Israeli crop bioengineering company Rosetta Green Ltd. (RSTG.TV) said Sunday that Monsanto Co. (MON.NYSE) will acquire its activities for $35 million.
The agreement, which includes costs for terminating Rosetta Green's employees, will leave Rosetta Green as an empty shell on the Tel Aviv market. U.S. based
Monsanto is an industry leaders in biotechnology and fertilizer development for the agricultural sector. It also has a collaboration agreement with Israel's Evogene Ltd. (EVGN.TV), worth about $35 million.
Shares of Rosetta Green rose sharply on the news, as the price reflects a premium of about 100% over Thursday's market cap of 66 million shekels ($17.94 million). At 0919 GMT, shares of Rosetta Green were up ILS1.66, or 25.52%, at ILS8.21, in a higher Tel Aviv market.
SOURCE Dow Jones Newswires
Emerging economies, solar power investments and the shale gas boom are all working together to fuel the Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) market, states a new report by GBI Research.
The new report* looks at VAM, a raw material used in the production of synthetic rubbers and polymer resins, and its main end-uses Polyvinyl Acetate (PVAc) and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) are used to produce paints, adhesives, paper coatings and textile treatments, packaging films and foams. EVA is also used in Photovoltaic (PV) applications, and the growth of the solar industry is promoting further growth in the VAM industry.
Growing demand in the VAM market is largely thanks to the Asia-Pacific region, in particular China. While demand in developed countries such as Japan has largely stabilized, the large populations and growing economies of emerging countries such as China and India mean that they have substantial consumption potential, reflected in the high growth in Chinese VAM downstream segments such as Polyvinyl Acetate (PVAc), and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA).
The increasing popularity of shale gas over recent years, particularly in the US, has had an additional positive effect on domestic production of VAM. Crude oil is a major feedstock used for the production of ethylene, which in turn is used for the production of VAM. The percentage of ethane, which represents the VAM stream, is very high in natural gas compared to crude oil or naphtha, and the increased availability of shale gas is expected to result in a corresponding rise in the domestic production of ethylene and VAM. This will drive future export prospects, as local demand is currently being met by domestic production.
Global demand for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) has been increasing steadily over the last 10 years, from 4,007,436 tons in 2000 to 5,006,705 tons in 2011, and demand is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4% in the coming years, to reach 7,103,889 tons in 2020. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for around 60% of global VAM demand in 2011, and a similar trend is expected to continue in the forecast period.
SOURCE ChemEurope
Zhejiang Chem-Tech Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Sinochem Lantian Co., Ltd., has started a trifluoroacetic acid expansion project and will complete it within this year.
The expansion project will increase Sinochem Lantian’s total trifluoroacetic acid capacity to over 20,000t/a upon completion.
The company also plans to construct CFC-113a feedstock integrated project.
Zhejiang Chem-Tech specializes in the research, development, manufacture and trade of fine chemicals, and main products are BIT industrial biocide series, trifluoracetic acid, new high efficient environment-friendly fire retardant ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and organosilicon materials, etc.
SOURCE China Chemical Industry News
Contour Energy Systems Inc (Contour Energy), innovator of
next-generation battery systems, has announced the opening of its research &
development (R&D) centre in Singapore, located at Westpark Biz Central.
Founded in 2007 out of the collaboration of Caltech and the French National
Center of Scientific Research, Contour Energy is a next-generation battery
company, pioneering breakthrough in fluorine-based battery chemistries, nano
material science and advanced manufacturing processes.
