• Houston gasoline – cheapest in the state.
• Could a new kind of stress test be looming for CRE?
• Food stamps now feeding 1 in 8 adults and 1 in 4 children.
• Texas adds 41,000 jobs in October.
• With the future for CRE unknown, one expert advises banks to raise equity now.
• Former high end Zales jewelry shop, Bailey Banks & Biddle moves out of CityCentre.  Parent declares bankruptcy.
• Regulators are pushing small banks to cut back CRE lending.
• US Bancorp to “flip” a Houston bank and 8 others it purchased via FDIC..just one month ago.
• Morgan Stanley admitted defeat, handing back Crescent Real Estate Equities to lender Barclay’s.
• Weekly jobless claims less than 500,000 for the first time in over a year.
• Hong Kong IPO brought in $2.5B for the Sands China…the low end of the range.
• Harvey Green says existing debt needs to be paid off for commercial real estate to improve.
• Macarthurcook REIT has approved a rescue by AMP.
• Transco (Williams) tower now a LEED building.  Energy saving equivalent to removing over 2,000 cars from the road.
• Are investing in REITs a medium risk way to boost yields?
• Shares of Landry’s surging.
• Is TALF assistance unneeded for the upcoming CMBS issues?
• KBR on Air Force contractor list.
• Will the hotel sector see a rebound in 2010?
• Is the stimulus creating construction jobs? Texas ranked…
• Could the CMBS market be getting a huge assist from the government?
• Judge does not block Lions stadium purchase for 583,000.
• The U.S. ranks second in distressed commercial property.
• SBA to run out of stimulus funds for 90% loans.  Back to 75%.
• Could the market rebound make GGP investors fistfulls of cash?
• BASF to sell Clear Lake manufacturing facility and transfer employees.
• The Feds want to know when they will be repayed TARP money.
• US business economists raise 2010 growth forecast.
• Want construction financing? Being a good credit medical tenant willing to sign a long lease helps.
• US homes sales highest since July 2007.
• Animated unemployment rates by county.
• Moody’s says that CRE property values have fallen to their 2002 levels.

~Llenrock & Lowery Blogs

Även PCI (som ingå i BASF koncernen) är en av Sveriges (och Europas) mest professionella producenter av fog, fix, fästmassor och tätskikt. Du hittar arbetsbeskrivningar för PCI:s produktprogram HÄR. / Red.

Lithium-sulfur batteries are an alternative to lithium-ion batteries with three times the storage. Early prototypes were pretty dodgy, but more research is now going on supported by Department of Energy grant money.

From the link:

Earlier this year we reported on several advances geared toward addressing these problems, and noted that these advances had caught the eye of the chemical giant BASF, which is now working to bring lithium-sulfur batteries to market. But challenges remain, including bringing down costs. Now the Department of Energy has also taken an interest in the technology. This week Sion Power Cooperation (which is working with BASF) announced that it has received a three-year, $800,000 DOE grant to further develop the lithium-sulfur batteries for electric vehicles.

Food baskets for year 2050; (Nov. 14, 2009)

I decided to combine and edit four posts into a comprehensive essay that might forecast the world’s agricultural state in the year 2050 as it will be inhabited by 10 billion people. The posts are: The long-term “Revenge of Geography”; “Food BANG, not the Big One”; “The world’s food basket: Africa is heaven for agro-business investments”; and “Africa is targeted to be exclusively the world’s food basket”

We are barely feeding the current world population and millions are dying of famine related malnutrition. In 1960, many developed nations had surpluses of food stuff; this is no longer the case.  Funny Mark Twain said “Buy lands; we are no more manufacturing those kinds of things”. The UN branch for Food and Agriculture Organization predicted that agricultural products will witness increases in prices over 50% by the year 2017 and predicted that famine will be the lot of 70 impoverished States harming 1.2 billion human.

Global problems for water shortages

We are witnessing the era of “Anthropocene” which means man is doing more damages to the environment than nature can stabilize; the main reality to account for is acute shortages in sources of water. “It is man who has the power to create; it is nature that commands to a large extent” said Harold Mackinder in 1904.

The main problems cannot be summarized in population explosion.  Modern problems are exacerbating the conditions. First, just in China and India the number of middle class “well off people” are four times the combined numbers in the USA, Europe, and Japan. These newly created classes in the last two decades demand equal standards of living that the developed nations have been enjoying for a century. Consequently, water has to be diverted from agriculture to urban centers that are fast increasing in numbers and in size.  Huge investments are being spent to building dams, diverting rivers, and constructing thousands of miles of water canals.

Second, most rivers are heavily polluted from mass industrializations, a process that has been going on for many decades. Fertile lands are deteriorating as they are irrigated with toxic and highly saline water.  Third, climatic changes are affecting rain delivery in sufficient amount. Deserts are expanding and sub-terrene water sources are dwindling in numbers and quantities.

Fourth, the USA and Europe are planting agro-energy products that are transformed into non-fossils sources for energy. The EU is shooting for a 10% sufficiency by the year 2010 from these agro sources.  Thus, vast fields of wheat and corn are being converted to agro products rich in sugar contents. This policy might resolve EU internal problems in the short run in several ways: first, instead of subsidizing agriculture for competitive exportation the EU could invest in land development in the large States of Poland and Ukraine; this alternative might enhance the internal food trade with adequate return for the poorer EU member Sates; second, the constant stream of law suits against infringements on Global Free Trade will be reduced; and third, experiments on alternative energy substitutes will be encouraged.

Fifth, the USA and the EU are leasing fertile lands overseas not to produce edible condiments for the famished population but products for their energy substitutes.

Political end games

The main power in the coming decades will reside in the States who control the sources of the major rivers.  China has conquered Tibet because three main rivers take their sources from the Himalaya mountain chains; mainly the Mekong (that flow into the South East), the Indus (that flow in Pakistan), and the Brahmapoutre that flow in India and join the Ganges River.

Thus, if China decided to use water as weapon it can disturb all the States from Pakistan, India, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Viet Nam. China has already built 86,000 dams along the Blue and Yellow Rivers that take sources on the western plateaus; China has not consulted with the South East countries and has already built four mega dams on the Mekong, including two huge lakes that will take about 10 years to fill in order to generate hydraulic power.

Turkey controls two huge rivers: the Euphrates and the Tiger that flow in Syria and Iraq.  Turkey has been building dams on these rivers without consulting with the southern neighboring States.  Ethiopia is in control of the Nile if it wishes to.  The US has been building dams along rivers that flow into Mexico.

