This new center will contain offices for the research director and other ex­ecutive personnel, a glass testing and development lab, plastics lab, meeting room, and library. This step in the di­rection of research, the company says, is being taken because of the increased sales volume and profitable operation resulting from the merger last March of Glass Fibers with the Fiber Glass and Corrulux divisions of Libbey-Owens-Ford.

Gulf Considers Expansion Third ethylene unit may bring output over 5 0 0 million pounds; more rubber latex in of f ing

AT RECENT BOARD M E E T I N G S 0Π t h e Gulf Coast, both Gulf Oil and Good­rich-Gulf Chemicals revealed that major expansions are under considera­tion. S. A. Swensrud, chairman of the boards of both companies stated that at present Gulf is considering even further expansion of its ethylene activ­ities. H e says that the company is studying the advisability of add ing a third unit of similar size to the second, which was completed this summer at Port Arthur, Tex. Current ethylene capacity is nearly 365 million pounds a year, of which the newer unit sup­plies 220 million pounds . Swensrud says the company expects to reach a decision on a third unit in the near future.

At the Goodrich-Gulf meeting it was stated that in the first three months of the company's operations, production in the butadiene plant at Port Neches, Tex., has increased 8 8 % over the simi­lar period in 1954 when it was operated for the Government. Synthetic rubber output is up 8 7 % over the same span. The butadiene plant is operated jointly with Texas-U. S. Chemical, while the synthetic rubber plant is exclusively Goodrich-Gulf.

Both plants are being operated at maximum capacity. T h e company is now studying engineering surveys that may lead to a major expansion program in the foreseeable future in order to meet increased demand for synthetic rubber.

Goodrich-Gulf has made a number of modifications in operating equipment to improve efficiency and increase pro­duction. The company now has plans for diversification of activities, starting with immediate production of latex. Initially it plans to produce about a million pounds a month. However, it is installing necessary facilities to triple this amount within the very near future.

Chemical Sales Boom Continues Sales for 1955 may reach record $23 ,5 bi l l ion, 2 0 % over 1954

C O N T I N U A T I O N OF CHEMICAL SALES at present record levels will chalk u p a new high of $23,500 million for 1955, the Commerce Department 's Chemical and Rubber Division reports. This will represent a 2 0 % gain over the 1954 record level of $19,556 million.

In addition to a big boost in sales in chemicals, a 1955 review and prospects study for the chemical and rubber products industries reflects that pro­duction, consumption, and sales in the rubber industry will likewise b e at rec­ord levels.

• Chemicals a n d Allied Products. Capital equipment expenditures in the chemical field will reach an estimated $950 million, a decline from the record level of $1,130 million in 1954.

Production in 1955, as reflected by estimates based on the Federal Re­serve Board index, will average 168 for the year, a new peak which is 1 3 % above the earlier peak of 148 in 1954. This production peak will be ahead of estimates made earlier this year. A 2 1 % decline in the value of chemical manufacturers ' inventories took place in the first half of 1955. At t h e end of 1954 inventories were equivalent to almost two months sales; by June they were down to 1.5 months. To support present high sales volumes, a moderate degree of inventory bui ldup is ex­pected.

The Chemical and Rubber Division

looks for progressively keener compet i ­tion resulting from increased domestic costs, additional capacity from new plants, and mounting production abroad. Maintenance of competitive positions will depend in. part on in­creased efficiencies, technological ad­vances, and diversification of products and distributive channels.

Moderate upward pressures on chemical wholesale prices are expected.

Average employment will total 810,-000 which will top the 1953 high by 0 .6%. Wages of chemical production workers averaged $83.22 in July, a 6% gain over June 1954.

Important factors in the future pic­ture are the impact of atomic energy applications and effects of growing shortages of technical and professional personnel.

ί Rubber Goods Output Up . De­spite a seasonal decline in automobile output during the last Eve months of 1955, new records for t he year will be established by the rubber industry. Tire production for passenger cars, trucks, and buses is expected to pass the 100 million mark for the first t ime.

N e w rubber consumption may attain a record high of 1,440,000 long tons in 1955, 7% above the 1953 record level. Because of increases in natural rubber prices, the ratio of synthetic to total new rubber consumption has risen and should result in a new record for syn­thetic usage.

The synthetic rubber plants, under private ownership since May, will pro­duce in excess of 900,000 long tons. Exports for the first six months are

OCT. 3, 195 5 C&EN 4 1 7 9

-mm *s^

O - C H O

I

L

D E S C R I P T I O N

An amber-colored, mobile liquid with an odor like oil of bi t ter almonds.