SOURCE prnewswire.com
JSR Corp has decided to expand its research & development
facilities at JM Energy Corp, a wholly owned subsidiary specializing in
Lithium Ion Capacitors in order to strengthen its research and development
functions. The construction is scheduled to be completed in Jun 2013 and
will cost, in addition to the introduction of testing equipment and other
items, roughly Yen 800 million. This expansion is for the purpose of
strengthening JM Energy's R&D and evaluation system so that the company can
respond swiftly to the expanding needs of their customers. The company is
already providing a wide range of energy-saving solutions which utilize its
Lithium Ion Capacitor Series ULTIMO. By expanding their facilities, the
company will continue to advance its development towards even higher energy
density and lower resistance LICs. Lithium Ion Capacitor (LIC) is a type of
large-capacity capacitor that functions as an electrical storage device that
is expanding capacitors' application range thanks to its high output
density, high energy density, and high voltage.
SOURCE JSR Press Release
Japan’s Mitsubishi Rayon Co (MRC) intends to shut its No 1 55,000 tonne/year butane-based methyl methacrylate (MMA) lines in Otake from March 11 for a turnaround, a company source said on Friday.
The plant will resume production from 19 April, the source added.
Both its No 1 and No 2 55,000 tonne/year butane-based MMA lines at the same site are currently running slightly below 100%, the company source said.
MRC is running its 107,000 tonne/year acetone cyanohydrin-based MMA line at the same site at 70-80% capacity due to insufficient raw materials supply, the company source said.
SOURCE ICIS News - For internal use only
Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals is planning to withdraw from the business operations of its Keiyo Ethylene joint venture by end-March 2015, as part of its restructuring efforts, the producer said on Friday.
Keiyo Ethylene, which produces 768,000 tonnes/year of ethylene, is a joint venture between Mitsui Chemicals, Maruzen Petrochemical and Sumitomo Chemical.
The improvement in ethylene supply from new large-scale plants in the Middle East and China as well as the forecasted production growth from shale gas in the US has resulted in an “urgent need to fundamentally restructure and reform domestic petrochemical business for industry sustainability,” the company said.
According to Mitsui Chemicals, Japan’s domestic ethylene production is expected to fall below 6m tonnes/year.
Mitsui Chemicals will now further strengthen its participation in the Ichihara ethylene center of Chiba Chemicals Manufacturing, an operative by Mitsui Chemicals and Idemitsu Kosan, as part of its efforts to restructure its petrochemical business.
SOURCE ICIS News - For internal use only
PetroChina is planning to start up its 800,000 tonne/year naphtha cracker at Pengzhou in China’s Sichuan province in June or July this year, a company source said on Monday.
The company’s 200,000 bbl/day refinery at the same site is expected to come on stream in April, according to the source.
The refinery will produce naphtha feedstock for the cracker.
Downstream plants of the cracker include a 600,000 tonne/year polyethylene (PE) plant, a 300,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) plant, a 350,000 tonne/year aromatics unit and a 150,000 tonne/year butadiene (BD) unit .
SOURCE ICIS News - For internal use only
Showa Denko has entered into a partnership with Mitsubishi
Corporation for fullerenes. It has taken a 50% stake in Frontier Carbon
Corporation (joint venture Mitsubishi Chemical and Mitsubishi Corporation).
Frontier specializes in the production and sale of nanocarbon products such
as fullerene. It will now be held 50:50 Showa Denko and Mitsubishi
Corporation. Showa Denko has marketed carbon nanotubes under the brand name
VGCF for 10 years. These are used in a number of applications including
lithium ion batteries. The joint venture will gain access to VGCF technology
for fullerene.
SOURCE Chimie Pharma Hebdo
A powerful explosion rocked the Mexico City headquarters of state-owned oil giant Pemex yesterday, killing at least 25 people, injuring more than 100 and trapping others inside.
The mid-afternoon blast in a neighbouring building shattered the lower floors of the downtown tower, throwing debris into the streets and sending frightened workers running outside.
A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a preliminary line of investigation was that the blast came from a gas boiler that exploded in the adjacent Pemex building. But the cause was still being determined, the official added.
The explosion at the building complex, where thousands of Pemex employees worked, was the latest in a series of serious safety problems to hit Mexico's national oil monopoly.
Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said the blast killed at least 25 people, injured over 100, and that the number of casualties could rise.
Rescue workers were still searching for employees trapped inside the Pemex skyscraper on Thursday night. At least one person had been rescued alive, Osorio Chong said.
Mauricio Parra, a paramedic at the scene, said that as many as 100 people could be trapped at the offices of Pemex, a national institution that President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration has pledged to reform this year.
Police quickly cordoned off the building, and television images showed the explosion caused major damage to the ground floor and blew out windows on the lower floors of the tower.
"You could feel it all through the building," said Mario Guzman, a Pemex worker who was on the 10th floor of the building, which is more than 50 stories high.
First mistaking the blast for an earthquake, Guzman, who said he escaped after running down the stairs, feared the building would collapse on top of him and his colleagues, "and that we would end up like a sandwich."
Pemex said initially the tower was evacuated due to a problem with its electricity supply. It then said there had been an explosion, but did not say what caused it.
The Pemex blast occurred shortly before many workers were due to end their shifts at the complex.
The company said its business would not be affected by the incident and that it would continue to operate normally.
FORCE OF LAW
Earlier in the evening, Pena Nieto, who took office in December, went to the scene and said the explosion would be thoroughly investigated. He vowed to apply "the force of the law" if anyone was found to be responsible for it.
Mexican media reported that after the blast, security officials carried out a precautionary search of Congress for explosive devices, but found nothing.
Asked about this, Osorio Chong said normal security procedures were being followed, but added that "additional care" was being taken while the blast was being cleared up.
Helicopters buzzed around the building and lines of fire trucks sped to the entrance, while emergency workers ferried injured people through wreckage strewn on the street.
Search-and-rescue dogs were sent into the skyscraper, a Mexico City landmark that sports a distinctive "hat" on top.
Some families of people working in the tower were impatient for news about missing relatives.
Gloria Garcia, 53, herself a Pemex worker who was not in the building during the explosion, came to see if she could track down her son, who worked in one of the floors hit.
"I'm calling his phone and he's not answering," Garcia said, weeping as she called repeatedly on her phone. "Nobody knows anything. They won't let me through. I want to see my son whatever state he's in."
Pemex has experienced a number of deadly accidents in recent years and lesser safety problems have been a regular occurrence. In September, 30 people died after an explosion at a Pemex natural gas facility in northern Mexico.
More than 300 were killed when a Pemex natural gas plant on the outskirts of Mexico City exploded in 1984.
Eight years later, about 200 people were killed and 1,500 injured after a series of underground gas explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico's second biggest city. An official investigation found Pemex was partly to blame.
Alberto Islas, a security analyst at consultancy Risk Evaluation, said the explosion at the Pemex offices was another blot against the company's safety record.
"We've seen this time and again at Pemex. They don't have a well-integrated policy," Islas said, noting it would probably take several hours before investigators would be able to determine the cause of the explosion.
Pemex, a symbol of Mexican self-sufficiency since the oil industry was nationalized in 1938, has been held back by inefficiency and corruption and by the burden it shoulders of providing about a third of federal tax revenues.
Pena Nieto has pledged to open up the company to more private investment to improve its performance.
SOURCE The Independant
RELEASED ON 01/02/13 (DD/MM/YY)
The pesticide market in China was subdued first and picked up later in the first half of 2012. With impacts from sustained low-temperature weather in the first quarter, the peak period for pesticide application was postponed and the demand of insecticides and acaricides was down. The pesticide market made a rapid recovery in the second quarter and the price of pesticide showed a rising trend. Major pest hazards occurred in main crop regions in China in the second half of 2012. Pest and disease hazards to autumn farm crops, in particular, were much more serious than previous years. China appropriated a fund totaling RMB600 million for the control of pests and diseases. The demand of pesticides was therefore brisk and the price of pesticides went up. Pushed by herbicides export, the total export of pesticides made a drastic increase over the same period of the previous year and the inventory in producers had a drop.