China, Turkey, Russia, USA, and Brazil control sources of major rivers.  Latin America has enough water, except Argentina. The main struggle in the medium-term is who will control the Nile, the Niger, and the Congo Rivers in Africa.

There are four basic alternatives for securing water that can be used concomitantly. First, desalination of Oceans and the towing of icebergs will do for a while but cannot resolve a long-term problem in water shortages.  Second, genetically modified seeds that can withstand many kinds of “natural enemies” may diminish the need for pesticides and herbicides and increase production. Third, leasing or acquiring vast “fertile” lands by foreign agro-businesses in the under-developed States that have shortages in trained manpower for land development, or lacking the technological investment capabilities, or suffering from outdated modern institutions. Four, enacting policies for large displacement of people from mega-polis to near water sources; that alternative will save on huge investment of supplying water to big urban cities and in order to recover sub-terrain naps and natural ecosystems.  This essay will focus on the second and third alternatives.

Genetically modified seeds

Antitrust laws are so far not being applied to the six industries for organically modified seeds that share scientific discoveries and have sole monopoly of 90% of organic seeds.  Monsano, Dow Agrosciences, BASF, Syngena, Bayer, and Dupont have deposited more than 500 patents on genes “adapting to climatic changes”: they are figuring out how to profit from degradation of the environment.  In 2008, Monsato has increased by 35% the prices on organically modified seeds that it has exclusive rights to produce and distribute.  Monsano and Dow Agrosciences are associated to produce in genetically modified wheat seeds that can withstand 8 kinds of “natural enemies” of mainly herbicides and insecticides in year 2010.  Thus, 87% of modified seeds used around the world bear the label Monsano.

The multinational oil companies of BP, Shell, Chevron, and Cargill are linking up with companies of nano-sciences of agro-technologies to transform biological matters such as (agricultural harvest, forests, algae…) into industrial sugar. Sugar is then converting into chemical products and nano-products with high added values. Chemistry linked to oil products could now be adapted to vegetable carbon.  Entire countries such as Madagascar and Angola are now being leased to cultivate modified breeds of harvests.

The scientific counselor to Barak Obama, John Holdren, is encouraging the application of geo-engineering to fighting atmospheric changes.  Among such engineering techniques is sprinkling the atmosphere with nano-particles of sulfates to veil the sunrays.  Monster farms of phytoplankton are created to absorb or capture CO2.

The UN views these geo-engineering projects as purely speculative in nature with unknown risks for collateral damages. A joint Indo-German oceanographic Institute discarded the decision of the Conference of the UN and carried on its project: it “fertilized” a large zone in the Antarctic Ocean by dumping tons of iron sulfates; the microscopic unicellular algae were meant to grow in abundance and capture CO2.  The zooplankton ate the algae and the experiment was not conclusive; this temporary failure is encouraging other multinationals such as Climos Inc. or (Planktos Science) to resume these kinds of projects under the name of “eco-restoration” for substantial financial returns.

Leasing or acquiring vast “fertile” lands by foreign agro-businesses

If you have lands with no water, if you have water and no fertile land, if you have accumulated enough in your Sovereign Fund then the way to go is to invest in foreign fertile lands for agricultural “self-sufficiency”, which means import food at much lower prices.  Japan, South Korea, China, India, and Saudi Arabia are leading these kinds of joint ventures. Many under-developed States with vast “fertile” lands are leased or acquired by foreign agro-businesses.  So far, 30 millions hectares (the size of 30 Lebanon or the size of the Philippines) are already in use for mass agricultural production. China, rich in water and fertile lands, is leading this policy of “getting out of the borders” since 2004.

Africa is the prime target continent because it has four large and long rivers such as the Nile, the Congo, and the Niger Rivers and the lands are barely worked.  The Sudan, Mozambique, and the Democratic Congo are prime targets in the medium-term.

Vast fertile lands are left unproductive for lack of investment and manpower.  Theoretically, we should have win-win situations but the facts are that the contracts of the multinational agro-businesses are not transparent; there are no clauses on specificities that might benefit the population either in technology or land development.

Most of the contracts are barely three pages long and contain no precisions on investors’ obligations toward investing in infrastructures, durable management of the natural resources, or the training of the local peasants for developing small parcels of land and applying the technology.  The President of Earth Policy Institute, Lester Brown, “Essentially, the technologies used by these agro-investments are meant for massive commercial production and not adaptable to the concerned small local farmers.  There is basically no transfer of technology or training. Thus, what the foreign investors are acquiring in lands is not going to feed the local population as we might hope.

Let us consider the case of the oil rich Arab Gulf States: rice is their main staple and it has to be imported in totality. These States imported a third from India and then India had to curtail its exportation of rice due to climatic problems in order to feed its citizens.  These States imported 10% from Thailand (the first exporter of rice in the world) but then Thailand doubled the price of its rice to $1,000 the ton.  How the Arab Gulf States were to counter this difficulty?  Their Sovereign Funds could be invested in rice fields in Thailand and that what they started to do. You could have a win-win situation: there are vast lands in Thailand that are not cultivated; increasing rice production should not hurt Thailand since rice prices are increasing and Thailand needs to secure oil provision.

Instead of purchasing 10% of its need in rice from Thailand, then the Arab Gulf States might increase it to 40%. One happier story: Thailand needs to establish a rice warehouse in the Arab Gulf to distribute rice at affordable prices.  Things should look pretty promising.  Joint-ventures in agro-businesses where Sovereign Funds invest the money and the Thai peasants got to work in jobs they are proficient in should not raise so much fuss: should it? The problem is that internal politics in Thailand want a scapegoat: Arabs buying lands in Thailand; or rice production is a strictly national occupation and should be 100% reserved for citizens (as if the Arab is going to relocate to plant rice in Thailand!); or Thailand is not Africa and we are a developed nation.

Another case is Madagascar, a vast Island in East Africa.  The standard of living has fallen below the one in 1960.  Why Independence pride has to be highly correlated with miseries in the former colonial States?  Major deforestation is the norm in Madagascar: people need to cook their meals! The South Korean Daewoo wanted to lease 1.3 million hectares for 99 years. What it is with this taboo of 99 years lease of lands? Does every investor has in the back of his head to let his grand child witness his greatness and pray for his great spirit? The deal fell apart after the President of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana, fell out of power. Apparently, not much transparency and communication were accompanied to that deal. In the meanwhile cattle thieves “dahalo” are on rampage. Even the tiny Maurice Island acquired lands (10,000 ha) in Mozambique for the island food sufficiency. Ramakrishna Karuturi (the king of rose production in 4 millions hectares) is leasing the hectare for two dollars a year in Ethiopia! Now, there can be no doubt that the Ethiopian government had received a fat bribe for such a lousy deal.

