Formosa Plastics Plans Initial Public Offering
Formosa Plastics Group announced its plans to merge four US units and sell shares in the combined entity in an Initial Public Offering. The IPO will combine PVC/polyolefins maker Formosa Plastics Corp. USA with plastic pipe producer J-M Manufacturing Co. Inc. and Nan Ya Plastics Corp.
The company plans to raise funds to invest funds in China. Two units of Formosa Plastics Corp and two of Nan Ya Plastics Corp, currently produce petrochemical and plastic products including polyvinyl chloride and plastic pipes.
Formosa Plastics Corp expects annual sales from products it makes in China to reach NT$39 billion (US$1.24 billion) after the construction of three chemical plants is completed around the end of 2007, according to the company. Formosa Plastics Group is considering building a petrochemical project in China similar to its NT$652.8 billion venture in the west coast town of Mailiao in Yunlin County, which includes Taiwan’s first privately owned oil refinery and naphtha crackers.
The government restricts investment in China because of concerns that companies there may lure businesses away from Taiwan or steal technology. The restrictions include a ban on building plants that produce ethylene, a raw material used to make plastics and textiles.
Comments: This will be the fourth plastics-related IPO in the past year, joining offerings from Westlake Chemical Corp., Celanese AG, and Huntsman Corp. Acquisition of chemical companies by private equity firms and IPOs seem to be the two major trends in the industry. BP also announced plans to offer an IPO for its Olefins & Derivatives business unit ‘Innovene’. With petrochemical products on the up-swing, the time is right and opportune for the IPOs.
The Chatterjee Group to buy West Bengal government’s stake in Haldia
The West Bengal government has agreed to sell its stake in Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) to The Chatterjee Group (TCG).
HPL board members will meet to clear the sale. The board will also discuss the issue of HPL joining Basell Polyolefins as a minority shareholder through an investment of Rs 2,500 crore.
The government has been pursuing an exit from Haldia and has taken up the move with greater urgency since TCG’s bid for Basell proved successful earlier this month. Haldia, spearheaded by TCG, has been negotiating with financial institutions led by IDBI to raise Rs 2,500 crore to part-fund the $5.7 billion acquisition deal.
Comments: Earlier this month Shell and BASF divested their share in Basell. Access Industries along with TCG acquired Basell for $5.7 billion. TCG’s buyout of the government’s stake in Haldia Petrochemicals was a speculated aftermath of the deal. The West Bengal government was not interested in Haldia Petrochemicals investing in Basell. After the transfer of shares, Haldia Petrochemicals will most likely invest 2,500 crores in Basell and thereby gain ownership of 10% of the company. This transaction will allow Haldia Petrochemicals to gain technical and market expertise from Basell. If Haldia Petrochemicals can learn from Basell then it could increase competition in the domestic markets that are dominated by Reliance Industries Limited.
The Indian polypropylene industry is growing at 7% on a base volume of approximately 1,200 KT. Reliance Industries Limited dominates the polypropylene industry in India. Other major suppliers of polypropylene in India include Haldia Petrochemicals and Gas Authority of India Limited. Chennai Petrochemicals recently announced plans to start a polypropylene production facility in India. A major equity stake in Basell would enhance Haldia’s position in the Indian polyolefins industry.
DuPont renames its elastomers division acquired through DuPont Dow Elastomers
DuPont announced its plans to rename the elastomers division from its joint venture DuPont Dow Elastomers (DDE) as DuPont Performance Elastomers. DuPont will take control of the Neoprene, Hypalon®, Kalrez®, and Viton® businesses of the joint venture on 1 July.
Viton fluoroelastomers, Viton FreeFlow, Kalrez perfluoroelastomer parts, Neoprene synthetic rubber, Hypalon chlorosulphonated polyethylene, and Vertex seal technology businesses will remain with the DuPont Performance Elastomers subsidiary.
The deal, announced in January, sees Dow exercising the option it agreed to last year to buy assets in the ethylene and chlorinated elastomer fields from the joint venture.
Comments: On January 3, 2005, The Dow Chemical Company and DuPont announced that Dow had chosen to exercise its option to acquire assets related to Engage®, Nordel®, and Tyrin® businesses, most of which, except conventional Nordel were originally contributed to DuPont Dow Elastomers (DDE), a 50/50 joint venture between DuPont and Dow, back in 1996. As a consequence, DDE will be dissolved and the remaining businesses, including Neoprene, Hypalon®, Kalrez®, and Viton®, originally contributed by DuPont will revert to a fully owned subsidiary of DuPont, which is to be called DuPont Performance Elastomers. Please refer to PO&E SNA Vol. 3 Issue 1 for more details.