1. Glyphosate taking the lead
The global sales value of glyphosate reached US$4.19 billion in 2011, an increase of 2.7% over 2010. The output of glyphosate in China fell in 2011. The total output was only 291 700 tons. The concentration degree of production, however, had a remarkable upgrading. The output in the top five producers reached 249 500 tons, accounting for 85% of the national total. After the slight buffer at the beginning of 2012, the price of glyphosate rose rapidly. The price rise of glyphosate was started in the second quarter. It presented a trend of ladder-like drastic increase in the third quarter and the quarterly growth reached as high as 32.05%. The sustained price rise of glyphosate entered a readjustment period at the very beginning of the fourth quarter and the growth was slowed down. The glyphosate market in China became basically stable at the end of 2012. The price of glyphosate was 40.58% higher than the same period of 2011. The transaction price of glyphosate in some areas is RMB35 500-36 000 per ton today.
Main reasons for the price rise of glyphosate heat in the glyphosate sector in the second quarter and the third quarter of 2012 include the pressure from industrial integration and environmental protection, the cost increase in waste treatment caused by the quitting of 10% glyphosate aqueous solution from the market and the planting area expansion of transgenetic crops.
Firstly, the glyphosate sector in China made a rapid development in 2008. Mainstream producers of glyphosate conducted drastic capacity expansion. Small and medium enterprises also entered the market. The capacity of glyphosate was therefore in surplus during 2009-2011. There was oversupply in market and the price came sharply down. Producers had no profit to make. Some producers that failed to keep in line with environmental protection requirements and industrial policies and had no strong technology suspended production and quited the market. Due to inadequate stocks in traders in slack seasons of 2011, there was once no supply in brisk seasons of 2012. Meanwhile, the Chinese government proposed more and more stringent requirements on environmental protection. In August 2012 the glyphosate sector was included in main targets for verification. Some small and medium enterprises were faced with pressure and their production was affected. The supply shortage of glyphosate in market led to a sustained price rise.
Secondly, 10% glyphosate aqueous solution quitted the market. Thereafter producers not only lost its market share of 10% glyphosate aqueous solution made from waste liquid, they also had to spend some money on waste liquid treatment. Furthermore, the market demand of chloromethane as byproduct in the glyphosate production using the glycine route was always slack. Producers had no way to make timely disposal of the byproduct. The output of glyphosate using the glycine route was therefore restricted. The increase of the production cost and the restriction of the output also led to a price rise of glyphosate.
Thirdly, the energy demand in the world is brisk in recent years. Due to the lack and the nonrenewable feature of fossil energy, great attention has started to be paid to the development of biological energy. The planting area of glyphosate-resistant transgenetic crops mainly including corn and soybean has made a constant expansion. The demand of glyphosate series herbicides made a drastic increase and a sustained price rise of glyphosate was promoted.
Starting from October, however, the price of glyphosate showed falling signs from the high level. Such signs have recently become more evident. Main reasons are perhaps as follows. With the drastic price rise, the profitability in glyphosate sector is much higher. Leading enterprises such as Xin’an Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd. have reversed loss to profit. Small and medium enterprises that already quited the market have also gradually restored production. The capacity of glyphosate in China is around 500 000 t/a today. The capacity in Xin’an Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd. is 80 000 t/a and the capacity in Fuhua Chemical Co., Ltd. is 70 000 t/a. The total capacity of these two producers accounts for 30% of the national total. The new capacity of 40 000 t/a in Fuhua Chemical Co., Ltd. started production in December and the total capacity in the glyphosate sector was increased by 10%. When the downstream demand has no increase, the completion of the new capacity will topple the fragile balance between supply and demand.