The Congo with Capital Brazzaville is half the size of France with barely 4 million citizens concentrated in the capital and the other city Pointe-Noire on the coast. This African States was a French colony and is rich in minerals and uranium.  It cultivates potatoes.  South Afrikaners who lost 30% of their agricultural lands for redistribution programs to the black citizens want to acquire or lease lands in this Congo; the Agri SA (South Africa) has 1,700 agro-businesses interested in producing soja, sugar cane, and corn. Ten million hectares were literally offered to the Afrikaners (a land stretching 500 by 200 km, twice the size of Switzerland) and its location is not yet decided upon; maybe entire virgin forests might be burned for agriculture. The Agri SA is promising to build agro villages with ready made houses contracted to Israeli firms.  What if the deal demanded that thousands of Congolese be trained to develop and grow lands after two years of working in the Afrikaners’ lands?  This deal is a striking political and ecological scandal because the terms of the deal are fishy and not communicated to the citizens.

Kazakhstan is practically a continent in size and barely 1% of the land is privately owned.  This rich and newly independent State imports 40% of milk, 30% of meat, and 45% of fruits and vegetables. The population is mostly rural. The States lease lands for 49 years.  The State of Kazakhstan has set aside 35,000 square-kilometers to lease to foreign investors but only China is interested. The main States vying for foreign fertile lands are:

South Korea has acquired a total of 3 millions hectares (three times the superficies of the State of Lebanon); it is growing fields in Russia (500,000 ha), Sudan (700,000 ha), Madagascar (1.3 million ha), Mongolia (300,000 ha), Philippines (100,000 ha), and Indonesia (25, 000 ha).  The Korean agency for international cooperation (State owned) is creating private and public enterprises to invest into agro-businesses by loans or direct governmental investments. Leases of fertile lands are for 60 years and an extension of another 40 years. In return, Korea will extend technologies and development planning.  It appears that South Korea is projecting unification with North Korea and the flooding of North Korean refugees soon. South Korea is interested in the “krai of Primorie” in Russia with 2.5 millions of arable land.

China has invested for a total of 2 millions hectares.  It has 1.25 millions in South East Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos), in Mozambique (800,000 ha), in Australia (45,000), and in Cuba (5,000 ha). China acquired (80,000 ha) in Russia for just $22 millions.

Japan has acquired a total of one million hectares in Philippines (600,000 ha), USA (225,000 ha), and Brazil (100,000 ha).

India has acquired a total of 1.7 millions hectares in Argentina (600,000 ha), Ethiopia (370,000 ha), Malaysia (300,000 ha), Madagascar (250,000 ha), Indonesia (70,000 ha), and in Laos (50,000 ha).  The Indian government has extended loans to 80 agro-businesses to purchase 350,000 ha in Africa.

Saudi Arabia has invested in Indonesia (one million ha), Senegal (500,000 ha), and in Mali (200,000 ha).  The Arab Emirates has invested in Pakistan (325,000 ha), and in Sudan (400,000 ha). Egypt has invested in Uganda (850,000 ha).  Libya has invested in Ukraine (250,000 ha), and Liberia (5,000 ha).  Qatar invested in the Philippines (100,000 ha).

Global Resolutions

Africa is the remaining poorest continent with vast fertile lands and plenty of manpower to exploit for agro-business enterprises. Africa is targeted to be exclusively the world’s food basket in this century. The UN, the EU, economic superpower States, and private institutions and organizations need to step in to plan, organize, administer, inspect, and enforce appropriate deals for the best management and control of food and water resources.

Since the citizens of independent States that have experienced colonialism are weary of camouflaged colonialism in other forms then their governments are circumventing land laws by enacting laws of mixed private enterprises with lease or acquisition contracts that are not transparent to the public. The UN has to step in and write standard contracts leases that preserve peoples rights to training, sustainable resources, technology know-how, human dignity, right to work, right to share in the management and decisions at community levels, and that these contracts supersede what any other two parties agree on that lack the standard rights and responsibilities.  It is unconscionable that “privatization version” to colonizing Africa infiltrate from the windows. The fact is State funds are loaning money to their own agro-businesses to invading African fertile lands. This neo-colonial pact among State and agro-businesses has to be made clear and restrictions be implemented by world communities.  Territories are changing hands and are no longer under the control of the people and peasants.

The UN has to set up a special fund to purchasing organically modified seeds that have proven not to constitute health hazard; it has to limit the exclusive life duration for exploitation by multinationals that are escaping antitrust laws.

The UN is burdened by countless military conflicts that are interrelated with people seeking better life conditions for survival. An independent branch in the UN needs to be established that would link the causative factors that are generating constant conflicts among neighboring States.  Fair share for water resources is a right that supercede which country control the sources of the rivers.

We hope that the world community will pressure these investors to grow food slowly: resuming the old practices of mass production techniques will ruin the remaining land with fertilizers and pesticides.

With a higher content of renewable materials, it offers a faster biodegradability

ASF is now offering a new biodegradable plastic, Ecovio® FS, part of the existing Ecovio product line. The giant German chemical enterprise claims the new product has a higher content of renewable materials and can degrade much quicker.

This new plastic has been optimized for two specific applications: for coating paper and for manufactur­ing so-called shrink films, which serve to easily wrap packaged goods. For this reason, the first two new plastic types are called Ecovio FS Paper and Ecovio FS Shrink Film.

Presented to a technical audience at this year’s conference of the European Bioplastics Association early in November, the sample material is already available. Initial production tests at customers’ facilities have been successful. BASF is planning on introducting the products into the market in the first quarter of 2010.

As has been demonstrated in recent composting experiments, the new Ecovio FS biodegrades even more rapidly than its predecessors, and it has a higher content of renewable raw materials. “Ecovio FS consists of the likewise new, now bio-based Ecoflex® FS (a biodegradable polyester made by BASF) and of PLA (polylactic acid), which is extracted from corn starch. The use of the new Ecoflex FS raises the proportion of bio-based material in Ecovio FS Shrink Film to 66% and that of Ecovio FS Paper to a full 75%,” explains Jürgen Keck, who heads BASF’s global business with biodegradable plastics.

