Volume 2 Issue 41

Chemical Management Firms Link Up

Haas Corp. announced Monday that it has acquired the Total Chemical Management business of Radian International LLC to form the worlds largest independent chemical management services provider. Officials said the deal unites businesses with complementary strengths and customer bases. Haas has focused on aiding the automotive industry with chemical usage and waste reduction, while TCM has specialized in providing procurement, logistics and health and safety services to aerospace and defense clien...

Bayer Finds Buyer for Rhein Chemie

Bayer AG announced Friday that it has agreed to sell specialty chemical maker Rhein Chemie Rheinau GmbH to a Boston investment firm for Euro 215 million (U.S. $211 million). Bayer, headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany, reached the deal with Advent International Corp. 11 months after putting Rhein Chemie and other non-core operations up for sale. Bayer officials said the subsidiary should have a bright future under Advents management. Under this new ownership, Rhein Chemie would have excellent pr...

DaimlerChrysler Bans Biocide

Triazine and other formaldehyde-releasing biocides have been banned from the formulas of metalworking fluids at DaimlerChrysler because of a possible link between the popular biocides and hypersensitivity pneumonitis, an acute and chronic lung disease. Of the most common biocides in use today, only phenolic products routinely controlled and killed a microorganism thats linked to the rare but serious disease, according to Biosan Laboratories. Two of DaimlerChryslers North American plants have ha...

Sweetwater Dead in the Water

The project that was in line to become the worlds first commercial supplier of gas-to-liquids base stocks has left the queue. Syntroleum Corp. says it has all but given up on its Sweetwater specialty chemicals plant planned for Western Australia. The Tulsa, Okla., company downgraded the projects status Sept. 30 in announcing the expiration of its engineering and construction contract. Officials said Syntroleum may use existing designs to build the refinery elsewhere, but a spokesman said the fir...