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January 5, 2009
Barbie, a plastic icon, turns 50
Mattel Inc.'s Barbie turns 50 this year -- the doll was introduced at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 4, 1959 -- and the International Herald Tribune jumped ahead just a bit with a feature story about the icon.
There are tons of Barbie Web sites out there, so if you're interested in more information feel free to surf the 'net. Wikipedia is a good place to start -- that's where I learned that Barbie's body orginally was made of PVC, but the modern versions are ABS (although the head is still made of vinyl).
For more materials-related Barbie information, check WebMD's "Malibu Barbie, Holiday Barbie ... Toxic Barbie?"
January 4, 2009
LyondellBasell to bring in turnaround team
LyondellBasell Industries AP SCA is bringing in a turnaround team in an effort to avoid filing for Chapter 11 reorganization, according to a report in The Times of London.
According to the report, Kevin McShea, managing director of AlixPartners in New York, will become chief restructuring officer. The story describes him, and his mission:
Mr. McShea, a veteran of US corporate turnarounds, and AP Services, a subsidiary of Alix, will parachute a team of temporary staff into LyondellBasell and its subsidiaries as they try to restructure the group, which is labouring under a total debt mountain of $26 billion. If successful, they will be eligible for a fee of up to $7 million.
LyondellBasell had said on Dec. 31 that it was considering filing for Chapter 11. The company is suffering as a result of the decline in chemical prices and a heavy debt load.
LyondellBasell is the world's largest maker of polyolefins. The company is the No. 1 maker of PP in North America and the world. The company also holds the No. 2 slot in both high and low density polyethylene in North America.
December 31, 2008
Chapter 11 for LyondellBasell?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that LyondellBasell Industries AF may file for Chapter 11 protection from creditors. The story quotes unnamed sources who told lenders on Monday that the company "has hired bankruptcy counsel and told lenders it is trying to line up as much as $2 billion in bankruptcy financing."
Bloomberg is reporting that LyondellBasell investors "face losses of more than 90 cents on the dollar" as the company "struggles to restructure debt that financed a $12.7 billion takeover a year ago."
At this point (9 a.m. on Dec. 31), LyondellBasell has no word on the possible Chapter 11 on its Web site. The company did post a news release yesterday clarifying a Standard & Poors release, noting that LyondellBasell is not currently in default of its bank agreements.
December 30, 2008
Oh brother...
Last week, organizers of the North American International Auto Show's Charity Preview announced that current pop music sensations The Jonas Brothers would be providing tickets to a special concert to people who buy tickets to the charity preview.
This week, organizers announced that former music mainstays The Doobie Brothers would perform a special concert during the charity preview.
Something tells us that these two bands will attract wildly difference audiences.
December 29, 2008
Reader comments are the best
The Chicago Tribune had a feature story on Saturday about a reporter's effort to (sort of) live for a week without plastic. This story topic is becoming popular everywhere, it seems. As usual, the reporter doesn't really make much of an effort to live entirely without plastic. That would require giving up electricity and plumbing, healthcare and automobiles. No, the focus is on giving up packaging and disposable diapers -- and even then, reporter Trine Tsouderos discovers that living without plastics in 2008 isn't easy (or perhaps even desireable).
The story is labeled "A consumer watch special report," which seems a bit of a stretch. I guess it's "special" because Tsouderos subjected her husband and children to the pseudo no-plastic lifestyle for a whole week.
The story itself is OK, but my favorite part are the reader comments. Most are submitted anonymously, but I think I recognize a few of the authors based on their comments and writing style.
Someone with the pen name "2nd Amendment" from Sycamore, Ill., writes: "To be honest, I simply do not understand the fear of plastic? What in the world is wrong with it? Ooo... It doesn't degrade in a landfill. So what? Most things don't. What, in a few years are you expecting the landfills to become a nice pile of fluff to turn into a vegetable garden? Folks would do well to learn some real science and forget about the latest pop-culture, carbon footprint, pseudo-science that is seems to pass as fact these days."
"Reality" from Winfield, Ill., adds: "another stupid article. To go without plastic you'd have to live in a cave or tree. There is lots of plastic in every building. You couldn't drive a car, ride a bus/plane, or ride a bike. You'd have no food since it's used in the equipment to grow and harvest food and transport, refrigerate, etc. Get real!"
Someone who calls themselves "American" wrote: "I see a lot of articles like this lately, trying to live plastic free, trying to buy nothing for a year, trying to eat locally for a year, and they all end up sounding like a variation on obsessive-compulsive disorder."
There are also interesting debates among the readers about the pros and cons of plastics packaging, what living plastic-free really means, and whether the debate should actually be about America's overconsumption habit. As a result, the reader comments add depth to the story, and I encourage you to check them out.
December 28, 2008
Setback for "asset light?
It looks like I was wrong about the Dow-Kuwait joint venture. I predicted in two blog posts in the past month that, despite the noise coming out of the Middle East, the K-Dow joint venture would likely move forward.
But now, as we're reporting on the Plastics News Web site, Kuwait today announced that it will cancel the planned $17.4 billion joint venture with Dow Chemical Co.
Apparently the political pressure was too much to overcome, as opponents threatened to scuttle the government of Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah.
The questions now: what's Dow's next step, and what does this mean for the "asset light" strategy that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Liveris has been pushing? What sort of shakeout should we expect next from the global crash in petrochemical demand?
December 24, 2008
Dow's final push for Kuwait JV
Dow Chemical Co. is in the unusual position of explaining the advantages of its new joint venture -- K-Dow Petrochemicals -- to the news media and people of Kuwait.
Dow's partner in the joint venture is Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC). The deal is scheduled to close next week -- on Jan. 1.