We are planning on a follow-up article in June/July on Dow and DuPont on the products related to the old Dupont Dow.
Access Industries owner Blavatnik to own most of Basell
Access Industries (New York), controlled by Russian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik, will own a “substantial majority” of Basell following the acquisition of Basell from BASF and Shell. Access Industries and The Chatterjee Group (TCG; New York) announced recently that they have agreed to jointly buy Basell for EUR4.4 billion ($5.7 billion).
TCG owns a controlling 43% in Haldia Petrochemicals (Calcutta), which operates an olefins and polyolefins complex at Haldia, India based mainly on Basell’s technology. Haldia recently approached the Industrial Development Bank of India for loans of Rs25 billion ($600 million) to part-finance the Basell acquisition. Access Industries and TCG will pay half of the acquisition cost in cash, and finance the rest through debt.
BASF and Shell selected the Access Industries-TCG bid over a competing bid from National Petrochemical Co. (Tehran) following intense lobbying by the U.S. government.
Comments: Please refer to our CMR, Inc’s in-depth analysis published last week regarding Basell’s sale to The Chatterjee Group and Access Industries. To obtain a copy of the article, please call or email us at 281-557-3320 or poe-sna@cmrhoutex.com
Reliance Industries owners, Ambani brothers head for Reliance asset split
Ambani brothers might settle their dispute over control of Reliance Industries via an asset split. Mukesh D. Ambani, Reliance’s chairman and managing director, and Anil D. Ambani, vice chairman, and managing director, have been fighting for control of Reliance since the death in 2002 of Dhirubhai D. Ambani, their father, and founder of the company, who not leave a will.
Mukesh Ambani will obtain most of the company, including Reliance’s oil and gas, petrochemicals, and refining operations, sources say. Anil Ambani will receive power utility Reliance Energy and mobile phone network service provider Reliance Infocomm, as well as substantial financial compensation to equalize the value of the assets received by each brother. Reliance Energy and Reliance Infocomm reported sales of Rs 5.2 billion ($119 million) and Rs 53.9 billion, respectively, in the fiscal year ended March 31. The businesses together accounted for just over 8% of Reliance’s sales. Reliance reported net profits up 47%, to Rs75.7 billion, on sales up 30%, to Rs731.6 billion for the year ended March 31. The Ambani family owns just over 34% of the group.
Comments: The struggle for control by the heir apparent of the massive organization built by parents is very common and a fact of life in Indian history British Empire used this fact to divide and conquer the Indian subcontinent for over 200 years – the saga continues.
All said and done, the struggles at the top should have minimal to no effect on the petrochemical operations because of the professional management team operating structure already in place. Reliance is expected to keep up with the strategy.
Westlake & Nova reports first quarter results
Westlake Chemical
Westlake Chemical Corporation reported a net income of $61.1 million and an operating income of $101.7 million on net sales of $618.6 million for the first quarter of 2005. This compares favorably with the first quarter 2004 net income of $10.7 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, and operating income of $26.9 million on net sales of $400.9 million.
The first quarter of 2005 net income increased $13.8 million from the $47.3 million net income, or $0.73 per diluted share, reported in the fourth quarter of 2004 primarily due to increased selling prices and lower feedstock and energy costs. First quarter net sales were favorable to the fourth quarter net sales of $563.1 million due to increased selling prices and slightly higher sales volumes, while operating income compared favorably to the fourth quarter operating income of $81.4 million primarily due to higher selling prices and lower feedstock and energy costs.
Income from operations for the Olefins segment more than doubled to $62.4 million in the first quarter of 2005 from $31.0 million in the first quarter of 2004. This increase was primarily due to higher selling prices for all of our olefins products and higher sales volumes in ethylene and styrene, which were partially offset by higher raw material costs for ethane, propane, and benzene.
Income from operations for the vinyl segment increased by $45.0 million to $41.7 million in the first quarter of 2005 from a $3.3 million loss in the first quarter of 2004. This increase was primarily due to higher selling prices and higher sales volumes for all of the company’s vinyl products. These increases were partially offset by higher energy costs and higher raw material costs for propane. The first quarter of 2004 earnings was adversely impacted by a fire at the Calvert City ethylene plant. We estimate that the impact on the operating income of the outage relating to the fire was approximately $12.5 million.