The experts who developed the new Ecovio FS focused on the properties that are required of these special applications. “In order to obtain effective paper coatings, a film made of the new Ecovio FS Paper has to be easy to process and exhibit good adhesion to the paper, even when applied in thin lay­ers. Such coatings are used, for example, on paper cups or cardboard boxes,” explains Gabriel Skupin, who is in charge of technical product development for biodegradable plastics. Ecovio FS Shrink Film, in contrast, has a selected ratio of shrinkage to strength, so that its mechanical load capacity at a film thickness of merely 25 micrometers is greater than that of a conventional polyethylene film that is 50 micrometers thick.

With this new product family, BASF’s experts for biodegradable plastics are further expanding their assortment. The company is aiming to become more specialized in this realm, so as to meet the requirements of very specific market segments. This is reflected in the nomenclature, which will comprise three ele­ments. The first stands for the processing technology – in this case, F for “film”. The second, S, stands for “special” and indicates that the new bio-based Eco­flex FS is present. The actual application itself forms the third element of the name such as, for instance, Paper or Shrink Film. “This consistent designation method, which will be implemented early next year together with the new prod­ucts, illustrates the broad potential we anticipate for technically advanced bio­degradable products in this market, which has become very diversified,” explains Andreas Künkel, head of BASF’s market development for new bio­degradable plastic products.

www.guardian.co.uk

Biotechnology companies developing genetically modified crops have withdrawn from a major international project to map out the future of agriculture, after it failed to back GM as a tool to reduce poverty and hunger.

The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development aims to focus attention on the problem of how to feed the world’s growing population, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has done for the challenge of global warming. Monsanto, Syngenta and BASF resigned after a draft report from the project highlighted the risks of GM crops and said they could pose problems for the developing world.

The companies argue the report should say their GM technology could secure future food supplies because it can boost yields and make plants more resistant to droughts and higher temperatures.

Bob Watson, director of the project, which is based on the work of 4,000 scientists and experts from around the world, said he was “very disappointed” by the companies’ move.

He said: “It’s very unfortunate that they have walked out even before we agreed the final version. If they can bring evidence forward that we have not been objective, or that the language is biased, then we could discuss that.”

He also said the resignations would weaken the final report. “Our goal was to have them included. We wanted a multi stake holder group that included everyone, that was absolutely essential.”

The project was due to agree its final report last week in Nairobi, but the meeting was postponed because of the unrest in Kenya. It is now expected to finish in April.

Croplife International, the agriculture industry trade body of which Monsanto, Syngenta and BASF are members, told the project’s leaders it was unhappy that the views of its members had not been reflected in the draft report, and that they were pulling out.

Denise Dewar of Croplife International said: “We were concerned with the direction the draft was taking and that our input was not being taken appropriately. We were looking to see references to plant science technology and the potential role it can contribute.”

The draft report says there is a “wide range of perspectives on the environmental, human health and economic risks and benefits of modern biotechnology, many of which are as yet unknown”. It says it is not clear whether GM crops increase yields and warns that use of the technology in the developing world could concentrate “ownership of agricultural resources” in the hands of the companies involved, as well as causing problems with patents.

In an editorial criticising Croplife International’s decision, the science journal Nature said: “The views outlined in the draft chapter on biotechnology, although undoubtedly over-cautious and unbalanced, do not represent the rantings of a fringe minority. The idea that biotechnology cannot by itself reduce hunger and poverty is mainstream opinion among agricultural scientists and policy-makers.”

Greenpeace, a member of the assessment project, urged the companies to reconsider. Jan van Aken, GM campaigner with Greenpeace International, said: “This assessment goes far beyond genetic engineering, it is about setting solutions for global agriculture and the world’s poor and hungry. It is such a shame to withdraw from such a good initiative, simply because your business plans do not fit with sound science and experts voiced a more balanced opinion than yours.”

Distinctive coloring, robust and rapidly soluble: a new BASF tablet coating system enables individual, on-site production of tablet coatings in countless shades from only seven basic colors. A combination of the tried and tested water-soluble BASF IR film former Kollicoat® with a new production process and novel color concept makes tablet coating production more efficient.

Its excellent processing properties are what make the polymer so special: Kollicoat IR has low viscosity and allows a shorter spray process because it can accommodate high concentrations of solids. As a result, pharmaceutical manufacturers cut their energy bills and spare the environment by reducing CO2 emissions in the production process. Other benefits: the granules are dust-free and have excellent flowability, which greatly simplifies handling during the production process. The BASF coating system module consists of just seven basic colors which are combined to produce the desired color. Hence, tablet manufacturers can optimize their inventories and the supply chain benefits from less complexity.

Kollicoat IR is a graft copolymer composed of polyethylene glycol and polyvinyl alcohol. It is extremely flexible and does not require additional plasticizer. The polymer dissolves rapidly in the stomach, resulting in prompt release of the active substance and rapid onset of action after the tablet is swallowed.

Since elderly people in particular may have difficulty telling tablets apart, more and more pharmaceutical manufacturers are starting to package active substances in colored tablets. A striking color supports and enhances treatment compliance and also prevents mix-ups during tablet production.

BASF is realigning its business for the fuel cell market. In the future, competencies for the production of high-temperature membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) will be concentrated in Somerset, New Jersey. Operational activities at the BASF Fuel Cell GmbH site in Frankfurt, Germany, will be discontinued effective December 31, 2009. BASF plans to close the Frankfurt site in the course of 2010.

At the Somerset site, BASF Fuel Cell produces both high-temperature MEAs and important pre-products such as electrodes. Thus, Somerset is the only site that covers the entire production process for MEAs.

“In addition to integrated production, the Somerset site offers us the advantage of being closer to our customers and to key future markets, such as fuel cells for residential combined heat and power systems”, said Stefano Pigozzi, head of BASF’s Inorganics division to which BASF Fuel Cell belongs. “We are strengthening our overall competitiveness by concentrating the competencies of the two sites.

The restructuring will result in the loss of 43 positions in Frankfurt. “We will work closely with the employee representatives to find socially responsible solutions for the employees,” said Dr. Horst-Tore Land, CEO of BASF Fuel Cell GmbH in Frankfurt

In addition to the activities in Frankfurt and Somerset, BASF has operated a laboratory in Yokkaichi, Japan, since May 2008. This laboratory is responsible for the application-specific support of local customers.

BASF is one of the leading suppliers for conventional fuel cell components. In an MEA – the heart of the fuel cell – hydrogen and air react to form water, simultaneously generating electrical power and heat. BASF markets MEAs under the brand name Celtec® and enables the fuel cell industry to meet the current and growing challenges of future energy supply.