Despite some questions raised in the news media in the Middle East, Dow has sent signals over the past few weeks that plans for the JV are moving ahead as scheduled. This story from the Amman, Jordan-based Al Bawaba Group news site, is the latest signal. The story is basically a statement attributed to comments made by Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris, responding to issues raised about the JV.
The statement starts: "Among the accomplishments I am most proud of since becoming Dow's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 2005, has been the strong and growing economic relationship between our company and our business partners in Kuwait. ... In recent weeks there has been much discussion and debate about whether a fifth partnership to establish a new joint Kuwaiti-American company -- K-Dow Petrochemicals -- is in the long-term interest of the people of Kuwait," he said. "As the person who often sat at the table while the details of this joint venture were being settled, I know from personal experience that our Kuwaiti partners negotiated with tenacity and resolve to assure the company we were building together would be one that would be worthy of the immense talent and energy Kuwaiti men and women who would become its foundation."
The article then goes into some detail explaining that the deal was "thoroughly and fairly negotiated," offers "exceptional value," and will be good to Kuwait. It also includes a list of how Dow has been a generous corporate citizen to Kuwait, and an explanation of the materials that K-Dow will make.
The terms of the deal are the focus of much of the report. It certainly seems unusual that Dow's CEO is spending time explaining how PIC's executives got a good deal in their negotiations with Dow.
A story on Bloomberg.com today helps to explain Liveris' statement. It notes that a group of Kuwaiti opposition lawmakers calling themselves the Popular Action Bloc is urging Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah to kill the JV, "saying the investment was ill-timed and doesn't benefit the nation. Kuwait's cabinet yesterday debated whether to proceed with the venture and planned to make a final decision today, the Kuwait Times reported, citing sources it didn't identify."
As was the case in the blog item I posted on K-Dow a month ago, I still don't think the K-Dow deal is in danger of falling apart. Chemicals are a cyclical business, and the near-term outlook for joint ventures like this are going to have their ups and downs.
December 23, 2008
Jonas Brothers save Detroit -- at least for a night
There's more than one way to skin a cat -- or sell expensive charity show tickets. For the 2009 Detroit auto show charity preview gala -- a black tie event just before the public days at the auto show, in which tickets cost hundreds of dollars, fundraisers are hitting ticket buyers where it hurts. With their teenage daughters.
Current teen dream sensation The Jonas Brothers will perform in a special concert on Jan. 18 -- two days after the preview. One concert ticket will be issued for each charity preview ticket purchased.
"We couldn't be more pleased that an act as large as the Jonas Brothers have offered their support to Charity Preview," said Joe Serra, senior co-chair of the 2009 NAIAS. "Not only will attendees be supporting local children's charities in this time of dire need, but they will be able to provide the kids in their life with a ticket to the hottest concert in town.
Thanks to our staff reporter in Detroit, Rhoda Miel, for tipping me off to this item.
December 21, 2008
Much-needed optimism from Milacron
David Lawrence, the new president and CEO of Milacron Inc., had a positive message to deliver in today's Cincinnati Enquirer. As the story notes, that's a "good thing, because he's taking over leadership of the Cincinnati manufacturing icon during a particularly challenging time."
Here's a sample of some of Lawrence's glass-half-full comments:
"I don't know what's around the corner... But it's nothing we can't deal with. Nothing other companies aren't dealing with." Later, he notes: "I didn't take this job because I didn't think this company can't survive."
Another interesting snippet from the story:
Milacron is embarking on a strategic review of its global operations to determine where it makes the most economic sense to produce the equipment it sells."Some will be made in the United States, and some will be made in other parts of the world," he said.
Milacron has operations in North America and Europe and small operations in China and India. Lawrence said that while U.S. manufacturing is challenging, the company isn't going to abandon production here.
"We can't ship jobs offshore and maintain a robust economy," he said.
Lawrence is in a position that means a lot to the future of plastics machinery manufacturing in the United States. So it's great to see him take a high-profile, optimistic stance.
December 19, 2008
Museum settling into new home
The National Plastics Center has officially moved to its new home at Syracuse University. A cargo van filled with items arrived Dec. 5 from Leominster, Mass., according to this story in the Syracuse, N.Y., The Post-Standard.
"It's a lot of cubic feet of stuff. It's plastic artifacts wrapped in plastic bubble wrap stored in plastic bins, " Sean Quimby, director of SU's Special Collections Research Center, told the newspaper. "The very experience of doing this kind of drives home the importance of plastic."
According to this news release from the Syracuse University Library, the collection includes:
- Nearly 3,000 books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and industry publications
- Papers, business records, and manuscripts from plastics companies, plastics-industry entrepreneurs, and members of the Plastics Hall of Fame, including the records of Union Products, maker of the iconic pink flamingo lawn ornament
- Thousands of artifacts, including molds and machinery, fine art, toys, car parts, medical devices, housewares, and jewelry. The artifacts include objects made of natural plastics such as horn, ivory, and tortoiseshell, semi-synthetic plastics including celluloid, and fully synthetic objects including those made of the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite.
Suzanne Thorin, SU's dean of libraries, said some of the plastic artifacts will be put on display in the library's special collection exhibit area, and the rest will be stored.
Plastics News wrote about the planned move back in November, noting that the center wasn't drawing enough visitors at its Leominster location to cover its expenses. One question that we had at the time is answered in the Syracuse story: why is the collection going to New York?
The university and the National Plastics Center were connected by SU alum Harry Greenwald, of Chicago, according to the story. Greenwald, now retired, bought and sold dozens of companies in the plastics industry, and is a member of the university's Library Board of Advisors, Thorin told the newspaper.
