United States. Dow Corning Corporation announced its intention to eliminate approximately 800 jobs at its global headquarters as a result of the current economic crisis. The decision involves approximately 8% of the company's workforce and will begin to take effect during the first half of the year, covering all countries where the company is present.
The actions will be achieved through a combination of voluntary retirement programs which will be offered in the United States and a part in other global headquarters, while the involuntary layoff program will be proposed in the United Kingdom.
These actions are part of the extensive savings measures adopted by the company, including the maximization of operational efficiency and a perfect control of expenses.
Germany. Chemical company BASF reported a drop in fourth-quarter operating profit and is poised to face a decline in sales and profits in 2009 as demand from key sectors such as auto and construction shows no signs of rebounding.
"2009 will be a year of unprecedented challenges," Chief Executive Juergen Hambrecht said in a statement reproduced by Reuters. "The situation in our sales markets is getting worse and inventory levels in the value chain are still too high," he added.
The group expects global chemical production to fall by 2% in 2009. It also reported that its fourth-quarter earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell 70% to $670 million.
The firm had a net loss of $393 million in the quarter. Quarterly sales fell 2.7% to $17.95 billion.
As a result, BASF announced that it will eliminate some 1,500 of its 97,000 jobs, through the closure of plants in the United States, Asia and Europe.
Brazil. The paints and varnishes sector in Brazil reported exports of US$167.36 million during 2008, representing an increase of 18% over the results of 2007. This was assured by the Union of the Paints and Varnishes Industry of the State of São Paulo, Sitivesp.
According to the Union, imports also registered an increase of close to 40%, equivalent to US$230 million, compared to the data of the previous cycle.
Until September 2008, before the economic crisis, the performance of the trade balance in the paints and varnishes sector showed the consolidated numbers now, but the projection was of a change in this scenario due to the new panorama of the world economy. "It was expected that when the dollar appreciated, exports would improve and imports would be greatly reduced, which in fact did not happen," said Sitivesp's management advisor, Airton Aparecido Sicolin.
The trend is for the pace of imports to slow down in 2009, reducing the deficit in the sector's trade balance. Currently, exports represent about 6% of the total turnover of the industry, including the architectural, industrial and automotive repainting lines.
The union also announced that imports in 2008 were 40,960 tons and had an average value of US$5.62 per kg., while exports totaled 61,443 tons, with an average price of US$2.72 per kg.
The main market for Brazilian paintings is the bloc of Mercosur countries, with a share of 44%.
USA. The chemical company DuPont generated during 2008 more than US$10 billion in sales of products developed in the last 5 years, a figure that represents 35% of total sales. The firm also marketed 901 new products or new applications, and submitted more than 1,900 patent applications in that year alone.
In this regard, Uma Chowdhry, vice president and general manager of the Department of Science and Technology of DuPont, said that there is a great strength in the company in terms of research and development, achieving high-performance innovations that have a good profit margin, even in difficult times.
"DuPont scientists are now more committed to finding opportunities that translate into new sustainable products and technologies, and offer added value to current and future customers."
Holland. Dutch multinational Akzo Nobel reported a loss of 1.1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in profits in 2008, hit by non-cash charges from the ICI acquisition, and warned it faces a challenging 2009.
The chemical group said it took on charges of 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in the fourth quarter, after taxes related to ICI's depreciation and incidental charges of 600 million euros ($762 million).
The firm's annual loss compares with a profit of 595 million euros (US$755 million) in 2007. Latin America contributed 8% of the European company's total profits.
Compared to 2007, total sales in the industrial paints segment fell by 6%, from 2,032 to 1,915 million euros (US$2,432 million). In marine and protective paints, profits fell 8%, in automotive finishes they fell 3% and in packaging paints by 1%.
In total, sales in the four segments mentioned above fell from 1,054 to 1,098 million euros (US$1,394 million), 4% less than in 2007.
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