BASF said it has "largely completed" the first phase of a two-phase restructuring program for its operations in North America, with a second phase currently under way.
BASF Coatings and DuPont Performance Coatings received 2004 Automotive News PACE (Premier Automotive Suppliers' Contribution to Excellence) Awards for technology developments related to automotive-coatings materials and application processes.
PPG Industries Inc. and Kansai Paint of Japan announced the signing of a non-binding memorandum of understanding and said they have entered into negotiations aimed at the launch of an alliance that would target the global automotive OEM market.
Lord Corp. announced an expansion of the company's Automotive Solutions site in Wixom, MI, with the construction of a 19,020-square-foot facility that houses the operation's automotive sales office and a 7,736-square-foot formulation and testing laboratory, automotive aftermarket training classroom and a garage suitable for hands-on automotive application training.
The Dow Chemical Co.'s UCAR Emulsion Systems business unit announced plans to build a new production plant at the company's Union Carbide Corp. St. Charles site in Louisiana and expand production operations in Alsip, IL, and Sarnia, Ontario.
- Lyondell Chemical Co. and Bayer MaterialScience AG formally opened a major new propylene oxide/styrene monomer manufacturing facility in Maasvlakte, The Netherlands, near Rotterdam.
International Specialty Products Inc. (ISP) has acquired Biochema Schwaben, a supplier of preservatives and biocides for industrial and personal-care applications, with products for the paint and coatings, ink, polymer emulsions, and other markets.
BASF's Greenville and Whitehouse, OH, coatings and resins facilities received the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council's 2003 "Excellence in Responsible Care" Award for environmental, health and safety performance.
Curtiss-Wright Corp. has acquired certain assets of the Evesham, UK, coatings business operated by the Morgan Advanced Ceramics Ltd. subsidiary of Morgan Crucible Plc. The purchase price was approximately £3.4 million, or about $6.35 million.