Goodyear wins top supplier award from state of Florida.

CORPORATE FINANCIAL NEWS

Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Akron, OH, was awarded the state of Florida's 1999 Vendor of the Year Award. Florida is said to be the nation's largest state purchaser of tires. According to terms of the Goodyear supply contract with Florida, more than $22 million in tires are sold annually to the state for use in activities by the Florida Department of Highway Safety, Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Game & Freshwater Fish Commission.

A federal court jury in Peoria, IL found Goodyear not liable for sexual harassment charges brought against the company by eight associates. The associates at Goodyear's tire assembly facility in Normal, IL, filed a sexual harassment suit against the company in March 1998, claiming they were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment because of inappropriate actions by a supervisor. The jury in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois upheld Goodyear's contention that the company acted responsibly. When Goodyear became aware of the situation via its internal toll-free telephone awareness system, the company investigated and subsequently terminated the supervisor.

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Automotive Engineering International's annual picks of the year for the top products and technologies were published at year end. Continental was selected for its Smart Tires, and Buckhorn Rubber Products was named for its flexible air intake hoses.

Columbian Tiszai Carbon, a Hungarian-based joint venture of Columbian Chemicals, Marietta, GA, and Tiszai Vegyi Kombinat Rt., won the Hungarian National Quality Prize in the small company category. The plant, located in Tiszaujvaros in northeastern Hungary, was built by Columbian in 1993 and is the newest carbon black facility in Europe.

As part of a vertical integration with DSM Chemicals North America, DSM Engineering Plastics is modifying the tradename associated with its post-consumer recycled nylon to Akulon ReCap. DSM Chemicals North America, a principle in the Evergreen joint venture, already uses the ReCap name for its recycled caprolactam product based on nylon 6 carpet waste. Twenty-five percent of the nylon 6 used in this new family of compounds will be made from recaptured post-consumer recyclate nylon 6 carpet waste converted to virgin caprolactam. Initial grades will include standard heat stabilized, unreinforced, glass reinforced and glass/mineral compounds aimed at injection molding markets, with particular focus on automotive.

The Rubber Manufacturers Association announced a victory with the U.S. government's announcement of a targeted trade tariff relief for domestic wire rod that specifically exempts tire-core-quality wire rod from the imposed tariffs. RMA and several tire manufacturers petitioned the International Trade Commission to exempt tire-cord-quality wire rod because it is not manufactured in sufficient quantities domestically to meet industry demand. Tire cord wire rod is a key component in tire manufacturing, acting as a materials reinforcement for rubber tires, industrial belting and fuel cells.

Acordis Industrial Fibers, Scottsboro, AL, is raising the price of its nylon type 6,6 fibers in North America for airbag, MRG and other industrial type product applications. Effective April 1, nylon fibers prices will rise by 68%.

Degussa-Huls AG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, announced a price increase of 25 Eur per metric ton for its range of rubber blacks in Europe.

Dow Chemical, Midland, MI, will establish a new consumer list price schedule for all grades of glycerine, effective April 1. Bulk consumer list price for the following grades of Dow glycerine products are: Optim 99.7% USP, $1.00; Optim 99.7% USP Kosher, $1.05; Glycerine 96% USP, $1.00; and Glycerine 96% USP Kosher, $1.05.

DSM Elastomers Americas, Addis, LA, increased prices of its line of Keltan EPDM as follows: $0.05 per pound on clear grades; and $0.03 per pound on oil extended grades.

Elf Atochem North America, Philadelphia, PA, increased the price of its tin intermediate chemicals by 10%.

Great Lakes Chemical, Indianapolis, IN, raised the price of selected brominated flame retardants as follows: PHT-4 increased by $0.07/lb.; PHT-4 Diol increased by $0.07/lb.; DP-45 increased by $0.08/lb.; PH-73 increased by $0.05/lb.; and FF-680 increased by $0.05/lb.

Pilot Chemical, Red Bank, NJ, announced a surfactant price increase, effective April 1. Calsoft LAS-99, linear alkyl benzene sulfonic acid and Calsoft F-90 flake will increase by 1.5 c/lb. Calsoft sulfonates will increase by 0.75 c/lb.