Celtec® high-temperature MEAs are used in numerous product applications, from private home electricity and heat supply units to backup systems to ensure electricity in the event of a power failure.

Food BANG, not the Big One 

            Bits, atoms, neurons, and genes form the acronym BANG.  Several disciplines in chemistry, biology, molecular sciences, pharmacology, genetics, electronics, and physics have one thing in common: nano-particles; it opened wide a trillion dollars industries with no check and balance.  In 1960, many developed nations had surpluses of food stuff; this is no longer the case.  It is predicted that by 2017 famine will be the lot of 70 impoverished States harming 1.2 billion human.

            Actually, antitrust laws are so far not being applied to the six organically modified seeds industries that share scientific discoveries and have sole monopoly of 90% of organic seeds.  Monsano, Dow Agrosciences, BASF, Syngena, Bayer, and Dupont have deposited more than 500 patents on genes “adapting to climatic changes”; in another word, how to profit from degradation of the environment.  In 2008, Monsato has increased by 35% the prices on organically modified seeds that it has exclusive rights to produce and distribute. Monsano and Dow Agrosciences associated to produce in 2010 genetically modified wheat seeds that can withstand 8 kinds of “natural enemies”, mainly herbicides and insecticides; thus, 87% of modified seeds used around the world bear the label Monsano.

            The multinational oil companies of BP, Shell, Chevron, and Cargill are linking up with these nano-sciences of agro-technologies to transform biological matters such as (agricultural harvest, forests, algae…) into industrial sugar; then converting sugar into chemical products and nano-products with high added values. Chemistry linked to oil products could now be adapted to vegetable carbon.  Entire countries such as Madagascar and Angola are now being leased to cultivate modified breeds of harvests.

            The scientific counselor to Barak Obama, John Holdren, is encouraging the application of geo-engineering to fighting atmospheric changes.  Among such engineering techniques is sprinkling the atmosphere with nano-particles of sulfates to veil the sunrays.  Monster farms of phytoplankton are created to absorb or capture CO2.

            The UN views these geo-engineering projects as purely speculative in nature with unknown risks for collateral damages.  A joint Indo-German oceanographic Institute discarded the decision of the Conference of the UN and carried on its project: it “fertilized” a large zone in the Antarctic Ocean by dumping tons of iron sulfates; the microscopic unicellular algae were meant to grow in abundance and capture CO2.  The zooplankton ate the algae and the experiment was not conclusive; this temporary failure is encouraging other multinationals such as Climos Inc. or (Planktos Science) to resume these kinds of projects under the name of “eco-restoration” for substantial financial returns.        

Note 1: 94% of US citizens have the toxic substance biphenyl (BPA) in their system.  This is due to the fact that baby milk bottles were manufactured since 1930 with this synthesized chemical product that proved to render plastic more malleable and supple. A substitute of this product, diethylstilbestrol, that has female sexual hormone characteristics, was widely prescribed to pregnant women in the 70’s with devastating consequences to malformed newborns.

Note 2:  Most of the information was taken from the French monthly journal “Le Monde Diplomatic” of October 2009.

Das obige Bild ist nicht etwa meine Dokumentation eines pragmatischen Versuches, aus einem IBM-Laptop ein MacBook zu machen, sondern berschreibt eine innovative Form des “brandings”.

In diesem Fall hat sich mein Arbeitgeber gegönnt, das Firmenlogo auf Äpfel zu “drucken” und in Gästelounge zu verteilen. “Drucken” ist in diesem Fall vielleicht das falsche Wort. Man hat weder den Apfel durch einen Drucker gejagt, noch mit Farben bemalt und auch nicht etwa beklebt. Vielmehr ist das Logo ein Ergebnis von natürlicher Sonnenbestrahlung während des Reifungsprozesses. Wie man das jetzt genau hinbekommt, ist mir allerdings auch ein Rätsel. Hab nur gehört, dass der Erfinder damit einen großen Wurf gelandet ist.

Generell scheinen jedoch “essbare Marken” nichts neues zu sein. Das machen sogar Firmen, deren Produkte für solch eine Aktion offensichtlich nicht geeignet sind… So ein Negativbeispiel zeigt z.B. das folgende Foto von einem chinesischen Mondkuchen à la BASF. Den besagten Appetitkiller habe ich damals während meines Praktikums in Shanghai erhalten…

Wenn man sich aber davon nicht irritieren läst, schmecken gebrandete Äpfel und Mundkuchen eigentlich genauso wie ihre ungebrandeten Artgenossen…

楼上的图片并不是为了来证明随便哪样的手提电脑都可以改装成为一个Mac 笔记本电脑, 而是为了来表达一种革新的形式来做广告.

比如说, 我的公司巧妙的把我们的商标打印了在苹果上, 然后在休息室给顾客享用. 其实并不能说是”打印”… 因为那只苹果并没有被送进过打印机, 也没有涂过颜色. 那商标更不是被贴上去的, 而是的确在成熟时被太阳晒出来的! 到底详细怎么样晒的, 我也不清楚. 只听说那位发明家真的发了.

其实在食品上做广告也并不稀罕. 连有些公司的商品并不合适在食物上做广告也照样做….比如请欣赏第二张照片: 德国第一化工集团巴斯夫公司推出的”招牌月饼”…这样的确呕心的东西是我当年在上海做实习时分享到的.

不过除了这以外, 带商标的苹果, 月饼和不带的味道其实根本没有区别

No dia 27 de outubro a ABRH-SP, juntamente com o governo do Estado de São Paulo, promoveu o debate “A diversidade como estratégia de RH”, no Palácio dos Bandeirantes. O evento discutiu os impactos das ações de valorização da diversidade no ambiente corporativo e nos negócios e incentivar a adoção de programas com essas características nas organizações.

A programação do evento contou com a participação do presidente do IBD (Instituto Brasileiro da Diversidade), Hélio Santos, que proferiu a palestra “A Diversidade como Ferramenta Estratégica para o Gestor de RH” e com a apresentação de cases da Renault do Brasil, pelo vice-presidente Alain Tissier, e da BASF, pelo diretor de RH para América do Sul e vice-presidente da ABRH-SP Wagner Brunini.

FRANKFURT (AFP) –

The German chemical giant BASF said Thursday that its third quarter net profit plunged by 68.7 percent from the same period a year earlier to 237 million euros owing to costs stemming from the integration of the Swiss company Ciba.

Sales fell by 18.9 percent to 12.8 billion euros, while core earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were down by 35.7 percent at 971 million euros (1.430 billion dollars), a statement said.

