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Economy

December 21, 2009

Year In Review

Although one of the worst years in memory for the chemical industry, 2009 had a few bright spots.

Reorganization Complications

Bankruptcy: LyondellBasell and Tronox work with creditors while possible buyers look on.

Sensient Opens New Facilities

Lanxess Scales Back On Assets...

...But Lenzing Is Beefing Up

December 14, 2009

Latching On To A Growth Market

Custom chemical manufacturers that can make antibody-drug conjugates see promising business.

Biorefiners Win Government Funds

Green Goal: Grants will advance fuels and chemicals from renewable raw materials.

Dow Corning CEO Burns Calls For Green Jobs

Dow Spins Off Pfenex Business

December 7, 2009

The New Dow

After a painful year, company says it has the portfolio it needs for unprecedented expansion of its business.

Closed For Business

Scavenging shuttered chemical plants can be profitable, but not in this economy.

ACC Bulks Up

Membership Drive: Trade group seeks smaller members as chemical industry's fortunes improve

Big Firms Invest In Europe

November 30, 2009

There's Money In Safer Food

As concern grows over food recalls, instrument makers eye a growing market for test equipment.

Drug R&D Heats Up In Beijing

Globalization: PPD buys Bioduro, Merck Serono builds new lab in Chinese capital.

Clariant To Cut 570 Jobs

BASF To Shutter Paper Coatings Sites

Pfizer Plans New China R&D Center

Biopharma Plant Slated For Abu Dhabi

November 23, 2009

Breakthroughs In Spanish Biotech

PharmaMar and Genetrix score in a sector of reticent investors and business-resistant academics.

Dow In Sharp Focus

Business: Firm says it will invest more in high-growth, value-added chemistry.

Genomics Pioneer deCode Goes Bust

Honeywell To Build UOP Lab In India

Suntech To Build Its First U.S. Plant

Merck Cholesterol Drug Takes A Hit

November 16, 2009

Pfizer Slashes R&D

Pharmaceuticals: Company to close six research sites and consolidate others as part of integration with Wyeth.

Some Good News In Third Quarter

Chemical earnings are still weak, but quarter-over-quarter comparison is encouraging.

A Mixed Bag From Pharma

U.S. companies saw limited growth in third-quarter sales, while flu therapies boosted European results.

U.S. Solar Plants Close

November 9, 2009

Pharma Strategy

Novartis makes major R&D and vaccines investments in China.

Japanese Earnings Surprise

Fiscal First Half: Firms performed better than feared.

J&J Revamps, Cuts Jobs

DuPont Forecasts Strong Growth

Lilly Opens Labs In California

Industry Gets Federal Energy Grants

November 2, 2009

European Firms Test The Bottom

Third Quarter: Optimism appears in some earnings reports.

A New Normal

Record unemployment requires a realistic attitude and creative thinking.

Down But Not Out

Chemistry jobs took a beating this year, prompting out-of-work chemists to reinvent themselves .

Working For Uncle Sam

The recession may lead more chemists to pursue careers as civil servants.

BASF To Shut Down Maleic Anhydride Plant

Overcapacity and low profits blamed for closing in Feluy, Belgium, by end of 2009.

Lonza Cuts Jobs, Spending

October 26, 2009

Enterprise Software In The Annus Horribilis

Decades of big investment in information technology are paying off in the chemical industry's response to the recession.

A Mixed Earnings Picture

Recovery Watch: The third quarter brings few signs of stronger demand.

Academic R&D Spending Trends

Outlays rose 2.4% for chemistry and grew 3.5% for science and engineering as a whole in 2007.

October 19, 2009

Putting A Price On Cutting CO2

Climate Change: Economists predict modest overall impacts but deep cuts for some.

Fine Chemicals Tough It Out

CPhI: After a difficult year, there could be signs of life for pharmaceutical chemical producers.

Rising To The Challenge

In biotech, a culture of creativity and team building helps top companies to work for weather a tough economy.

October 12, 2009

Federal R&D Funding

Budget for 2010 gets moving after slow start; most research funding is up.

October 5, 2009

Solvay Sells Its Drug Unit To Abbott Labs

Acquisition: Firm is latest European conglomerate to split chemicals and drugs.

Cleantech Investments Surge

Government support lured in venture investors in the third quarter

September 28, 2009

Stateside Surge In Pharma Chemicals

Investment flows into the U.S. as drugmakers reassess their supply chains.

Biotech Stocks

Falling share prices could lead to market delisting for many firms.

September 21, 2009

Lilly Sets Out To Reorganize

Pharmaceuticals: Plan will establish five business units and cut $1 billion in costs, 5,500 jobs.