Nova stock shares fell on 1Q results
Nova Chemicals’ earnings tripled to $94 million in the first quarter versus the year-ago period on 32 percent higher sales of $1.49 billion. While earnings per share of $1.06 handily beat Wall Street estimates of 87 cents, shares of Nova fell $2.52, to $34.14, on concerns about falling polyethylene volumes.
The olefins/polyolefins business improved from $82 million in the fourth quarter of 2004 to $112 million in the first quarter, while the styrenics business posted a loss of $21 million in the first quarter versus a $17 million loss in the fourth quarter.
Polyethylene volumes fell 9 percent from the fourth quarter with North American volumes down 10 percent as demand fell following an inventory buildup toward the end of 2004.
Nova’s first quarter was not as strong as it looked, according to Merrill Lynch analyst Donald Carson. “Results included a $16 million after-tax FIFO gain, which was $13 million higher than we anticipated, and a $10 million after-tax mark-to-market stock-based compensation benefit arising from the first quarter decline in Nova’s share price,” he says.
Borealis introduces new Daploy™ ‘ high melt strength polypropylene for soft foam applications
Borealis introduced Daploy™ WB260HMS, high melt strength polypropylene (HMS-PP) for higher performance in soft foam applications. According to the company, Daploy WB260HMS represents a breakthrough in high melt strength PP development and has been designed to capitalize on the excellent temperature and chemical resistance and strength of polypropylene, while overcoming the stiffness of HMS PP that has previously excluded their use for the production of soft foams.
This advance in PP technology positions Daploy WB260HMS as a highly competitive material in applications currently dominated by polyurethane, polyethylene, and PVC foams, giving designers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive, sports/leisure, furnishing, and packaging industries a wider choice in tailoring final soft foam properties to meet specific end-user requirements.
Daploy WB260HMS is processed on standard foam extrusion machinery. It has a considerably wider foaming temperature window than conventional HMS grades of PP.
The Borealis proprietary technology in Daploy HMS-PP uses a chemical modification to incorporate long-chain branching into the basic polymer backbone. This has the effect of creating a PP with both high melt strength and extensibility which are important for foam quality. At the same time, Daploy WB260HMS brings a new level of softness.
All products in this family of foamable materials are recyclable and benefit from the other environmentally positive characteristics of PP.
Comments: Borealis’s Deploy method involves an after-treatment of conventional polypropylene granules by a combination of peroxides and multifunctional co-agents or monomers at a temperature well below the melting point of polypropylene. In the past Borealis had investigated the potential of linear bimodal isotactic polypropylenes, resulting in a product that had a MWD in the range of 6 to 7. This program was discontinued in favor of the Daploy process because the linear bimodal polypropylene did not exhibit increased melt draw ability or extendability as compared to long-chain branched high melt strength polypropylene. The Daploy process on the other hand introduces long-chain branches into the propylene polymer by comonomer bridges. Borealis’ method consists of first dry-blending liquid peroxides and multifunctional co-agents such as PETA or divinyl benzene with polypropylene using a high-speed mixer. The dry-blended mix is melt extruded and a required amount of the antioxidant is added to deactivate residual free radicals. The grafting of the multifunctional co-agents during the radical reaction is the key to obtaining long-chain branching.
The radical modification and recombination result in polypropylene resins with bimodal weight distribution and some long chain branches. These polymers have high melt strength and drawability in the melt phase. The higher melt strength also results in improved cell structure (closed vs. open) and a softer feel when foamed.
High melt strength polypropylene resins blended with conventional polypropylene resins, metallocene-based elastomers, and/or High EVA are used to manufacture extruded sheet foams that are used for a variety of automotive and non-automotive applications. For automotive applications, extruded crosslinked PP foams are used in headliners, door liners, knee bolsters, headrests, and others. Extruded polypropylene foams are increasingly gaining acceptance in energy management and impact absorption systems because of the ongoing homogenization of plastic materials used in automotive applications by OEMs. A detailed review of high melt strength polypropylene including technology and market drivers is provided in New Generation Polyolefins, Vol 8 Iss 3.