Sales nonetheless gained two percent from the second quarter of 2009 and EBIT was up by nine percent, the company added.

“Overall, there is much to suggest that the worst is behind us. After a steep plunge, we are now climbing gradually out of the trough,” BASF chairman Juergen Hambrecht was quoted as saying.

“The recovery will be slow and uneven,” he added.

The statement said that customers appeared to be replenishing their sto…

See the full post at BASF posts 68.7 percent drop in profit

Por João Pedro Stedile*

Os porta-vozes da grande propriedade e das empresas transnacionais são muito bem pagos para todos os dias defender, falar e escrever de que no Brasil não há mais problema agrário. Afinal, a grande propriedade está produzindo muito mais e tendo muito lucro. Portanto, o latifúndio não é mais problema para a sociedade brasileira. Será?

Nem vou abordar a injustiça social da concentração da propriedade da terra, que faz com que apenas 2%, ou seja, 50 mil fazendeiros, sejam donos de metade de toda nossa natureza, enquanto temos 4 milhões de famílias sem direito a ela.

Vou falar das consequências para você que mora na cidade, da adoção do modelo agrícola do agronegócio. O agronegócio é a produção de larga escala, em monocultivo, empregando muito agrotóxicos e máquinas. Usam venenos para eliminar as outras plantas e não contratar mão de obra. Com isso, destroem a biodiversidade, alteram o clima e expulsam cada vez mais famílias de trabalhadores do interior.

Na safra passada, as empresas transnacionais, e são poucas (Basf, Bayer, Monsanto, Du Pont, Sygenta, Bungue, Shell química…), comemoraram que o Brasil se transformou no maior consumidor mundial de venenos agrícolas. Foram despejados 713 milhões de toneladas! Média de 3.700 quilos por pessoa. Esses venenos são de origem química e permanecem na natureza. Degradam o solo. Contaminam a água. E, sobretudo, se acumulam nos alimentos. As lavouras que mais usam venenos são: cana, soja, arroz, milho, fumo, tomate, batata, uva, moranguinho e hortaliças. Tudo isso deixará resíduos para seu estômago. E no seu organismo afetam as células e algum dia podem se transformar em câncer.

Perguntem aos cientistas aí do Instituto Nacional do Câncer, referência de pesquisa nacional, qual é a principal origem do câncer, depois do tabaco?

A Anvisa (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária) denunciou que existem no mercado mais de vinte produtos agrícolas não recomendáveis para a saúde humana. Mas ninguém avisa no rótulo, nem retira da prateleira. Antigamente, era permitido ter na soja e no óleo de soja apenas 0,2 mg/kg de resíduo do veneno glifosato, para não afetar a saúde. De repente, a Anvisa autorizou os produtos derivados de soja terem até 10,0 mg/kg de glifosato, 50 vezes mais. Isso aconteceu certamente por pressão da Monsanto, pois o resíduo de glifosato aumentou com a soja transgênica, de sua propriedade.

Esse mesmo movimento estão fazendo agora com os derivados do milho. Depois que foi aprovado o milho transgênico, que aumenta o uso de veneno, querem aumentar a possibilidade de resíduos de 0,1 mg/kg permitido para 1,0 mg/kg.

Há muitos outros exemplos de suas consequências. O doutor Vanderley Pignati, pesquisador da UFMT, revelou em suas pesquisas que nos municípios que têm grande produção de soja e uso intensivo de venenos os índices de abortos e má formação de fetos são quatro vezes maiores do que a média do estado.

Nós temos defendido que é preciso valorizar a agricultura familiar, camponesa, que é a única que pode produzir sem venenos e de maneira diversificada. O agronegócio, para ter escala e grandes lucros, só consegue produzir com venenos e expulsando os trabalhadores para a cidade.

E você paga a conta, com o aumento do êxodo rural, das favelas e com o aumento da incidência de venenos em seu alimento.

Por isso, defender a agricultura familiar e a reforma agrária, que é uma forma de produzir alimentos sadios, é uma questão nacional, de toda sociedade. Não é mais um problema apenas dos sem-terra. E é por isso que cada vez que o MST e a Via Campesina se mobilizam contra o agronegócio, as empresas transnacionais, seus veículos de comunicação e seus parlamentares, nos atacam tanto. Porque estão em disputa dois modelos de produção. Está em disputa a que interesses deve atender a produção agrícola: apenas o lucro ou a saúde e o bem-estar da população?

Os ricos sabem disso e tratam de consumir apenas produtos orgânicos. E você precisa se decidir. De que lado você está?

* JOÃO PEDRO STÉDILE é economista e integrante da coordenação nacional do Movimento dos Sem Terra (MST).

http://oglobo.globo.com/opiniao/mat/2009/09/24/agrotoxicos-no-seu-estomago-767760510.asp

BANG, not the Big One: Tell me more; (October 23, 2009)

            Bits, atoms, neurons, and genes form the acronym BANG.  Several disciplines in chemistry, biology, molecular sciences, pharmacology, genetics, electronics, and physics have one thing in common: nano-particles; it opened wide a trillion dollars industries with no check and balance.  In 1960, many developed nations had surpluses of food stuff; this is no longer the case.  It is predicted that by 2017 famine will be the lot of 70 impoverished States harming 1.2 billion human.

            Actually, antitrust laws are so far not being applied to the six organically modified seeds industries that share scientific discoveries and have sole monopoly of 90% of organic seeds.  Monsano, Dow Agrosciences, BASF, Syngena, Bayer, and Dupont have deposited more than 500 patents on genes “adapting to climatic changes”; in another word, how to profit from degradation of the environment.  In 2008, Monsato has increased by 35% the prices on organically modified seeds that it has exclusive rights to produce and distribute. Monsano and Dow Agrosciences associated to produce in 2010 genetically modified wheat seeds that can withstand 8 kinds of “natural enemies”, mainly herbicides and insecticides; thus, 87% of modified seeds used around the world bear the label Monsano.

            The multinational oil companies of BP, Shell, Chevron, and Cargill are linking up with these nano-sciences of agro-technologies to transform biological matters such as (agricultural harvest, forests, algae…) into industrial sugar; then converting sugar into chemical products and nano-products with high added values. Chemistry linked to oil products could now be adapted to vegetable carbon.  Entire countries such as Madagascar and Angola are now being leased to cultivate modified breeds of harvests.

            The scientific counselor to Barak Obama, John Holdren, is encouraging the application of geo-engineering to fighting atmospheric changes.  Among such engineering techniques is sprinkling the atmosphere with nano-particles of sulfates to veil the sunrays.  Monster farms of phytoplankton are created to absorb or capture CO2.

