Bayer Corp.'s Coatings and Colorants Division announced plans to consolidate polyester resins manufacturing at the company's New Martinsville, WV, and Columbus, GA, production sites and close its plant at Hicksville, NY, by the end of this year.

Degussa's Aerosil & Silanes business unit, Parsippany, NJ, announced the launch of a new website for the business's Sivento silanes product line.

UCB S.A., Brussels, announced the start of operations at the company's new Research and Development Centre

Paint & Coatings Industry (PCI) magazine has announced that Rose Ann Ryntz, manager of Advanced Materials Engineering at Visteon Corp. and a noted expert on plastics-coatings technology, will address the 5th International Coatings for Plastics Symposium.

Under an agreement with the U.S. EPA, manufacturers of pressure-treated wood will voluntarily discontinue the use of treatment products containing arsenic by Dec. 31, 2003, the EPA announced.

The Dow Chemical Co., Midland, MI, announced plans to idle a 91,000-metric-ton per-year epichlorohydrin production unit in Freeport, TX, for an indefinite period.

BASF Corp.'s Coatings Regional Business Unit, Southfield, MI, has received the Quality Masters Award

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DSM N.V. of The Netherlands announced the sale of its petrochemical business to Saudi Arabian conglomerate Sabic for 2.25 billion euros, or $1.98 billion U.S.

ICI plc, London, moved to new corporate offices in London's West End