News you can use

Akzo Nobel Polymer Chemicals, Arnhem, The Netherlands, announced additional cost-cutting actions following moves earlier this year that included the discontinuation of production at the business’s sites in Gillingham, UK, and Burt, NY.

Alberdingk Boley Inc. announced a move to new North American Corporate headquarters, located at 6008 High Point Rd., Greensboro, NC. The company is a supplier of polyurethane dispersions; acrylic, styrene-acrylic, urethane-acrylic and crosslinking acrylic emulsions; and waterborne UV-curable dispersions.

Arch Chemicals Inc., Norwalk CT, announced plans to consolidate its operations in China under the direction of Arch International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., a new business based in the Waigaoqiao free-trade zone of Shanghai. The Shanghai office will provide support services to Arch’s business operations in China, including sales, purchasing, logistics and other functions. Key businesses in the Asia-Pacific region include Arch Wood Coatings, a manufacturer of lacquers, stains, topcoats and other finishes for furniture, and the company’s performance polymers unit.

Cargill Inc., Minneapolis, announced an agreement with the Kansas Polymer Research Center at Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS, to undertake a joint research and development program to produce soy-based polyols for use in urethane products. Cargill said the project is the result of a company initiative to accelerate the development of industrial products from renewable resources. The initiative seeks to use Cargill’s expertise in the agricultural-products market to create new industrial products and to form alliances with other organizations to bring those products to market.

DuPont Co., Wilmington, DE, said it will donate approximately 16,000 acres of land adjacent to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Georgia to The Conservation Fund, in the largest such donation in the history of DuPont’s Land Legacy program. DuPont acquired the land several years ago and planned to mine titanium ore from the site, but announced in 1997 that it would defer those plans due to public concerns about the project.

GretagMacbeth, New Windsor, NY, said Benjamin Moore & Co. has entered a multi-year licensing agreement for GretagMacbeth’s new Internet-based “NetProfiler” technology. The technology, combined with spectrophotometers, is part of GretagMacbeth’s recently launched Enterprise Color Management (ECM) program. The NetProfiler technology is designed to facilitate remote monitoring of a network of spectrophotometer instruments and also allows a central facility to remotely calibrate, adjust and certify each instrument’s performance.

ICI, London, said its Uniqema specialty chemicals business will streamline its operations in a series of actions to be taken over the next two years. The moves will include the closing of Uniqema’s Paterson, NJ, surfactants-manufacturing site by the end of 2005 and the transfer of the site’s technical and manufacturing capabilities to an expanded, more modern facility at Atlas Point in New Castle, DE.

Lord Corp., Cary, NC, announced a corporate reorganization that includes the elimination of the company’s division-based organization and the merger of business units under common leadership. As a part of the restructuring, the company named D.L. Lewis senior vice president, Global Business Management; R.J. Ambrose vice president, Research & Technology; W.C. Hinkston vice president, Global Operations; and D. Siporin vice president, Shared Services. Lord Corp.’s product portfolio includes adhesives, polyurethane coatings, and electronic adhesives and coatings.

Rohm and Haas Co., Philadelphia, said ATOFINA Chemicals Inc. has granted a license to Rohm and Haas for the production of powder coatings using ATOFINA’s Kynar 500 PC PVDF resin. The license allows Rohm and Haas to formulate powder coatings in a range of colors using a minimum of 70% Kynar PVDF resin and to market the coatings under the Kynar 500 PC trademark.

The Sherwin-Williams Co., Cleveland, said its Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes Corp. division announced the launch of a strategic alliance with Chemical Specialties Inc. Ltd. (Chem Spec) of South Africa, a partnership that Sherwin-Williams said will provide entry into the South African automotive-refinish market. Chem Spec, reported to be the largest privately owned paint manufacturer in South Africa, will distribute Sherwin-Williams’ automotive-refinish products throughout the country.