P.1 

OAR Box 1872 

Prepped by Keeia Richards 

Document Number: 

13) II-I-62 

Docket Number: 

A-90-19 

Printed 11/26/2008 8:51:49 AM Sheet 13 of 204 
P.2 

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:tor Study 

rt appearing last week in 

ind Journal of Medicine. 

: taking a 325-miIligram 

every other day can reence of heart attack in 

jver 50. 

letails of the aspirin study 

January 1*88. prompting a 

y on the benefits of taking 

possible misinterpretation 

is of the report issued last 

las strongly warned US as-

<ot to promote the new findand doctors 

i developed a committee of 

> develop recommendations 

Researchers who led the 

igainst taking aspirin on a 

:ause 0/ potential side efeasing tbe risk for stomach 

tain kinds of stroke. 

)A concern over misinterstudy's findings. Sterling 

markets Bayer aspirin reie study's publication but 

ig that people should conbefore beginning a regime 

in order to prevent heart 

received FDA approval to 

>r preventing second heart 

attacks subsequent to un-

-ristol-Myers Company, 

e aspirin used in the study 

5 reporters of the study's 

tored 22.071 healthy male 

between the ages of 40 and 

tudy began in 1982. Half of 

n 325-milligram of aspirin 

ler day. the others took 

iking aspirin had 44 per 

attacks than the placebo 

leoce of stroke was slightly 

rin users, researchers said 

ermng strokes and cardio-

•mained inconclusive 

lity Products 

tional Service 

ur Basic Needs 

AND OILS 

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POPPVSEED 

RICE BRAN 

RAPESEED 

SAEFLOWER 

SESAME 

SOYBEAN 

SUNFLOWER 

TUNG 

ANIMAL FATS 

FATTY ACIDS 

SULFATED OILS 

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ports have also dwindled this year, contributing to phthalic softness at borne 

Speaking about each of the major demand 

areas for phthalic — plasticizers. unsaturated polyester resins, and alkyd resins — 

sources in the industry say that demand is off 

PRICE TRENPUNES 

WEEK ENDING JULY 21. 1989 

CHANGES/UP 

AROMATIC ORGANICS 

Phthalic Makers Drop Tabs, 

Look for Comeback in Fall 

Phthalic anhydride producers ar e proclaiming their unhappiness with the soft 

state of the market this year, but they 

are expressing optimism about the market's likely end-of-quarter comeback, 

which they say will be aided by lower 

prices. 

Two major marketers. BASF Corporation 

and Stepan Company, announced three-centper-pound price decreases to take effect this 

month in response to a four-cent cut in feedstock ortho-xylene tabs Other producers, 

while they have not formally declared that 

tbey are lowering prices, say that they are 

either meeting competitive situations or assessing customer prices on a case-by-case 

basis 

As one phthalic producer says, "We left for 

vacation before the Fourth of July with 0-

xylene at 21 cents per pound, and when we 

came back we found it at 17 cents." Tbe drop 

was dramatic and unexpected, and it followed a long period of tugher-than-normai 

prices for the primary feedstock 

From January 1988 to January of this 

year, o-xylene prices rose from 14 cents per 

pound to 24 cents. During the course of this 

year, tabs have eased slightly, down to 23 

cents in May and 21 cents in June 

Phthalic producers say that they did not 

recover the full cost run-up that they incurred, and that for this reason their own 

price cut was 1 cent per pound less than their 

cost drop, tbe process for making phthalic 

anhydride from o-xylene is very nearly a 

one-to-one conversion 

"We're passing some of the cost decrease 

to our customers, but not all of it. because we 

did not get all of it to begin with We're trying 

to get margins back to where tbey were this 

time last year "saysone producer 

FURTHER DROP TO COME" 

There has been some talk of a further onecent drop in o-xylene prices for August, but 

most people agree that after such a precipitous drop this month. August prices are likely 

to take a while to settle. 

Some in the phthalic industry say that they 

would probably not take their own prices 

down another cent even if feedstock costs did 

soften further, again pointing to the squeeze 

they had been experiencing for several 

months 

Business has been off this year, especially 

when compared to last year's record performance Although industry sources disagree with the government's ITC production 

figure of 1.14 billion pounds for 1988. the 

estimated I 05 billion pounds that were produced is a record for the industry, representing almost 94 percent capacity utilization 

An important factor in last year's strength 

was the export market, which has all but 

dried up this year. Here again those in the 

industry say that government figures are 

overstated. 