Positive Earnings Estimates

Recovery: With higher sales volumes in the third quarter, Solutia, Lubrizol boost 2009 earnings estimates.

Vanishing Plants

Latest closures are ending chemical production at the only U.S. facilities of their kind.

Stepping On The Gas

North american petrochemical makers are benefiting from domestic natural gas development.

September 14, 2009

Chemtura Charts A Comeback

CEO Craig Rogerson hopes firm will emerge from bankruptcy in March 2010.

Thermo, PerkinElmer Boost Diagnostics

Acquisition: Deals mark convergence of life sciences tools and medical diagnostics.

Biogen Bids For Facet

Pharmaceuticals: Deal is designed to boost its position in the MS drug market.

Solar Energy

Showa Shell invests $1 billion in new thin-film plant.

September 7, 2009

Huntsman To Buy Most Of Tronox

Acquisition: Deal will make Huntsman the world's second largest maker of titanium dioxide.

Dainippon Takes Over Sepracor

Acquisition: The purchase gives Japanese firm key U.S. presence.

Danaher Invests In Mass Spec

Instrumentation: $1.1 billion deal brings AB Sciex and more.

Up From The Ashes

U.S. soda ash industry fights its way out of the recession.

August 24, 2009

Chemical Deals Keeping Pace

Credit crunch hobbles big mergers, but firms continue to shop strategically.

Standing The Heat

DSM is attempting what many have tried and failed to do: launch a new polymer.

Faculty Furloughs

Public universities combat budget cuts by forcing employees to take unpaid time off.

August 17, 2009

Equipping The Science Agenda

Instrument makers hope government stimulus funds will spur sales and development.

Deal Fever Strikes Japan

Union of Mitsubishi Chemical and Mitsubishi Rayon could benefit both.

Monsanto's Phosphate Operation

Life sciences company will process phosphorus for Roundup herbicide from a new mine in Idaho.

Demand Stabilizes In Second Quarter

As destocking ends, chemical firms look for signs of growth.

Pharma Continues To Flounder

U.S. companies have lackluster results in the second quarter, but flu treatments could help european firms.

DuPont Rejiggers Business Operations

August 10, 2009

European Decline Persists

Reports show poor earnings, but some positive signals are on the horizon.

Arkema Will Acquire Dow Acrylics Unit

Sale satisfies FTC demand following Dow's Rohm and Haas purchase.

Biotech Firms Dip Toes In Investment Waters

Priorities For 2011 Science Budget

August 3, 2009

Global Top 50

Profits slump in C&EN's first ranking since the onset of the financial crisis.

Agilent To Acquire Varian For $1.5 Billion

Deal brings Agilent a line of atomic and molecular spectroscopy instruments, and bolsters its push into the bioanalytical instrumentation market.

Second-Quarter Results

Dow Chemical and BASF earnings reflect bad, but improving, economy.

La Seda Shutting Down Plastics Output

July 27, 2009

Buying A Sustainable Economy

The record recovery act energy spending may trigger a new clean-energy industry.

Chemical Firms Eke Out Earnings

With demand still weak, companies shrink overhead.

Global Stimulus Supports Innovation

Nations see research and technology as key to long-term economic recovery.

Epix Goes Bust

July 20, 2009

Exxon Invests In Algal Biofuels

Project represents a new direction for oil giant.

LyondellBasell Under Fire

Bankrupt firm's plan to close facilities in Texas has neighbors in an uproar.

Women In Industry

Women made some strides at the very top but have little to show elsewhere.

Green Chemistry In The Mainstream

Cleaner, cheaper, smarter chemistry is no longer a pie-in-the-sky idea.

Sipchem, Hanwha Team Up For Saudi Project

Altana Will Buy U.S. Ink Maker

Praxair Invests In Solar Sector

Japanese Drugmaker to Acquire U.S. Firm

July 13, 2009

Electronic Materials Tough It Out

Makers of electronic chemicals remain committed to innovation despite hard times.

BASF To Cut Jobs

Layoffs of 3,700 workers are part of plan to integrate Ciba.

Recession Hits Chemical Workers

Production cutbacks are to blame for loss of 41,300 jobs.

J&J Bets With Elan

Alzheimer's investment helps small firm survive.

July 6, 2009

Facts & Figures Of The Chemical Industry

For the chemical industry, 2008 started strong, but recession dragged it down.

Economists See End To Recession

ACC predicts U.S. chemical output will rise 1.6% in 2010.