LG Chemical to establish VCM/EDC plant in China
LG Chemical announced its plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its VCM/EDC plant in Tianjin, China. At the end of 2004, LG Chem signed an agreement with Tianjin Bohai Chemical Co., Ltd. to establish a VCM (Vinyl Chloride Monomer) and EDC (Ethylene Di-Chloride) plant by the end of 2006.
With a total investment of USD 300 million, the new facilities will be located in Lingang Industrial District, Tianjin, China will have a capacity of 350,000 MT/year of VCM, 300,000 MT/year of EDC, and 240,000 MT/year of Caustic Soda.
The new facilities will be established as a joint venture named ‘Tianjin LG Bohai Chemical Co., Ltd.’; the investors are comprised of LG Chem (45%), LG Petrochemical (20%), LG International (10%), LG Dagu (10%), and Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (15%).
Comments: This is the second joint venture between LG Chem. Ltd. and Tianjing Bohai Chemical Co. The first joint venture, LG Dagu Chemical Ltd was started in 1999. It is currently the second largest supplier of PVC in China, with a capacity of 340kta PVC. However, the raw material, VCM, has mainly been imported. LG Dagu is also a shareholder in this new Tianjin LG Bohai Chemical Co. Ltd. LG Dagu has a 10% stake in this new JV. The VCM produced by Tianjin LG Bohai Chemical will be mainly supplied to LG Dagu.
Most of the new capacity to be constructed in China is calcium carbide-based. The cost of producing carbide-based PVC differs between several producers and other variables such as power, salt, and calcium carbide.
Carmel Olefins to invest $310m in Haifa for expansions
Carmel Olefins announced its plans to raise approximately NIS 660 million ($310 million) to finance its expansion plans. Soaring demand for propylene and ethylene, the basic polymer materials used in the plastics industry, which Carmel Olefins dominates in Israel, has led the company to expand production at its Haifa plant.
The expansion program will cost some $310 million, and to this end, the company will issue a private placement of bonds to the tune of NIS 660 million, in addition to bank financing.
Carmel Olefins reported record results in 2004, reflecting increased demand from the plastics industry and the rising price of its products. Net profits reached NIS 183 million for the year, a leap of 140 percent from 2003. In the first quarter of 2005, the company reported a net profit of NIS 100 million on sales of NIS 538 million.
The company, which is owned in equal shares by Oil Refineries and Petrochemical Enterprises, manufactures LDPE under the trade name Ipethene® and polypropylene under Capilene®.
Comments: Carmel Olefins is jointly owned by Oil Refineries Ltd. (ORL) and Petrochemical Enterprises Ltd., and is engaged in the production of LDPE and PP. The company is back-integrated into the production of ethylene and propylene. Some raw materials are sourced from ORL. The majority of Carmel Olefins’ products are sold in the domestic market. The balance is exported primarily to Europe. The company supplements its plastics portfolio by importing certain grades of PE, PP, and PS. Carmel Olefins plans to expand its PP facility from 200 KT to 250 KT to keep pace with demand. ORL has committed to supply the additional raw materials for the expansion for 10 years. It is thought that Carmel/ORL will invest in olefin conversion technology (OCT) in order to increase its propylene production.
BP and NOVA Chemicals sign binding agreements for European styrenics joint venture
BP and NOVA Chemicals Corporation announced the signing of binding agreements to merge their European styrene polymers businesses into a 50:50 Joint Venture. As previously announced in November 2004, the transaction to form the Joint Venture will be cashless.
The Joint Venture will be named NOVA Innovene after its shareholders NOVA Chemicals and Innovene, BP’s newly-formed olefins and derivatives business.
Innovene and NOVA Chemicals announced the nomination of two senior managers to lead the Joint Venture. Martin Pugh, currently Vice President and Managing Director for NOVA Chemicals in Europe, will serve as Managing Director of NOVA Innovene. Chris de la Camp, currently the Controller of the Innovene Styrenics business, will be the Finance Director of the new joint venture.
Comments: This is somewhat old news by now. This means that the deal which was announced several months ago, is now a done deal and has passed the scrutiny of the EU Commissioners. This shared venture in polystyrene makes BP/NOVA a new powerhouse in the European markets with 7 plants from northern to southern Europe. Notwithstanding, polystyrene is still losing money because of benzene and overcapacity in the polymer so although the merger will provide benefits, they are still too little too late to make much of a difference in the overall polystyrene business. All of the big 3, Dow, BASF, and BP/NOVA are having their troubles and trying different ways to improve their lots in the terrible polystyrene business performance but to no avail.
