer Mexichem (Mexico City) has cancelled the stock offering it began in July...

LyondellBasell Sells Sarnia Site to Shell; Starts Up Mexican Unit
LyondellBasell subsidiary Basell Canada has sold its assets and land at Sarnia, ON to Shell’s Canadian affiliates, LyondellBasell says. The sale includes LyondellBasell’s polypropylene (PP) resin plant, feed preparation unit, pipelines, propylene...

BASF Widens Scope of Proposed Styrenics Sale
BASF says it has widened the scope of a previously announced divestment of the company's global styrenics business and has reorganized the activities in preparation for the sale. The company is now including its styrene copolmer business with...

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