Tbe government reported total 1988 exports of 84 million pounds; industry sources 

place the figure closer to 75 million pounds, 

still a record for offshore shipments. 

China was an extremely strong buyer of 

US-made phthalic anhydride from late 1987 

to about October of last year. What one 

source calls a "once-in-a-lifetime buying 

spree" by China of many chemicals including 

phthalic dried up shortly after that time 

China has reportedly been back in the market to a much smaller degree over the last 

several months, but. as one marketer says. 

"China's political unrest is likely to set them 

back a couple of years (economically). It's 

unfortunate because it's a tremendous potential market" 

Another source says that China is keeping 

its doors open to material from other countries, and he adds that "China will definitely 

come back (as a buyer) by tbe beginning of 

next year " 

Asserting that "Phthalic exports are 

dead.' a producer says that plasticizer exA-90-19 

H-l-62 

CHANGES/DOWN 

Nora 

AROMATICS INDEX 

The Aromatic Organics index reflects 

the prices of 14 representative materials 

in this sector and the quantity of each 

produced in 1987 

July 21.1989 222.01 

July 14,1989 222.01 

June 23.1989 222.50 

Jury 22.1988 190.53 

Crawne* MCM Start 0* P»g» 42 

compared to last year's booming business, 

but that these end markets do not seem fundamentally unhealthy 

Alkyds are reported to he tbe market most 

affected by what has become a perennial 

nuisance for domestic phthalic producers 

imports. Last year imports doubled from 15 

million pounds in 1987 to more than 30 million pounds mostly from Mexico and South 

America 

Tbe material that comes m from abroad is 

flake, which in the US represents only about 

10 percent of total production Government 

subsidies on feedstock o-xylene and phthalic 

anhydride allow foreign manufacturers to 

sell into the US for a few cents less than 

prevailing market prices 

Referring to these practices, a US marketer says. "I'm not sure you have a level 

playing field with those government subsidies." Another puts it more strongly "There 

are no suits filed, but we watch the imports 

closely for evidence of dumping." 

He adds that, with Far Eastern markets 

showing weak demand. "South American 

countries will find the US attractive and ship 

more material here 

On the brighter side, domestic marketers 

have their hopes pinned on a strong resurgence after the present seasonal lull "Tbe 

price cuts will help make for a significant 

comeback in September You can't have that 

much of a price decrease without an effect,' 

says a source. 

Another says. "We hope to see a strong 

Fall season, starting around the end of tbe 

third quarter. The seasonal trend is to lift us 

back up at the end of tbe quarter and then 

take us through Thanksgiving, with the end of 

the year being much weaker " He adds that 

signs of a stabilizing economy are a plus for 

the business 

Longer term, people ui the industry are 

fairly optimistic. Tbe industry went through 

a rationalization process earlier in the 

decade, and no new capacity is expected. 

Furthermore, o-xylene prices are expected 

to stabilize, now that they have reached historically typical levels in tbe mid-teens 

At least one or two other producers are 

considering joining Koppers as manufacturers which run on a dual-feed system, incorporating flexibility between o-xylene and naphtbalene Sources say that Koppers and 

foreign naphthalene-based producers held an 

advantage during the period oi o-xylene 

price run-ups. 

"If a few producers move m that direction. 

we would have a little more stable market'' 

says a producer Aristech Chemical Corpora 

uoo has stated that it a considering a dualIf you demand qua 

0-ChSot< 

P-< 1 

Organic Inlermeiliat, v from Rh 

The world leader in phi n, |< 

Rhoni 

In the l S.:CN 

Bui 

Les Miroir 

Tel 

fP RHONE-POULENC 

Fluorobenzene 

now available in 

commercial quantities 

Ry information and price quote, call 

James Maviin 1-800-325-8888 O write: 

James W. Havlin. Aromatic Fluonne Development 

Mallinckrodt, Inc., PO Box 5439 

St Louis. MO 63147 

PHONE 314-982-5227 

FAX 1-314-962-5251 

K 

J4*jf24,1 CHEMCAi. UAKKFPHS ?*P-
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CHO 

ropyl heiualdehydeiCUMAU 

CHO 

ICA1COMPAMT. IHa 

al America. Inc. 

22 U.S.A. 

OURNYKFK : NOW York 798- 4012 

s Chemical Company. Inc. 

-Jaoarusches Centra), West Germany 

tOCDD 

to. I 

a-fcu Tokyo. Japan 

J Ftx: Tokyo 2140938 

Products in 

tantities! 

pennon are newly available for 

;ked up with commercial quantities 

m of your new product Sales for 

iew by FMC. 