EU clears Dow & DuPont’s acquisition of parts of joint venture DuPont Dow Elastomers
European Union regulators cleared Dow Chemical Co.’s acquisition of parts of DuPont Dow Elastomers LLC, a joint venture Dow has run with DuPont Co. since 1996.
The European Commission said the transaction “would not significantly impede effective competition” in Europe. DuPont Dow Elastomers was a 50-50 joint venture of DuPont and Dow. In January, the two U.S. Chemical companies announced Dow would exercise its option to acquire certain assets of the joint venture, while DuPont would purchase Dow’s remaining stake in DDE for $87 million.
EU regulators also cleared DuPont’s takeover of the remainder of DDE.
Comments: DDE operations are still changing. We plan to write an article on DDE aftermath in June/July. Both DuPont and Dow have extensive experience in elastomers and it should not create any new issues.
BP Products North America accepts responsibility for the Texas City explosion
According to BP, a series of failures by the company personnel before and during the startup of the Isomerization (ISOM) process unit in the Texas City refinery led to an explosion and fire which claimed the lives of 15 workers and injured more than 170 people.
The investigation team determined the explosion occurred because BP ISOM unit managers and operators greatly overfilled and then overheated the Raffinate Splitter, a tower that is part of the ISOM unit. The fluid level in the tower at the time of the explosion was nearly 20 times higher than it should have been.
The presence of water or nitrogen in the tower at startup may have also contributed to a sudden increase in pressure that forced a large volume of hydrocarbon liquid and vapor into the adjacent blow-down stack, quickly exceeding its capacity. The resulting vapor cloud was ignited by an unknown source. The investigation team also concluded the use of a flare system, instead of a blow-down stack, would have reduced the severity of the incident.
BP Products started contacting the families of the deceased, through their attorneys, to begin the process of evaluating and settling claims. BP will modify or replace all blow-down systems that handle heavier-than-air hydrocarbon vapor or light hydrocarbon liquids (gasoline and lighter). In the meantime, the company has instituted additional operating requirements to ensure those systems are safely operated until they can be modified or replaced.
DuPont to build nonwovens facility in South Korea
DuPont announced the signing of an agreement with the Republic of Korea to build a $12 million nonwovens market development manufacturing facility in the province of Gyeonggi, near Seoul.
According to the company, this market development facility will allow them to develop new selective barrier technologies and drive new applications globally. In addition, this initiative furthers DuPont’s objectives to more clearly address the market needs of the Asia Pacific region.
Comments: DuPont’s nonwovens division is mainly comprised of three technologies including (1) Tyvek® brand protective material, (2) DuPont Sontara® spunlaced fabric, and (3) Typar®/Xavan®; spun-bonded polypropylene. These technologies are marketed in industries such as packaging, construction, medical, protective apparel, and absorbents.
In 2004, DuPont Nonwovens introduced a new technology platform called Advance Composite Technology that leverages core polymer science knowledge with the flexibility of multi-component fiber technology to develop composite sheet structures.
The demand for nonwoven fabrics is increasing significantly in Asia. Recently, Toray also announced its plans to expand PP spunbond capacity in South Korea. For more information on PP Nonwoven Fabrics, please refer to Chemical Market Resources’ multiclient study.
Indian BOPP film producer, Jindal to double capacity
Jindal Poly Films announced its plans to build a 45,000 MT/year biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film unit in Khanvel, in the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, India.
The Rs1.6bn (US$36.6m) project is slated for commissioning in September 2006, said a Jindal official. The project will double the company’s BOPP capacity: it has two BOPP units with capacities of 13,000 MT/year and 32,000 MT/year in Nasik, Maharashtra.
The company plans to increase its metallizer capacities to add value to its film production. Jindal plans to start up two metallizer units in Nasik with a total capacity of 14,000 MT/year, in July and August 2005.
Comments: The domestic demand for BOPP has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of about 11%, with year-on-year growth rates ranging from 10% to 15%. The industry growth estimates for BOPP demand range from 12-15% per annum over the next five years. The key drivers for the growing demand are (1) the growth of the FMCG sector in India, with increasing emphasis on hygiene, packaging, and shelf life; (2) the substitution of traditional cellulose-based packaging material, such as paper and cellophane; (3) the shift from glass to plastic containers that use BOPP labels; (4) increased usage of BOPP films in the fast-growing textile sector (the over-wrap application is growing due to high transparency of BOPP films, which allows a clear view of the fabric).
