Lanxess lifts butyl force majeure in Sarnia.

Chemicals group Lanxess, Leverkusen, Germany, has lifted its force majeure declaration for the production of butyl rubber at its Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, site, issued at the beginning of the year. The declaration of force majeure had become necessary after the group had been forced to cut back production due to continued delivery problems with its Canadian raw material supplier, Nova Chemicals (Canada) Ltd. Nova had itself issued a force majeure notice in October 2005, and has now partially lifted this declaration, having been able to produce and deliver raw materials for several weeks.

Dow Chemical, Midland, MI, announced it will permanently cease production at its Train I toluene diisocyanate (TDI) production line in Freeport, TX. The 130 million pounds per year train will be permanently shut down.

Bayer AG, Frankfurt, Germany, has been subpoenaed by the U.S. Justice Department seeking information about its plastics unit, Bayer MaterialScience, the company revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said the Justice Department sought information related to its manufacture and sale of the polyurethane products MDl and TDI, and other products. Bayer informed the SEC it "has been named, among others, as a defendant in multiple putative class action lawsuits which have been consolidated in federal district court in Kansas, involving allegations of price fixing of, inter alia (among other things), polyether polyols and certain other precursors for urethane end-use products."

Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Akron, OH, has warned motorists to consider the whole life performance of tires to ensure they are getting the optimum safety and performance in all weather conditions throughout the life of their tires. Goodyear says that the difference in tire performance when worn is even greater than when new, and is lobbying for more independent testing on tires at various stages of their lives. The timing of this announcement follows claims from Michelin that TUV tests found its new Primacy HP tires perform 25% better when worn than any other premium product.