Business Roundup

Terra Industries has resumed production at its Woodward, Okla., facility, which has been idle since mid-December 2008. The facility manufactures industrial ammonia, agricultural nitrogen, and methanol.

Solvay will cut spending this year on new plants and equipment by more than 40%, compared with 2008, to $810 million. The firm says it cut its capital spending budget "to maintain a solid financial situation."

Huntsman Corp. has agreed to market 50% of the anionic and amphoteric surfactants manufactured at chemical maker Zavod Sintanolov's newly commissioned plant in St. Petersburg. Neither the terms of the deal nor the plant's capacity were disclosed.

Celanese will close a 115,000-metric-ton-per-year vinyl acetate plant in Cangrejera, Mexico, by the end of this month because of sluggish demand for the polymer intermediate and the high cost structure of the plant. Last month, Celanese said it was evaluating the future of the Mexican plant, as well as vinyl acetate and acetic acid plants in Pardies, France.

Novogen, of Sydney, Australia, is cutting costs to enable the development of its oncology pipeline. The company is cutting nearly 20% of its staff, or 11 people; will outsource the manufacturing of its clinical-stage compounds; and is freezing research in cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases.

UCB plans to build an $83 million biologics pilot plant at its site in Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium, focusing on the central nervous system and immunology. The plant should come on-line in early 2012.

Landela Pharmaceutical is suspending reporting with the Securities & Exchange Commission and taking other measures to cut costs. The company, formerly known as RxElite, operates FineTech Pharmaceutical, an Israeli pharmaceutical chemical maker, and is developing generic drugs.