Materials Engineering

GE taps Detroit-area talent for a new manufacturing R&D center

Safe Havens

Custom chemical producers at Chemspec showcase pharma and agchem in a down year.

June 29, 2009

An Entrepreneurial Nonprofit

Capitalizing on its position as a technology adviser to government and business, Battelle commercializes new ideas

Renewable Electricity Expansion

National Research Council study predicts wind, solar growth in near term

Monsanto Weighs Future Of Roundup

Clariant Plans Further Job Cuts

June 22, 2009

Engineering Polymers

All plastics businesses have been hit by the recession; some will recover better than others.

The Ole Standby

Nylon may be on the ropes, but observers say it isn't down for the count.

Slowing Down

As current uses of polycarbonate wane, producers search for new ones.

A Mature Plastic

Makers of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene have struggled for a long time, and the recession isn't helping.

BASF Is Closing Polystyrene Unit

BASF Strikes Deal On Trimethylolpropane

June 15, 2009

Dow's Plan For Coatings Growth

Launch of new business follows acquisition of Rohm and Haas.

Dow Corning Refocuses On Silicone Innovation

SABIC Will Close U.K. Polymer Plant

Solazyme Nets Big Bucks From Investors

Anadys, Adolor Restructure, Cut Jobs

Recession Chemistry 101

Some department chairs say they're coping, while others are just hanging on.

June 8, 2009

Impact Of GM's Bankruptcy

Action further resigns chemical makers to lower demand from a smaller U.S. auto industry.

Japanese Petrochemicals

Mitsubishi Chemical and Asahi Kasei mull merger of petrochemical operations.

ExxonMobil Boosts Its China Presence

Unfazed by economic slowdown, company starts up giant facilities, invests in Shanghai R&D center.

DOE Releases $800 Million In Seven Days

NIST Seeks Proposals For Stimulus Funds

June 1, 2009

New Management For Ranbaxy

Losses prompt parent firm, Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, to appoint new chairman and CEO.

Solar Booms Worldwide

Arizona Chemical Closes A Plant

NIH Windfall

Stimulus money creates short-term gains, long-term challenges for biomedical research agency.

May 25, 2009

Sobering BIO

The financial crisis meant fewer attendees at the biotech industry's annual meeting.

Catalyst For Change

Eyeing the end of the recession, Süd-Chemie looks to advanced technologies for growth.

Rushing To Market

Investing heavily, Russian initiative hopes to catch up in nanotechnology commercialization.

Goldman Sachs Sees Upside For Specialty Chemicals

Brighter Times For Federal R&D

Obama's first budget affirms his support for science, particularly in the areas of energy and climate change.

May 18, 2009

Sales Are Scarce In First Quarter

Chemical firms cling to shrinking profits, look for glimmer of an upturn.

Drug Firms Face Down Economy

Economic repercussions took a toll on first-quarter sales and earnings.

NSF Rolls Out Stimulus Plan

Agency will use money to support mix of new and existing programs.

RSC Acquires Chemical Database

Repository offers free structure and property data.

Arkema Restructures In North America

Arkema has begun a round of about 200 layoffs in North America...

Two Chemical Firms Cut Texas Output

LyondellBasell Industries and Hexion Specialty Chemicals are both curtailing chemical production in the face of weak demand...

GE To Open New Battery Plant

GE is planning to build a battery manufacturing plant near Albany, N.Y., for the company's new transportation battery business...

Northfield Closes Blood Replacer Plant

Northfield Laboratories is closing its plant in Mount Prospect, Ill., and laying off its entire staff there...

May 11, 2009

Business Groups Oppose Tax Hikes

Obama says tax code encourages shift of jobs overseas.

Biotech Outlook

As access to most types of capital disappears, industry consolidation is likely in 2009.

DuPont Will Cut 2,000 More Jobs

Detailed restructuring plan was announced on April 21 as part of its first-quarter earnings report...

Rhodia Shuts Nylon Operation In Canada

Rhodia is shutting down a nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 engineering resin compounding plant in Mississauga, Ontario...

May 4, 2009

Top 50 Chemical Producers

C&EN's annual ranking of U.S. chemical firms shows early strains from the economy.

Chemical Society Cutbacks

Global economic downturn necessitates job and benefit cuts at world's largest scientific society.

Dow, BASF In The Black

Top two chemical firms eke out profits in the first quarter despite steep declines in demand.

Celanese PVOH Business Goes To Japan's Sekisui

Sale price shows decline in business's value since 2000.

LyondellBasell Adds To Bankruptcy Filing

LyondellBasell has added its Luxembourg-based holding company to the existing chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization of its U.S. affiliates...