OCH, ">*r 

NHOH 

Hydnnamic acid 

CH3 CHjOH 

Hydnnymeihylbiphenyl (HMBP) !

 90" 

OH 

2-Metl-llyloxyphenol (MOP) 

< QQ< 

NH20/2 HjS0 4 

7-Aminobenzofuran sulfate 

OOD CHEMICAL INC. 

)FFICEBOX159 

XDD, NJ 07023 

22-8440 TELEX 844208 

\ C FMC CORPORATION 

AROMATICS 

feedstock system, and sources say that 

Exxon Chemical Company is also weighing 

the relative merits of implementing such a 

system. (See Chemical Profile, page 58). 

RONBEGLEY 

BTX — The spot market for benzene has 

been fairly stable at 95c. per gallon, off a 

penny or two from the week ending July li. 

Contracts for the month stand at f 1.00 per 

gallon. 

FoUowing downward gasoline trends, spot 

toluene prices dipped to 80c. per gallon last 

week, down 3 cents or so from tbe previous 

week. Xylene contracts are at 85c. per gallon 

for July, with the spot market reported to be 

at 90c. 

SULFANILIC ACID - R-M Industries 

Inc. is raising prices of its extra-pure grade 

sulf anilic acid and sodium salt effective August 1. Prices of extra-pure (XP) sulfanilic 

acid will rise 40c. per pound to $1.50 per 

pound for 40,800 pound minimnTn shipments; 

$1.60 for 24,000 pound minimum; and $1.95 

for shipments of less than 24,000 pounds. 

Sodium salt of sulfanilic add will Increase 

5c. per pound, to $1.04 for 30 percent solution 

in 40,000 pound quantities, and to $1.02 for 

dry powder material in 40,000 pound minimum quantities. All prices are f.o.b. freight 

collect, Fort Mill, S.C. Payment terms are 

net 30 days. 

Tbe company attributes the increases to 

the cost of upgrading technical grade material to high purity. Also, the company 

stresses that pricing for technical grade material will remain unchanged at 89c. per 

pound in 40,800 pound minimum^; 99c. per 

pound for 24,000 pounds, and $1.35 for less 

than 24,000 pounds. 

Dow Makes Bid 

Continued from Page 9 

cent Jo 1987 and 14 percent the year before. 

Tbe company had a return oo investment 

of 44 percent last year and 38 percent the 

year before, while the industry average is 29 

to 30 percent Mr. Saks says. 

He adds, "Tbe threat of generic competition represented an increased probability 

that if Marion was smart it would be taken 

out But I didn't think it would happen so soon 

before 1992." 

Wall Street also says there is little chance 

of a spoiler topping Dow's bid, as about 23 

percent of Marion stock is controlled by the 

Ewing M. Kauffman family. Mr. Kauffman is 

Marion's chairman and founder and cofounder of the Kansas City Royals baseball 

team; he says the family intends to support 

the acquisition. 

"The merger will let Dow expand its noncyclical drug business and take advantage of 

Marion's excellent sales force," says Harvey 

Stober, Dean Witters chemical analyst 

He estimates tbe 39 percent takeover will 

dilute Dow shares by 30 cents this year and 

the 67 percent stake Dow will control in the 

early 1990s will dilute the shares by a maximum of 50 cents. 

A Dow spokeswoman says the company 

would have bought Marion outright but it 

didn't want to overburden itself with debt and 

wished to create a new company to achieve a 

higher earnings-per-share valuation. 

A Merrell Dow spokesman says the company decided on the Marion marriage because "in all Dow's surveys of possible combinations, Marion kept coining up do top. We 

both have a strong emphasis on sales performance and quality manufacturing. We 

also believe in giving employees excellent 

compensation and benefits." 

While tbe two firms' philosophies are similar, the differences in product lines also 

make the merger highly complementary, 

the Merrell spokesman says. 

While Marion is referred to as a "search 

and development" company, which licenses 

and develops products from other concerns 

(it got both "Cardizem" and "Carafate" from 

Japanese companies) Merrell plans to spend 

$190 million on R&D this year. 

The spokesman says he hopes new dosage 

forms for "Cardizem" will prolong the drug's 

popularity even after it loses its patent. Now, 

it isthe leading cardiovascular drug in the 

US, he says. 

Merrell's largest selling product is "Seldane," antihistamine with $J&0 million in 

sales. It is expected to become a $1 billion 

product once it is marketed in different combinations, including as "Seldane D," with a 

nasal decongestant and in new dosage 

strengths. Merrell Dow's "Nicorette," a 

chewing gum that helps smokers quit had 

sales of about $100 million last year. 