At present, there are five manufacturers of BOPP film in India. Cosmo is the largest Indian BOPP film manufacturer (60 KT capacity), followed by Flex Industries and Jindal Polyesters. The other suppliers include Max and Supreme Industries with a total of 5-6 KT capacity. The total domestic demand is around 60 KT and the total BOPP capacity in India is 115 KT with exports at around 15 KT. This additional capacity will flood the Indian market with BOPP capacity.
It seems that the major BOPP film producers in India are expanding their capacity to cater to the premium export market.
GE and Delphi develop polyphenylene oxide-based wire & cable coating
GE Advanced Materials and Delphi have jointly developed a new technology that will use GE’s polyphenylene oxide (PPO) resins as a wire coating for Delphi’s wire cables.
According to GE, this is the first application in the automotive segment for GE’s PPO resins, and the development is part of GE’s recently announced initiative to develop new technologies that will meet environmental challenges.
The PPO resin cables are halogen-free, lead-free, and recyclable, GE and Delphi say. About 60% of car wire coating is polyvinyl chloride, which is recyclable but contains halogen, Delphi says. Cross-linked polyethylene wire coatings are halogen-free, but they have poor recyclability, Delphi says. PPO resin coatings are also thinner than traditional wire coatings and can reduce wire weight by about 25%, the companies say. GE says it will supply the PPO resins from its Selkirk, NY plant.
Comments: This novel polyphenylene oxide (PPO) based automotive wire is an important part of GE’s recent campaign of “Ecomagination”, which covers from clean wind energy to high fuel-efficient aircraft engines, from hybrid locomotives to environmentally friendly dishwashers.
Polyphenylene oxide is an engineering thermoplastic invented and commercialized by GE under the trade name Noryl®. Noryl has excellent mechanical properties, electrical properties, dimensional stability, flame retardancy, and heat resistance.
It is widely used in computers, business equipment, electrical appliance, and automotive. In all these traditional applications, rigidity is a critical factor. This new application of Noryl as the automotive wire is a breakthrough in that Noryl has demonstrated its capability to be used as a flexible material. Previously, GE has commercialized a few flexible Noryl grades for consumer electrical plugs and cords.
Currently, PVC and crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) are the two most often used wire coating materials. Under fire, PVC wire will release hazardous gases. Due to environmental concerns, the trend is to replace PVC and brominated PE with halogen-free materials. The current dominant halogen-free wire coating material is called low smoke zero halogens (LSZH), which is magnesium hydroxide or aluminum hydroxide-filled XLPE, However, XLPE can hardly be reused once it is crosslinked. Compared to plasticized PVC, the processability of LSZH is low due to the high loading of inorganic filler, as high as 50-60%. Flexible Noryl provides another halogen-free solution to the wire and cable industry. It has the potential to revolutionize the wire coating materials.
For more information about GE’s flexible Noryl, please refer to the presentation given by Dr. Vijay Mhetar at FlexPO 2004, and the article in Volume 10 Issue 1 of New Generation Polyolefins. The R&D team of Noryl will present their most recent development at our FlexPO 2005 in September.
DuPont faces new Teflon safety probe
DuPont Co. said that it has been handed a subpoena by a federal grand jury seeking to take a closer look at the chemicals it uses to make Teflon.
The subpoena, sent from the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department, asks DuPont to produce a set of documents it already handed to the Environmental Protection Agency in an ongoing investigation of the same chemicals, which scientists suspect can cause birth defects.
The subpoena is the latest wrinkle in DuPont’s long-running legal battle over its use of perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts, C-8, ammonium perfluorooctanoate, and FC-143 – key ingredients in non-stick coatings for cookware and industrial applications.
The company is currently discussing with the EPA how C-8 breaks down in the environment, part of the agency’s study to measure possible health risks posed by the chemical.
Comments: DuPont developed tetrafluoroethylene-based fluoroelastomer and has marketed it under the trade name Teflon® since the 1950s. Recently, DuPont’s PFOA-based products are under scrutiny by the EPA. The EPA alleges that dating back to 1981, DuPont failed to inform the agency about at least one pregnant employee who passed PFOA along to her fetus. As well, the EPA alleges that DuPont never told the agency about PFOA contamination in drinking water near one of its plants in the early 1990s.
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