Spain, and to concentrate future production atthe company’s existing world-scale productionplants in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Feluy,Belgium.

In agreement with the site management inTarragona, BASF will stop producing plasticiz-ers there with effect from 31 August 2002, whileproduction of phthalic anhydride, an intermedi-ate used in the production of plasticizers, willcontinue until 31 December 2002 to ensure thatexisting contracts are fulfilled. Forty employeesat the plants will be affected. These measuresare an important step toward the urgently need-ed restructuring of the European market, whichis characterized by overcapacity and thereforeintense price competition, BASF says.

The decision was preceded by the closure of aninitial plant for plasticizer intermediates inTarragona in June 2001 and the acquisition ofcapacities for plasticizers and PA from SISAS inFeluy, Belgium, in July 2001. “Our aim is toextend our leading position in the Europeanplasticizers market and to strengthen the busi-ness on a long-term basis”, says HerbertFietzek, responsible for BASF’s plasticizersbusiness in Europe.

Both the plants at Tarragona began operations in1971, supplying the Iberian market for soft PVCexclusively. Their total annual productioncapacity is 40 000 tonnes of plasticizers and 17 000 tonnes of PA. With the opening up ofEuropean markets, world-scale productionplants are increasingly important in ensuringcompetitiveness. In the future, Spanish cus-tomers for plasticizers will be supplied exclu-sively from the plants in Ludwigshafen andFeluy via a tank park in Tarragona.

BASF’s annual production totals approximately350 000 tonnes of plasticizers and 220 000tonnes of PA. The company’s latest develop-ment is Hexamoll® DINCH, an innovative plas-ticizer for toys, food wrappings and medicalproducts, which has been produced inLudwigshafen since July 2002.

Contact: BASF AG, D-67065 Ludwigshafen,Germany; tel: +49-621-60-0; fax: +49-621-60-42525; e-mail: info.service@basf-ag.de; URL:www.basf.de

Carbofoil carbon-based flameretardants now available fromUK’s PolyaddUnder the terms of a new agreement, Carbofoilexpandable graphite flame retardants from spe-ciality chemicals manufacturer Cleanline PVT ofPune, India, will now be available to the UKpolymer market through Polyadd Ltd. Adding toPolyadd’s range of low toxicity, halogen-free firesuppressants, Cleanline’s exfoliated graphite isreported to be well established in technicallydemanding flexible polyurethane flame-retardantfoam. According to the company, developmentwork is opening up possibilities for the use ofthese additives in other polymers such as intu-mescent polyolefins, polystyrene, rubbers,thermoset polyester and epoxy composites.

Polyadd says that the Carbofoil additives areeffective at low addition levels, have minimalimpact on mechanical properties and are syner-gistic with other flame retardants such as redphosphorus, phosphates, nitrogen compounds,hydrates and – where permitted – halogens. Arange of grades, including surface-coated prod-ucts, is being developed by Cleanline, and tech-nical support is offered from the company’sstate-of-the-art production unit in Pune.

Polyadd managing director Peter Murfitt says,“the Carbofoil products are a very good fit withour current range of flame retardants which aredeliberately based on inorganic zero-halogenchemistry. We have hydrates, red phosphorusand molybdenum based additives, and exfoliat-ed graphite helps us offer a wider programme toUK technical compounders.”

Contact: Peter Murfitt, Polyadd Ltd, 53A DenbyLane, Codnor, DE5 9SP, UK; tel: +44-1773-570994; fax: +44-1773-741684; e-mail:peter@polyadd.co.uk; URL: www.polyadd.co.uk

Great Lakes increases antimony oxide price Great Lakes Chemical Corp has increased theprice of all grades of antimony trioxide byUS$0.14/lb in the Americas and by $300/tonne inEurope and the Asia Pacific region, effective forshipments after 1 August 2002, where contracts

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allow. The price for other antimony derivatives,sold under the trade names TMS®, Timonox®,TRUTINT® and MICROFINE®, will alsoincrease dependent upon antimony content.

The company says the new pricing reflects fur-ther recent increases in the London MetalBulletin (LMB) value for antimony metal andits impact on the cost of finished antimonyderivatives. Great Lakes announced priceincreases for antimony trioxide and antimonyderivatives in March and May 2002 followingsimilar increases in the LMB value.

Antimony trioxide is used as a synergist, alongwith brominated flame retardants, in flame retar-dant polymer formulations widely used in electri-cal and electronics applications. Antimony triox-ide is also an effective flame retardant in highperformance PVC applications.

Contact: Paul Bridges, Business Manager,Antimony and Fyreblocs, Great Lakes ChemicalCorp, Tenax Road, Trafford Park, ManchesterM17 1WT, UK; tel: +44-161-875-3488; fax: +44-161-873-7271; URL: www.pa.greatlakes.com

Shimadzu and MitsubishiChemical in joint carbonnanofibres pilotShimadzu Corp and Mitsubishi Chemical Corpare undertaking joint trials of a carbon dioxide(CO2) immobilization technology, which con-verts CO2 into carbon and water by reactingatmospheric CO2 with methane gas in the pres-ence of a catalyst. Originally developed to combatgreenhouse gas emissions, the partners plan todevelop the technology to extract carbon nanofi-bres of <100 nm diameter from the carbon thusformed. The companies will jointly develop apilot-scale plant with an annual capacity of about5 tonnes per annum to carry out a year-long trial.

Mitsubishi Chemical and Shimadzu Corpbelieve the technology promises a low-costroute to commercial production of carbonnanofibres. These fibres are difficult and expen-sive to manufacture using current technologies,the companies say, but have a plethora of poten-tial industrial applications, including polymerreinforcement, functional pigments, conductivematerials and the like. The two firms started

research collaboration in 2000. The pilot planttrial is the final stage of the product develop-ment process on the road to commercialization.

Contact: Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, 5-2,Marunouchi 2-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan;tel: +81-3-3283-6274; URL: www.m-kagaku.co.jp

Valhi proposes merger withTremontValhi, Inc has made a proposal to merge Valhi andTremont Corp. Valhi directly and indirectly owns5 154 588 shares of the common stock ofTremont, representing approximately 80% of the6 424 858 shares of Tremont currently outstand-ing. Of the shares held by Valhi, its majority-owned subsidiary NL Industries, Inc indirectlyowns 1 036 167 of the Tremont shares.

The proposal states that stockholders ofTremont common stock (including NL) otherthan Valhi would receive between 2 and 2.5shares of Valhi common stock for each Tremontshare held. Tremont says it expects its Board ofDirectors to form a special committee com-prised of Board members unrelated to Valhi toreview the proposal.

Valhi is engaged in the titanium dioxide pig-ments business, as well as component products,titanium metals products, and waste manage-ment industries. For the first six months of2002, the company reported net income ofUS$2.7 million, compared to net income of$79.2 million in the first six months of 2001.

Tremont, headquartered in Denver, CO, is princi-pally a holding company with operations in thetitanium metals business, conducted throughTitanium Metals Corporation, in the titanium diox-ide pigments business, conducted through NLIndustries, and in real estate development. Itreported net income for the second quarter of 2002of $.1 million, compared to net income of $11.4million for the same quarter in 2001. For the sixmonths ended 30 June 2002, the company report-ed a net loss of $11.5 million, compared to netincome of $16.0 million for the first half of 2001.

Contact: Mark A. Wallace, vice president andCFO, Tremont Corp, 1999 Broadway, Ste 4300,Denver, CO 80202, USA; tel: +1-303-296-5615;fax: +1-303-296-5645

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