2. Paraquat making a revival
Paraquat is a fast contact sterilant dipyridine herbicide. Owing to its features of broad spectrum, rapid effect, convenient operation, no root killing, water/soil retention and environment friendliness, paraquat has gained applications in more than 100 crops in over 130 countries of the world. Its consumption in the world is only next to glyphosate. Paraquat is therefore the second major herbicide. It was first put into market in Britain in 1962 and came to China in 1978. The global sales value of paraquat reached US$640 million in 2011, an increase of 9.4% over 2010. The capacity in China was more than 56 000 t/a and the output was close to 40 000 tons, both accounting for 80% of the world total. China has become the biggest country in the world for paraquat production and applications.
The wanton use and the mistaken swallow of paraquat and especially the non-curability of its poisoning have become the “Achilles’ heel” of paraquat. The Ministry of Agriculture of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine jointly issued No. 1745 Announcement in April 2012, proposing a timetable for canceling the registration and stopping the production and the use of paraquat aqueous solutions.
According to statistics from China Pesticide Industry Association, the monthly output of paraquat technical in China was around 3 000 tons in the first 10 months of 2012 and the total output was 32 234.59 tons, being basically equal to the output in the same period of 2011. The overall sales status in the first half of 2012 was better than the second half of the year. The price of paraquat went all way up in the first 10 months and already reached RMB47 000 per ton (100%) in October.
3. 2,4-D having both joys and worries
2,4-D is the first selective hormone high-effect organic herbicide to start commercial production in the world. Its global sales value is next to glyphosate and paraquat. Foreign producers mainly include Dow AgroSciences, Nufarm and Atul of India and they all have a capacity of over 10 000 t/a. China also have quite a few producers such as Changzhou Yongtaifeng Chemical Co., Ltd. and Shandong Weifang Runfeng Chemical Co., Ltd. The capacity of 2,3-D in China has already reached 48 000 t/a today and its demand is around 8 000 tons. The capacity in foreign countries is more than 30 000 t/a. The total demand in the world is around 50 000 tons and there is an evident capacity surplus. The output of 2,4-D in China was around 40 000 tons in 2011 and the sales value was RMB896 million. The global sales value of 2,4-D was US$580 million in 2011, holding the third place in herbicides and an increase of 30.3% over 2010. According to statistics from China Pesticide Industry Association, the output of 2,4-D in China from January to October 2012 was 26 716.28 tons (100%) and the sales amount was 27 732.28 tons. The output and the sales amount were balanced and the price had no great fluctuations. With the registration of four new producers and the capacity expansion in several producers in 2012, competition in the 2,4-D market will surely become fiercer.
The 2,4-D market in China is becoming brisk. Main reasons are as follows. (1) The demand of 2,4-D is quite big and especially the consumption in staple crops such as wheat is on the increase. (2) As transgenetic crops with 2,4-D resistance will soon become commodity, the demand of 2,4-D will make a further increase. (3) Some weeds have already developed resistance to glyphosate. 2,4-D can replace glyphosate in weed control. (4) Foreign producers have gradually reduced their output. The purchase of 2,4-D from the Chinese market will trigger a supply shortage of 2,4-D in China.
4. Acetochor featuring capacity surplus
Amide herbicides hold a third place in the herbicide family, only next to amino acid herbicides and sulfonylurea herbicides. Acetochor is a major representative variety in amide herbicides and a variety with high activity. Acetochor has extremely broad spectrum. It is mainly used in dry land crops such as peanut, soybean, corn and cotton to control annual grass weeds and some broad-leaf weeds. Owing to its outstanding effect and low price, acetochor is cost-effective. As a matured dry land herbicide, the output of acetochor made an accelerated increase after its birth in China in 1989 and reached 10 000 tons in 1998. Through application dissemination for several years, acetochor has become a pillar product for the herbicide market in China. April-July and September-October each year are brisk seasons for acetochlor application. Acetochor already has a development history of over 40 years since its first production and marketing by Monsanto. It has made great contributions to the progress of chemical weeding. The global sales value of acetochor reached US$530 million in 2011, an increase of 8.2% over 2010. According to statistics from China Pesticide Industry Association, the output of acetochor in China from January to October 2012 was 45 518.18 tons (100%), the sales amount was 49 463.59 tons and the price was stabilized at around RMB22 000 per ton.
