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Grow sale of adhesives

Latin America. Henkel's sales in Latin America grew 5.1% during the first quarter of 2009, standing out above Asia, Europe and the United States, which recorded declines of 20%, 4.6% and 14%, respectively.

In total, the sales record reached US$256.1 million, mainly due to results in the area of detergents in Central America and cosmetics, throughout the region. "In the segments linked to the automotive industry, we suffered the same problems as them, but in consumer goods we had significant results," said Leandro Conti, head of communications for Latin America.

According to the executive, the fall in the industrial pace in Latin America was smaller than in other regions, which allowed to minimize the effects of the crisis on the sales of the industrial, consumer and professional adhesives division.

Henkel's global sales reached $4.438 billion in the first quarter, operating profit (EBIT) fell 31.7% to $297 million.

Arch Chemicals sales fall

USA Arch Chemicals reported a drop in sales during the first quarter of 2009 of close to US$53 million. The company indicated that during this first quarter it reached US$293.7 million in sales, compared to US$347.1 million registered in the same period of 2008.

"Despite changing market conditions, we are pleased with the results in the first quarter, which exceeded our expectations," said the firm's CEO, Michael E. Campbell.

Sales in these segments amounted to US$78.2 million, with operating losses of US$6.4 million, compared to US$115.4 million and US$0.3 million, achieved respectively in 2008. "In the timber protection business, the decrease in volumes for the residential sectors was due to the recession in the construction market and was partially offset by the increase in global prices. In industrial coatings, the drop was due to poor economic conditions in Europe," the company said in a statement.

They will continue to produce BPA

USA Despite the drop in demand for bisphenol A (BPA), Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc. announced that it will continue to produce it at its Plant in Deer Park, Texas, where it has an annual capacity of 500 pounds of the material that is used in the manufacture of epoxy resins, some plastics and other products.

"Low demand continues as a result of the overall economic downturn, making it necessary to upgrade our Deer Park complex," said Ian Harris, vice president of the base resins segment. "We will continue to operate both at our new BPA4 unit in Deer Park and at our plant in Pernis, the Netherlands, thus ensuring continuous supply for customers and to meet our domestic demand."

Commodity prices

After the instability in commodity prices that occurred during the second half of 2008, suppliers have seen a slow stabilization of the market. In general, there have been some increases, especially in solvents and some additives; however, the percentages are not alarming and seem to correspond to the usual market phenomena and the law of supply and demand.

Some of the main suppliers of raw materials explained to INPRA LATINA the situation that has been experienced and talked about the projections for the coming months.

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Nace will train in coating inspection

Mexico. The next corrosion control certification course for the Hispanic community will be offered by NACE International in the city of Cuernavaca between May and August and will include two levels of training for coating inspection.

Corrosion and Protection, the Mexican company in charge of organizing the courses reported that the objective of this thematic unit is to present the basic technology and advanced inspection techniques and their specialized application in steel substrates and other materials, through personalized instruction and laboratory practices.

The course covers various topics, including those that delve into surface preparation, types of coatings, inspection criteria, and failures of various coatings.

This program will benefit anyone who is responsible for inspecting, noting, and measuring the effectiveness of cathodic protection systems, including field personnel, technicians, and those who wish to be certified as cathodic protection evaluators.