P R O P E R T I E S

Specific Gravity (20/20°C.) 1.161 Boiling Point, °C. (Todd Still),

744 mm. 160 (9S%) Freezing Point, °C. -36 .5 Flash Point, (open cup), °F. 150-160 Refractive Index, (n 20°/D) 1.526 Surface Tension at 20°C.

(dynes/cm) 49. Viscosity (Centipoises)

38°C. 1.35 54°C. 1.09

I n a d d i t i o n t o p r o p e r t i e s i t p o s ­s e s s e s i n c o m m o n w i t h o t h e r a l d e h y e s , f u r f u r a l e x h i b i t s a c h e m i c a l b e h a v i o r pecu l i a r to t h e u n s a t u r a t e d f u r a n n u c l e u s . A s a c o n s e q u e n c e i t i s c o m m a n d i n g in­c r e a s i n g i n t e r e s t a s a c h e m i c a l i n ­t e r m e d i a t e .

I t s v e r s a t i l i t y , high, p u r i t y a n d low p r i ce a r e r e a s o n s w h y y o u s h o u l d e v a l u a t e furfural i n p r o c ­esses a n d p r o d u c t s i n v o l v i n g i t s use a s a s e l ec t i ve s o l v e n t , r es in i n g r e d i e n t , g e n e r a l s o l v e n t , w e t ­t i n g a g e n t , a n d c h e m i c a l i n t e r ­m e d i a t e .

Write for Bul let in 2 0 4 . A f e w words as to the nature of your interest wiii enable us to select for you other pertinent literature about

QO F U R F U R A L MANUFACTURED BY

The Quaker Qals Company J

CHEMICALS DEPARTMENT 333G The Merchandise Mart

Chicago 54 , Illinois Room 533G, Î20 Wall St.,

New York 5, N. V. Room 433G, 3000 N. Going St.,

Portland 11, Oregon

INDUSTRY

ahead of annual levels of earlier years except the immediate post war years.

Rubber manufacturers' sales are ex­pected to surpass the 1953 peak of $5,097 million. Increased productiv­ity is resulting in use of fewer em­ployees to attain this output.

Sodium and Ethyl Chloide Du Pont to add intermediates plant adjacent to and inte­grated with its tetraethyl-lead and Freon plant on West Coast

Du P O N T IS EXPANDING its Antioch, Calif., plant more than a year before it is completed. Present plans call for adding a multimillion dollar sodium, ethyl chloride, trichloroethylene, and perchloroethylene plant. It will ad­join and be integrated wi th the, tetra-ethyllead and Freon refrigerants plant which is scheduled for completion late next year. Sodium and ethyl chloride are essential intermediates in the manu­facture of tetraethyllead.

This expansion will occupy a part of t he previously acquired site located two miles east of Antioch on the San Joaquin River. According to present Schedu les , t h e new addition is expected to be completed during the early part of 1957.

I # i * a v C o n c e n t r a t i o n

Besides supplying sodium for the D u Pont plant, it will also make it for sale to other consumers on the West Coast. The trichloroethylene made at the plant will go chiefly to West Coast aircraft iuiva. rnetrta xciu/ricatiiig muuSLrics xor use in degreasing metal parts. Principal consumer of perchloroethylene will b e the dry cleaning industry.

The three primary raw materials needed by the plant—electricity, pro­pane, and salt—will all b e purchased locally. Propane will be brought to the plant from nearby refineries. Salt will come from the San Francisco Bay area where it is extracted from sea water by solar evaporation.

Atlas Point Strike Like a cold shower—quick in and

quick out—the strike a t Atlas Powder's chemicals plant near Wilmington, Del., was over almost as soon as i t started.

First the employees voted to reject a two-year contract with ajn offer of a 16-cents-per-hour raise—8 cents imme­diately and 8 cents next year. The UMW District 50 was demanding a 15-cent raise immediately, with the right to renegotiate next year.

T h e company's second offer was for a one-year contract, again with an 8-cent raise. Union representatives agreed to this offer in eleventh-hour negotiations. However when the union rank-and-file met to vote o n the offer, it was rejected and the employees went out on strike.

ALfter being out for only a few days, employees voted again, this t ime to accept the previously rejected offer of a one-year contract. In less than a week after the strike call, the Atlas Point chemicals plant returned to full production.

> Food Machinery & Chemical has established a central development de­partment for its chemical divisions. Henry S. Winnicki is manager of t he new department.

> Pittsburgh Coke & Chemical has formed a chemical procurement de­partment to serve the requirements of its chemical divisions.

> Crown Zellerbach plans a $2 mil­lion multiwall bag plant as a com­panion unit for its projected kraft paper mill at Antioch Calif. Construction

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