            The UN views these geo-engineering projects as purely speculative in nature with unknown risks for collateral damages.  A joint Indo-German oceanographic Institute discarded the decision of the Conference of the UN and carried on its project: it “fertilized” a large zone in the Antarctic Ocean by dumping tons of iron sulfates; the microscopic unicellular algae were meant to grow in abundance and capture CO2.  The zooplankton ate the algae and the experiment was not conclusive; this temporary failure is encouraging other multinationals such as Climos Inc. or (Planktos Science) to resume these kinds of projects under the name of “eco-restoration” for substantial financial returns.           

Note 1: 94% of US citizens have the toxic substance biphenyl (BPA) in their system.  This is due to the fact that baby milk bottles were manufactured since 1930 with this synthesized chemical product that proved to render plastic more malleable and supple. A substitute of this product, diethylstilbestrol, that has female sexual hormone characteristics, was widely prescribed to pregnant women in the 70’s with devastating consequences to malformed newborns.

Note 2:  Most of the information was taken from the French monthly journal “Le Monde Diplomatic” of October 2009.

Article from rense.com
By A Concerned American

We have the very great irony now that the very companies whose forced medical horrors during the Nazi regime led to the creation of the Nuremberg Code have, through their power at the WHO, set in motion the largest forced medical experiment in human history – even militarized.  They have accomplished a complete end run around the very Code meant to stop any repeat of their deadly forced medical experiments.

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The IG Farben Building or the Poelzig Building, was built from 1928 to 1930 as the corporate headquarters of the IG Farben conglomerate in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

 

IG Farben ties .

IG Farben bosses .

http://rense.com/general87/nurem.htm

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Note of the editor : 

All pictures in this post have been added by the AtomicNewsReview Editor for esthetics purpose & therefor are not related and do not represent the mindset of the author !

When it comes to big fears, many Americans think …small. A survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation found that homeowners rank bug infestation the third-most-feared threat, right behind fire and natural disasters. That’s not unreasonable. Ninety-five percent of homeowners said they’ve been the victim of a bug infestation.

NEWSWORTHY TRENDS

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Congratulations to the Texas family who will receive a termite treatment for their home. Read more about it here.

The international heating systems manufacturer Viessmann, Germany, now uses Basotect® to insulate its solar collectors. The light, flame-retardant melamine resin foam produced by BASF is fitted to the side walls and the rear of flat-plate collectors. Flat-plate collectors capture solar radiation and convert it into heat. Basotect shows good insulation properties over a long period, even when exposed to high temperatures. It positively influences the air exchange in the collector at different climatic conditions. And in contrast to conventional insulation materials, the BASF melamine resin foam can be cut into different forms. A Viessmann solar combi-system with Basotect flat-plate collector insulation was pronounced test winner by the German consumer organization “Stiftung Warentest” in March 2009, with a rating of “good”.

For collectors to absorb as much sunlight as possible throughout their entire service life, durable and heat-retardant materials are necessary. Basotect releases practically no volatile substances that could obstruct solar radiation, e.g. as fogging behind the glass panels of the collectors, and hence reduce the efficiency of the solar system. Because of its good thermal conductivity of <0.035 W/m*K and the intelligent shaping of the insulating pieces, Basotect is able to achieve the same insulating performance as mineral wool, but with less material usage. Basotect makes collector installation easier: It is flexible, fiber-free, and can easily be cut to the contours required.

“With the BASF specialty foam, we have found a material that improves the quality of our flat-plate collectors and, at the same time, makes it easier for us to manufacture them,” says Sigurd von Wenzler, project leader for solar technology at Viessmann. “Compared to the previous standards, we have further increased the efficiency of our new generation of collectors, thanks to Basotect. This means that we are able to offer our customers systems that are of greater interest from an economic point of view.”

Flat-plate collectors consist principally of a safety glass panel, an absorber (usually a selectively coated metal sheet) and metal piping, through which an antifreeze fluid flows. When sunlight shines through the glass panel onto the absorber, the absorber transforms the radiation into heat and delivers it to the fluid in the pipes. From there, the heat is transported into the hot water circuit of the house. If the solar collector system is complemented by a heating supplement, house owners can save up to 30 percent of the annual cost of conventional fuel for the heating of the house.

Thanks to its favorable combination of different properties – it is temperature-resistant and flame-retardant, lightweight, flexible, sound-absorbing and thermally insulating – Basotect is used to acoustically and thermally insulate buildings, cars and trains. The thermoset foam is available in several grades for various applications. For example, it protects the sensitive satellites that the Ariane 5 launcher delivers into space. It is used in Beijing’s Olympic swimming stadium as acoustic damping in a new type of suspended structure, and it will soon be found in the planes by the American aircraft manufacturer Boeing.

BASF, lider mondial in industria chimica, si compania elvetiana Vestergaard Frandsen au lansat un sistem inovator de purificare a apei, care foloseste membrane de filtrare concepute din materiale plastice de inalta calitate, Ultrason, pentru tratarea apei. Conform informatiilor de la Organizatia Mondiala a Sanatatii (OMS), 1,8 milioane de oameni mor in fiecare an din cauza afectiunilor intestinale, cum ar fi diareea. Peste un milliard de oameni din toate colturile lumii nu au acces la apa potabila.

Noul sistem portabil de purificare a apei LifeStraw® Family este capabil sa curete cel putin 18.000 de litri de apa, fara sa necesite curent electric, baterii si inlocuirea unor componente ale sistemului, anumite substante chimice sau piese tehnice complexe.
Lifestraw® Family, foloseste rasina Ultrason E 6020 P, o polietersulfona (PESU) de la BASF. Compania elvetiana este specializata in fabricarea de produse de prevenire a bolilor, in special pentru tarile in curs de dezvoltare.
Iata si linkul catre articolul intreg, preluat de pe www.descopera.ro: http://www.descopera.ro/dnews/4940580-fii-sanatos-cu-apa-mai-curata

Por JOÃO PEDRO STÉDILE

Os porta-vozes da grande propriedade e das empresas transnacionais são muito bem pagos para todos os dias defender, falar e escrever de que no Brasil não há mais problema agrário. Afinal, a grande propriedade está produzindo muito mais e tendo muito lucro. Portanto, o latifúndio não é mais problema para a sociedade brasileira. Será? Nem vou abordar a injustiça social da concentração da propriedade da terra, que faz com que apenas 2%, ou seja, 50 mil fazendeiros, sejam donos de metade de toda nossa natureza, enquanto temos 4 milhões de famílias sem direito a ela.