April 27, 2009

Back From China

Manufacturing of pharmaceutical chemicals and related goods is starting to trickle back to the U.S.

Chemical Earnings Continue To Slide

Companies cut to the bone to counter shrinking demand.

Novozymes Sees China Opportunity

Novozymes, the world's largest enzymes producer, has released a report predicting that China can develop a cellulosic ethanol industry that employs 6 million people by 2020..

April 20, 2009

New Asian Team

Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical and China's Sinopec will join forces in petrochemicals.

DuPont Asks Staff To Take Unpaid Leave

Because of the continued poor global economy, DuPont has asked salaried and professional employees worldwide to voluntarily take unpaid time off during the remainder of 2009...

Creditors Give Georgia Gulf A Break

Georgia Gulf has received amendments from its creditors that will allow it to delay interest payments on two of its bonds for about a month...

J&J And Amgen Cut Staff In U.S.

Johnson & Johnson will eliminate about 900 positions in its Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals division...

April 13, 2009

Going It Alone

After failing to get itself acquired, Huntsman Corp. has a plan to survive the downturn.

Chemical Jobs Continue To Fall

U.S. payroll losses total 11,300 in first quarter.

LyondellBasell Eying Deeper Cost-Cutting

LyondellBasell, which is under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, is targeting...

Germany's Merck Will Pare Pigments

To adapt production to demand, Germany's Merck is cutting back pigment output worldwide mostly because...

Asahi, Shin-Etsu Warn On Profits

Japan's Asahi Kasei expects to post a net profit of $70 million on sales of $15.6 billion in the fiscal year that just ended on March 31...

DSM Wins Production Contract With Shire

The British drug company Shire will close a plant in Owings Mills, Md., and transfer production of finished-dose drugs to...

April 6, 2009

Chemical Jobs Continue To Fall

U.S. payroll losses total 11,300 in first quarter.

Evotec And Dyax Announce Job Cuts

Evotec has launched a restructuring program aimed at lowering sales and accounting costs by 10% and R&D costs by more than 30%...

Three Plants Close In Europe

Rohm and Haas will close its powder coatings plant in Castellón, Spain, and build a smaller facility in the same area...

March 30, 2009

Lyondell And BASF Shut Ethylene Plants

LyondellBasell Industries will permanently close its olefins cracker in Chocolate Bayou, Texas, by the beginning of August...

Rhodia Restructures French Operations

Rhodia and its employee works council are discussing plans to improve the competitiveness of the firm's nylon and Novecare units in France...

Cortex And Poniard Cut Their Workforces

Cortex Pharmaceuticals is restructuring its operations and halving its workforce of about 30...

March 23, 2009

Trauma Continues For Chemical Firms

Salary reductions increase as a cost-control measure.

Chemtura's Bankruptcy

Firm cut dividends, jobs and put businesses up for sale, but it was not enough.

Tough Times For Petrochemicals

The long-anticipated petrochemical downturn has finally arrived, heralded by a deep recession.

Synta Cuts Workforce After Suspending Trial

Synta Pharmaceuticals will eliminate 90 positions following the suspension of Phase III clinical trials of elesclomol...

March 16, 2009

Dow, Rohm And Haas Settle

Revised terms pave the way for Dow's big specialty chemical acquisition.

Who's Next?

Veterans of past layoffs tell those facing the ax in the pharma industry what they can expect.

March 10, 2009

Eastman To Cut Another $100 Million In Costs

Plan calls for up to 300 job cuts and 5% employee salary reductions.

March 9, 2009

Industry's Outlook Worsens

Main industry trade group drops its forecast for 2009 chemical output.

Fiscal 2010 Budget Preview

Obama proposes higher spending for science, revenues from CO2 emissions.

Slow Economy Hits More Chemical Firms

The economic slowdown continues to take a toll on chemical firms....

March 3, 2009

Chemical Industry Outlook Worsens

Main industry trade group drops its forecast for 2009 chemical output.

March 2, 2009

Climate Change, Energy Priorities

President links issues to nation's economic future as Congress takes action.

European Earnings

Fourth quarter sinks annual results.

Abu Dhabi Firm Agrees To Buy Nova

Deal allows Canadian chemical company to live on.

Mergers Retreat From Heights

Tight credit, lack of demand dampen once-hot deal market.

Chemical, Pharmaceutical Stocks Hit Long-Time Lows

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's 3.4% fall on Monday, Feb. 23, took it down to 7,114.78...

Two Firms May Lose Stock Listing

The economic slowdown has hit the stocks of Chemtura and Georgia Gulf hard...

