The week: may 5, 2008

Volume 170 • Number 14

contents
coVer STor Y

24 rhodia: re-energized and ready for the Next phase Rhodia is in the final stages of a recovery program—a strict regime of portfolio rationalization, profitability enhancement, and refinancing—that rescued the company from financial meltdown. Today, its transformation almost complete, Rhodia is on a firm financial footing.

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High maintenance!

A fresh look at personal care

Newsbriefs

6 Chemtura’s first-quarter loss widens despite cost-cutting • Dr. Reddy’s buys U.S. pharma unit from BASF • Nordic Capital to buy CPS Color Group from Industri Kapital • Kohlberg Kravis, EDF collaborate on benchmarks • First-quarter European earnings are mixed • Akzo launches new brand • Gazprombank agrees to sell controlling stake in Sibur to MBO team

Top of the week 8 Basic, diversified firms post mixed earnings 8 Wal-Mart modifies preferred chemical program

business & finance News uNi Ted S Ta TeS/americaS

9 Railroads’ common carrier obligation ‘not absolute’

9 Senate panel examines
EPA chemical policy
9
13 Increased sales boost most
specialty chemical profits
13 Most oil firms’ chemical
earnings slide

16 BASF invests $20 million in Harvard R&D venture 16 R&H adds surcharge to specialty materials unit

europe/mideaST
19 Focus on Iran: Petchems get a boost
19 Clariant and Ciba first-quarter earnings fall
aSia/pacific
21 Qatar firm to build petchem complex
21 UOP selected for aromatics project in India

New construction projects

23 Kazakhstan complex changes site; Technologies chosen • Mitsui & Co. proposes ammonia, methanol plants in Russia • IG Petrochemicals

Pavlodar Astana

Karabatan Caspian Sea Tengiz

KAZAKHSTAN

CHINA

23

UZBEKISTAN

Almaty

KYRGYZSTAN

raises phthalic anhydride capacity • Uhdenora awarded chlor-alkali contract in Kasakhstan • Bangladesh plans two urea units • Linde builds gases plant in Romania

Quality, freshness, and shelf life are vital elements in the personal care industry. Whether in oral care, hair care, or face creams, Solvay Chemicals meets these needs, offering products for incorporation into formulations, or as processing aids.

The oral care industry relies on Sodium Fluorides to help reduce tooth decay, on IXPER® Calcium Peroxide and Sodium Percarbonate for bleaching, and on BICAR™ Sodium Bicarbonate in toothpaste and denture cleaning formulations. Hair care products need essentials such as Interox® Hydrogen Peroxide for use in hair dyes and bleaches. Face creams utilize esters created from Solvay Polyglycerols as emulsifiers. SOCAL® Precipitated Calcium Carbonates are highly effective rheology modifiers for cosmetics.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Solvay Chemicals, Inc. is part of the Solvay Group, an international chemical and pharmaceutical group headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

Solvay Chemicals. A fresh look.

Solvay Chemicals, Inc.
713.525.6500 FAX: 713.525.7806
1.800.SOLVAY C (800.765.8292)
www.solvaychemicals.us
Copyright 2008, Solvay Chemicals, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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