Merrell Dow's pipeline inclodes an antibiotic for hospitalized patients, a drug for congestive heart failure, especially suited for 

later stages of heart diseases; and a compound for epilepsy. All three drags have already been approved in Europe. 

The combined company will have annual 

revenues of about $2.1 ballon. Merrell Dow Is 

expected to have sales this year of $1.3 billion 

not including its Latin American division, 

which will not be part of the new company, 

and pretax earnings of $350 million. Marion 

earned $150 million last year on $752 million 

in sales. 

HICKSON 

ORGANIC INTERMEDIATES 

NOW AVAILABLE INCLUDE: 

3CNoro4nMthy«-NmcsyuftMfw 

3 Amino 6 

chtoRMcctanilide 

NHCOCH, 

3,4 Dinitrocftloiobwizene Cl 

2 Ruoro S nrtroaniline 

NHCOCH, 

4Chk>n>3-

nrtreacetenilide 

p-acetamidobenzaldehyde 

HKKSON 1 WELCH LTD ALSO OFFER 

A FULLY COMFHEHENSIVE. 

FULLY CONFIDENTIAL CUSTOM SYNTHESIS 

FO« FUJTHEK DETAILS CONTACT: 

Dr. K.HOW.TCI Marketing Manager 

HICKSON & WELCH LTD. 

ITER Jirty 24,1989 fl> 

BASF to Triple 

Continued trom Page 5 

ance and processing capabilities of our many 

engineering plastics using production-size 

molding and extrusion equipment. This will 

allow BASF to work closely with customers 

in developing optimized part designs and 

processing conditions." 

BASF is preparing to introduce a 

polystyrene/polyethylene polymer blend lor 

packaging, according to Albrecht Eckell, 

managing director, engineering plastics, 

BASF Group. The 50:50 blend contains a 

"very special additive" that allows the two 

polymers to combine in a stable blend. Dr. 

Eckell says. 

Impermeable to moisture, the new polymer blend will be targeted at packaging applications, particularly tor food. Dr. Eckell, 

based in Ludwigshafen. West Germany, 

points out that the new polymer blend will be 

marketed solely in Western Europe. It will be 

officially introduced at the "KO 

Dr. Eckell states that BASF will invest 

$1.5 billion over the next eight years for engineering plastics, with a "substantial part" of 

the expenditures earmarked (or the US. 

Plastics contributed $4.6 billion to BASF 

Group's worldwide sales last year, or 18 percent of the total, a dollar figure thai would 

place the plastics business on the Fortune 100 

list in the US, Dr. Eckell says. 

Projecting mid-term future demand 

growth, be sees PVC consumption growing at 

2 percent per year, and LDPE and LLDPE 

growing at 2.5 percent per year. HDPE and 

polypropylene should experience 4.5 percent 

and 6 percent consumption growth, respectively. 

Engineering resins will grow an average of 

5.5 percent per year. Dr. Eckell says, with 

high temperature resistant plastics and liquid crystal polymers demonstrating the 

sharpest growth, albeit from a small base 

Manfred Buller. president of BASF Corporation's polymers division and executive 

vice-president with the corporation, forecasts good growth for the individual business 

groups within his division. In North America. 

the polymers division accounts for 15 percent of total BASF Corporation sales, similar 

to the worldwide figure stated above. 

The polyurethanes business represents the 

largest single portion of the polymers division. Dr. Buller says. He points to 5 percent 

annual growth over the last ten years, and he 

calls for 3 percent annual growth for the next 

three years. 

Referring to the company's plastic foams 

business. Dr. Buller says, "Here in the US we 

have maintained our leadership position and 

our share in the EPS (expandable 

polystyrene) market, which has shown annual growth rates ot 5 to 7 percent over the 

last ten years." 

He forecasts 5 percent growth per year 

over the next three years, and says that the 

company has successfully broadened it 

product line into expanded polyolef ins. 

The market for the company's structural 

materials products in expected to continue 

its double-digit growth rate. The plastic materials group, led by Dr. Praetorius. is active 

in a market that has shown 6 percent growth 

per year over the last ten years, a rate expected to continue for the next decade. Dr. 

Buller says that US Polymers expenditures 

over the next five years will be in excess of 

$100 million per year. 

Benzene Sulfonic 

Phenol Sulfonic Acic 

C 

Sloss Industries also produces iron 

And ask 

iiNOuerraiE