Dow Corning Will Slash 800 Jobs

Dow Corning plans to eliminate 800 jobs across its 40-plus global locations...

Small Drug Firms Face Operating Setbacks

La Jolla Pharmaceutical has eliminated most of its workforce, about 90 jobs...

February 23, 2009

Make Your Résumé Work For You

A good résumé is a marketing tool that gets you noticed, even in a weak job market.

Energy Jobs

DOE gears up to spend big on infrastructure, renewable energy projects.

Industrial R&D Spending Stalls

Investments in research will be flat in 2009.

Fourth-Quarter Earnings Tank

Steep drop in demand from economic downturn sends chemical firms racing to cut costs.

Drug Firms Revamp

After a difficult 2008, big firms are taking aggressive restructuring steps.

Rhodia Idles Workers In Charleston

Rhodia has temporarily laid off 28 of 125 workers at its Charleston, S.C., site...

Rockwood Cuts Jobs, Freezes Salaries

Rockwood Holdings has reduced workhours, eliminated jobs, and initiated salary freezes...

February 16, 2009

Companies Halt Plans For Plants

Seeking to cut costs, chemical makers delay projects.

Congress Breaks Stimulus Logjam

Science, energy, education get big boost in sweeping package.

Chemtura's Debt

With a deadline looming, firm seeks to avoid bankruptcy, sale of the company.

Pinching Pennies

Chemical firms plan a 25.1% capital spending cut and a 1.8% drop in R&D spending in 2009.

Insights: Budget Mess

The fiscal 2010 budget is late and the process is broken.

More Pharmaceutical Firms Cut jobs

More cutbacks are under way at drug companies to address current business issues...

February 10, 2009

Obama Pushes Stimulus At Energy Department

President underscores future role of agency in transforming nation's energy industry.

February 9, 2009

Demand Collapses In Fourth Quarter

Chemical executives rue the worst quarter in decades.

February 2, 2009

Pfizer To Buy Rival Wyeth

Deal will create a drug giant with $71 billion in annual sales.

Dow, Rohm And Haas Deal Gets Ugly

Rohm and Haas says a deal is a deal, despite Dow's woes.

The Language Of Hard Times

No matter how chemical companies say it, it's all about the Benjamins.

DuPont Posts $249 Million Loss

Declines in construction, auto sales, and consumer spending led to a drop in earnings for DuPont in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Ashland Plans New Cuts ...

Wrestling with the combined effects of the economic downturn and its recent acquisition of Hercules...

... As Clariant Plans Cuts Of Its Own

Tough economic conditions are also forcing Clariant to cut 1,000 jobs and eliminate a dividend payment for 2008.

Cabot To Close Four Plants

On the heels of slumping earnings, carbon black and silica maker Cabot says it will close four plants...

January 30, 2009

Roche Lowers Genentech Bid

New price reflects a tougher environment for biotech companies.

January 26, 2009

Chemical Makers Stage More Cuts

Economic downturn brings additional job reductions.

CF Industries Wants Terra

Combined firm would be world's largest nitrogen producer.

Postdocs Feel Job Crunch

As recession deepends, postdocs find themselves caught in a difficult academic job market.

BASF Sees More Woes

BASF Chairman Jürgen Hambrecht says his company's global business declined significantly in December 2008...

Celanese Mulls Plant Closures

The economic downturn is forcing Celanese to consider closing acetyls plants in France and Mexico.

January 19, 2009

15,000 Jobs Lost

Chemical payroll losses mirror those in U.S. economy.

Pharma Research

Pfizer will eliminate up to 800 R&D positions in 2009.

Staying Alive

The biopharmaceutical sector scales back research to manage cash and ride out the economic downturn.

January 12, 2009

World Chemical Outlook

For the global chemical industry, the very bad day started early in the fourth quarter of 2008, and it may last another six months.

Debt Crushes LyondellBasell

Chapter 11 filing seeks to protect company.

Cytec and Nova To Cut Staff

Cytec Industries announced a restructuring plan...

January 6, 2009

DC Chemical Sells Stake In Columbian Chemicals

South Korean chemical maker sells its holdings in carbon black maker to reduce debt.

January 5, 2009

Fertilizer Makers Cut Production

Farmers are postponing nutrient application until spring.

More Firms Make Cuts To Cope With Economy

Deteriorating customer demand has forced more chemical companies to make cutbacks...

Avigen, Targanta Make Deep Cuts

Avigen will halt clinical trials on AV650, a neuromuscular treatment, and sell an early-stage developmental compound...