23 January 2008 - Hercules Inc., a manufacturer of chemical specialties, reported an incident on 13 January at one of its methylcellulose production lines in China, at Hercules Tianpu Chemicals, a 40% owned joint venture company.
Two employees were injured in a fire. Both are expected to make a full recovery.
Damage caused by the fire was limited to a packaging line. Hercules predicts a return to full operations by the end of the first quarter.
"Customer demand is expected to be met from inventory resulting from strong operating rates in the fourth quarter and from other sources, including the joint venture's other Chinese methylcellulose production lines", the company said in a statement.
Hercules stressed that the financial impact of the incident is expected to be minimal.
It is believed that the incident may have been caused by a fire in a filtering system in final packaging.
Methylcellulose, and other cellulose derivatives are used in the manufacture of low calorie foods such as imitation syrups and salad dressings low in calories.