Alexander H. Tullo

New York

Senior Editor at C&EN

Senior Correspondent, Chemical & Engineering News. Dad. Guitarist. Go Blue!

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Articles

LyondellBasell unloads struggling European plants

3 weeks ago | cen.acs.org | Alexander H. Tullo

Following a yearlong review of its struggling European olefin and polyolefin business, LyondellBasell Industries has decided to practically give away four European chemical facilities to Aequita, a private equity firm that specializes in industrial turnarounds.
Where have all the deals gone?

3 weeks ago | cen.acs.org | Alexander H. Tullo

Recent weeks have seen Honeywell International agree to buy Johnson Matthey's catalyst technologies unit for $2.3 billion and Goodyear Tire & Rubber sign off on the sale of part of its chemical business to Gemspring Capital for about $650 million. These transactions are typical deals that companies strike to shape their business portfolios, but they are a rarity these days.
Honeywell to buy Johnson Matthey's catalyst technology unit

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Alexander H. Tullo

Honeywell International has agreed to purchase Johnson Matthey's catalyst technologies business for about $2.3 billion. It plans to combine the business with its UOP subsidiary to create a chemical process engineering and catalysis giant. Johnson Matthey's catalyst business generated $930 million in sales during the company's most recent fiscal year.
In break for chemical makers, Trump pauses most China tariffs

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Alexander H. Tullo

Chemical companies have gotten a reprieve-albeit a temporary one-from sky-high tariffs. The US and China declared a 90-day truce in their trade war during a meeting between the countries in Geneva to negotiate a broader trade agreement. Both countries walked back most of the tariffs they levied on each other in early April. This cycle of retaliation culminated in new US duties on goods from China of 145% and Chinese duties on US goods of 125%.
Chemical execs struggle to assess tariff impacts

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Alexander H. Tullo

Amid a period of uncertainty that one executive calls a "fog," chemical companies are doing damage assessment and honing their strategies to respond to the trade war that erupted a month ago. On April 2, the Donald J. Trump administration imposed a 10% duty on all major trading partners. More alarming for companies of all types, it also imposed 145% tariffs on goods from China, prompting that country to slap retaliatory tariffs on US products.
Chemical execs struggle to assess tariff impacts

1 month ago | pubs.acs.org | Alexander H. Tullo

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Nylon maker Ascend files for bankruptcy

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Alexander H. Tullo

Struggling with debt and a market swamped with overcapacity, the nylon 6,6 producer Ascend Performance Materials has declared bankruptcy in Texas. Ascend says that it is pursuing an easy restructuring process that will wrap up in about 6 months. It has secured $250 million in debtor-in-possession financing that will allow it to continue running its operations in the interim.
Dow plans deep cuts amid poor economy

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Alexander H. Tullo

Responding to economic uncertainty and a longer and deeper chemical industry downturn than it had anticipated, Dow is planning further cuts to manufacturing. The company, the largest US chemical maker, is delaying an ethylene project in Alberta and may idle or permanently shut down three large facilities in Europe, including its ethylene cracker in Böhlen, Germany.
New US tariffs spare many chemicals

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Alexander H. Tullo

The Donald J. Trump administration declared a trade war with the rest of the world, only to declare a 90-day pause on April 9, the day steep new tariffs would have been enforced. Some 75 countries, Trump says, have contacted administration officials to negotiate.But China, which has shown no signs of conciliation, will see a 145% tariff, Trump said in a Truth Social post that day.
LanzaTech gets lowball takeover offer

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Alexander H. Tullo

The ethanol technology firm LanzaTech has received a takeover offer of 2 cents per share from one of its investors, Carbon Direct Capital Management. Carbon Direct says the offer, which is at about a tenth of LanzaTech's current stock price, may be the only thing that keeps LanzaTech from going bankrupt. LanzaTech, based in Skokie, Illinois, has a fermentation technology that converts carbon monoxide emissions from sources like steel plants into ethanol.