After experiencing a valley in 2011, the market of acetochor technical in China made improvements in spring of 2012. According to statistics from China Pesticide Industry Association, enterprises such as Dalian Ruize Pesticide Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Changlong Chemical Co., Ltd., Shandong Qiaochang Chemical Co., Ltd. and Shandong Binnong Technology Co., Ltd. all had a considerable production. Judging from opinions of enterprises, however, the situation holds no room for optimism.
The acetochor sector in China has capacity surplus today. Producers of acetochor technical kept increasing in the past two years. By May 2012 there were 32 enterprises registered for acetochor technical and more than 600 enterprises registered for single-component formulations and complex formulations. The capacity of 11 major producers including Jiangsu Changlong Chemical Co., Ltd., Shandong Binnong Technology Co., Ltd., Nantong Jiangshan Pesticide Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Shandong Determination Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Hangzhou Qingfeng Agrochemical Co., Ltd. was 146 000 t/a and the output was around 50 000 tons. Half of the output was for export. The capacity was in surplus and the price fluctuated in a range of RMB19 000-22 000 per ton. The major acetochor producer in foreign countries is Monsanto of the United States and the capacity in the company is around 20 000 t/a. The import amount of acetochor in China was 6 000-7 000 tons (100%), being basically equal to the export amount. EU has recently proposed a timetable for stopping the use of acetochor. Other countries will soon follow suit. The export situation will therefore not be optimistic in future.
Major production methods for acetochor include the methylene process and the ether process (using chloroacetyl chloride as raw material). The quality of acetochor produced through the methylene process is quite stable. No carcinogenic substances such as chloromethyl ether are generated. The amount of waste water is low, being only one quarter of the amount generated in the ether process and conforming to the FAO standard. In 2010 the Ministry Industry and Information Technology included the “methylene-process amide herbicides production technology” in the “scheme for the dissemination of clean production technologies in the pesticide sector”. Nantong Jiangshan Pesticide Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. introduced a complete set of the methylene production process from Monsanto in 2008 and has had a 8 000 t/a unit today. Production was started in November 2011 and the unit is making satisfactory functioning. Shangyu Yingtai Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. constructed a 20 000 t/a methylene-process unit in June 2009. Some units in Hangzhou Qingfeng Agrochemical Co., Ltd. and Shandong Determination Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. also use the methylene process in production.
Acetochlor is a conventional herbicide variety. There are mainly emulsifiable formulations and wettable powder formulations. Acetochlor emulsifiable formulations have quite serious pollution problem. Due to capacity surplus and fierce competition, there is almost no profit to make in the acetochlor production in the Chinese market.
SOURCE China chemical Reporter
Mitsui Chemicals Agro is to spend several hundreds of millions of yen (several million dollars) to establish a new technical center in Thailand in December to step up R&D and marketing in Southeast Asia.
The center will be set up on the premises of a plant in the suburbs of Bangkok of Sotus International, a local manufacturer of agrochemicals. It will be responsible for the development of agrochemical formulations that closely match regional specifics, such as crop type and cultivation method. Mitsui will dispatch several Japanese employees to the center, with local staff to be hired in the future.
With a goal of 100 bn yen in annual sales in 2020, 2.5 times the current figure, the company identified Southeast Asia and South America, where demand for agrochemicals is rising, as revenue-growth regions. It therefore acquired a 10% stake in Sotus in May 2011 and consigned the formulation of its Starkle insecticide to Sotus as of 2012 for supply to customers in Southeast Asia and India as well.
SOURCE Japan Chemical Web
Toyota formally agrees to jointly develop fuel cell vehicles with BMW, essentially giving away its pre-production technologies to draw a potential rival into its fold. Will this technology sacrifice lead to market dominance in the future?