Vou falar das consequências para você que mora na cidade, da adoção do modelo agrícola do agronegócio. O agronegócio é a produção de larga escala, em monocultivo, empregando muito agrotóxicos e máquinas.
Usam venenos para eliminar as outras plantas e não contratar mão de obra. Com isso, destroem a biodiversidade, alteram o clima e expulsam cada vez mais famílias de trabalhadores do interior. Na safra passada, as empresas transnacionais, e são poucas (Basf, Bayer, Monsanto, Du Pont, Sygenta, Bungue, Shell química…), comemoraram que o Brasil se transformou no maior consumidor mundial de venenos agrícolas.  Foram despejados 713 milhões de toneladas! Média de 3.700 quilos por pessoa. Esses venenos são de origem química e permanecem na natureza. Degradam o solo. Contaminam a água. E, sobretudo, se acumulam nos alimentos. As lavouras que mais usam venenos são: cana, soja, arroz, milho, fumo, tomate, batata, uva, moranguinho e hortaliças. Tudo isso deixará resíduos para seu estômago. E no seu organismo afetam as células e algum dia podem se transformar em câncer.
Perguntem aos cientistas aí do Instituto Nacional do Câncer, referência de pesquisa nacional, qual é a principal origem do câncer, depois do tabaco? A Anvisa (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária) denunciou que existem no mercado mais de vinte produtos agrícolas não recomendáveis para a saúde humana. Mas ninguém avisa no rótulo, nem retira da prateleira. Antigamente, era permitido ter na soja e no óleo de soja apenas 0,2 mg/kg de resíduo do veneno glifosato, para não afetar a saúde. De repente, a Anvisa autorizou os produtos derivados de soja terem até 10,0 mg/kg de glifosato, 50 vezes mais. Isso aconteceu certamente por pressão da Monsanto, pois o resíduo de glifosato aumentou com a soja transgênica, de sua propriedade. Esse mesmo movimento estão fazendo agora com os derivados do milho.

Depois que foi aprovado o milho transgênico, que aumenta o uso de veneno, querem aumentar a possibilidade de resíduos de 0,1 mg/kg permitido para 1,0 mg/kg.

Há muitos outros exemplos de suas consequências. O doutor Vanderley Pignati, pesquisador da UFMT, revelou em suas pesquisas que nos municípios que têm grande produção de soja e uso intensivo de venenos os índices de abortos e má formação de fetos são quatro vezes maiores do que a média do estado.
Nós temos defendido que é preciso valorizar a agricultura familiar, camponesa, que é a única que pode produzir sem venenos e de maneira diversificada. O agronegócio, para ter escala e grandes lucros, só consegue produzir com venenos e expulsando os trabalhadores para a cidade.

E você paga a conta, com o aumento do êxodo rural, das favelas e com o aumento da incidência de venenos em seu alimento. Por isso, defender a agricultura familiar e a reforma agrária, que é uma  forma de produzir alimentos sadios, é uma questão nacional, de toda  sociedade.
Não é mais um problema apenas dos sem-terra. E é por isso que cada vez que o MST e a Via Campesina se mobilizam contra o agronegócio, as empresas transnacionais, seus veículos de comunicação e seus parlamentares, nos atacam tanto. Porque estão em disputa dois modelos de produção. Está em disputa a que interesses deve atender a produção agrícola: apenas o lucro ou a saúde e o bem-estar da população? Os ricos sabem disso e tratam de consumir apenas produtos orgânicos.

E você precisa se decidir. De que lado você está?

* JOÃO PEDRO STÉDILE é economista e integrante da coordenação nacional do Movimento dos Sem Terra (MST).

Você pode conferir o filme “O mundo segundo a Monsanto” no Youtube. Ele está dividido em 12 partes, todos os links aparecem do lado direito da tela quando se abre qualquer parte do filme. Segue a primeira parte:

Publicistklubben Väst inbjöd traditionsenligt till mediedebatt på onsdagkvällen som inledning till Pressnatta, upptakten till Bokmässan i Göteborg. Ämnet var svenska mediers EU-bevakning.

Statsvetaren Ulf Bjereld ansåg att den svenska EU-bevakningen kan liknas vid en gedigen men tråkig hejaklack. Parlamentsledamoten Carl Schlyter (MP) fann att något lite fler frågor granskades i rätt tid före beslut i Bryssel till skillnad för några år sedan när de granskades först vid den svenska implementeringen, men att mycket återstår.ETC:s Johan Ehrenberg ville inte ha rapportering om “EU” utan om konkreta sakfrågor och livsvillkor.

Aktuellts Eva Landahl och Göteborgs-Postens Cecilia Krönlein vittnade om höga kostnader för Bryssel-bevakare och om betydelsen av att ha f d EU-korrar på redaktionen som driver på bevakningen “som illrar”.

Carl Schlyter inflikade att om medierna har svårt att få pengarna att räcka för att ha folk i Bryssel så gäller det inte den stora kemikoncernen BASF. De har 200 människor på plats och “de påverkar allt”.

Landahl och Krönlein intygade båda att de skulle vilja satsa mer på att granska lobbyverksamheten inom EU.

American Honda Announces Body Shop Recognition Recipients

American Honda Motor Co, Inc. is pleased to announce the first wave of collision repair shops have been designated to be recognized in the American Honda Body Shop Recognition program.

The program is a collaborative agreement with OEConnection and the five main automotive refinish suppliers in the US including DuPont Performance Coatings, PPG, BASF, Sherwin-Williams, and AkzoNobel to create a supporting initiative for Collision Select, American Honda’s wholesale parts program.

To be eligible, shops must be sponsored by a Collision Select-participating Honda or Acura dealer.  Shops must also meet certain other requirements including participation in their respective paint company’s performance enhancement program, and the adoption and use of OEConnection’s CollisionLink product.  The adoption and use of CollisionLink, an internet-based parts procurement and management tool facilitates a more efficient and effective parts procurement process both for the car dealer and the body shop.

American Honda will recognize qualifying shops for their commitment to a high level of customer care and satisfaction.  They will be presented with a handsome plaque and the shop’s contact information placed on a corporate American Honda website in a searchable database accessible by Honda and Acura owners.

At full deployment, American Honda expects over 3,000 shops to qualify for the Body Shop Recognition program.

For more information:
Gary Ledoux (310) 783-2818
gary_ledoux@ahm.honda.com