"This agreement squarely addresses the issues being faced today by the auto industry, and promises great things for the future of automobiles." These are the words of Toyota vice chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, spoken with a sense of satisfaction at the January 24 signing of Toyota's joint development agreement with Germany's BMW.
BMW and Toyota executives celebrate agreement (Toyota vice chairman Uchiyamada second from left)
The joint research agreement covers four areas: (1) a fuel cell system that will be the key technology for a fuel cell vehicle; (2) a sports vehicle; (3) technologies to reduce vehicle weight; and (4) batteries with performance far superior to current lithium-ion batteries. Toyota sees the fuel cell system in particular as a vital basic technology for a new generation of vehicles to replace gasoline-powered cars, a developmental field in which there is fierce competition. "Moving forward, we will mutually disclose our technologies over the long term as we proceed with the collaboration," says Uchiyamada.
The European luxury carmaker BMW is partnering with Toyota, the Asian powerhouse with a full range of popular vehicles. From the standpoint of sales, the two hardly compete head to head. The hands they are playing are easy to read, but the implied "give and take" could be much more one-sided than planned. One Toyota insider sees the fuel cell system as Toyota's loss leader in the deal, and says, "It will likely be a case of Toyota giving away its technology."
In fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen produces the electric power that rotates the motor. The emissions are harmless water. Toyota started working on this technology in earnest in 1992 and succeeded in manufacturing in-house the fuel cell that serves as the power generator, along with the high-pressure hydrogen tank and other parts. Progress has been made on lowering costs and reducing both the size and weight of components. Toyota is preparing to bring the first mass-produced FCV to market in 2015; it will sell for around 5 million yen.
US automotive giant General Motors, along with Honda and other automakers, have been working on a fuel cell vehicle, but Toyota is thought to have a significant technological advantage over them in FCVs because it has focused exclusively on this technology, without getting sidetracked by electric vehicles. EVs, which are powered by lithium-ion batteries, have a range of about 200 km at present. Toyota's development team has set the bar at over 500 km, rivaling the gasoline engine, for new technology to power the next generation of vehicles. The FCV's range of 800 km easily quells the market anxiety that has kept EVs from building greater share.
SOURCE NIKKEI
Bayer CropScience received full registration of insecticide active ingredient flubendiamide in China while the provisional registration expired in September 2012.
Flubendiamide is a novel chemistry with new mode of action targeting site- Ca+ release channels. It can stop feeding of larvae immediately while safe with crop and environment.
There are another three companies including Nihon Nohyaku hold the registrations of flubendiamide at present.
SOURCE China Chemical Reporter
RELEASED ON 30/01/13 (DD/MM/YY)
The drug, which is approved for treating men with erectile dysfunction, benign prostatic hyperplasia, or both conditions, also improved orgasmic function.
Tadalafil (Cialis) may help to ease ejaculatory or orgasmic dysfunction in men with erectile dysfunction (ED), according to an analysis of data from 3,581 men enrolled in 17 randomized, placebo-controlled trials of the drug.
In a study led by Darius A. Paduch, MD, of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, 66% of tadalafil-treated subjects who had severe ejaculatory dysfunction reported improved ejaculatory function compared with 36% who received placebo. In addition, 66% of tadalafil-treated patients with severe orgasmic dysfunction reported improvement compared with 35% of placebo recipients. Residual severe ejaculatory or orgasmic dysfunction after treatment had negative impacts on sexual satisfaction, the researchers reported in BJU International (2013;111:334-343).
In a press release, Dr. Paduch commented that up to 18% of men have a normal erection but do not ejaculate or take a long time to do so. According to Dr. Paduch, non-erectile sexual dysfunction is underreported and undertreated because of social stigma as well as misunderstanding about the physiology of male sexual response and orgasmic dysfunction.
SOURCE renal & Urology News