International Dyestuff Industry - ColorantsHistory.Org

Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd., Dye Label. Edelstein Collection,
Hebrew University.
In 1928, chemists working at the Grangemouth works of Scottish Dyes observed a blue
color in the steel reactor in which phthalimide was prepared from phthalic anhydride and
ammonia. This was an iron-containing compound similar to natural pigments like chlorophyll
and blood, and the copper analogue became Monastral fast blue (1934). [53] This
prototype phthalocyanine dye has been described as the most important colorant
discovered in the twentieth century. [54]
In 1934, the IG Farben Corporation (see next section) introduced its version, Heliogen Blue
B, made by an improved method, much to the amazement of ICI's dyestuffs group, which
mused that it was "a revelation of the resources they [IG Farben] are able to throw into any
opening for research, whether provided by their own initiative or by that of their
competitors." [55] ICI later acquired a license to use the German process.
Business Trends, 1920-1939 ( [56] )
Protectionism, the rise of major corporations and international cartels. Stalemate and the
cartel breakers.
The massive chemical corporation IG Farben was set up in Germany at the end of 1925.
There were 67,000 workers, including 1,000 chemists. About 36 per cent of sales were
represented by dyes. Bayer's Uerdingen factory specialized in intermediates, and
Leverkusen, also in the Bayer sector, in azo dyes. The creation of IG Farben heralded and
forced many changes elsewhere. Thus, although ICI was similar in size to Du Pont, and both
had the largest ranges in their respective countries, they were no match for the giant IG
Farben.
ICI and its forerunners may have introduced the most novel dyes in the interwar period,
but it did not have the international marketing experience of IG Farben. Also, German dyes
were included among the reparations, and despite the lack of income they promoted a
return to confidence in German products in ways that no sales effort could have equaled.
(Considerable amounts of German dyes were seized after the war, and for a period of five
years the Germans were forced to provide a quarter of their output at prices dictated by the
Allies).
Before the First World War, the German hold on the world market meant that there was no
need for the creation of international cartels, although discussions were conducted with the
Swiss. With the entry of several nations into the dye industry, and the competing
international export efforts by 1920, the Germans were forced to seek out new strategies,
as were their competitors.
Although the Germans found it difficult to regain their former positions in North America and
Europe, because of the revival of dye industries and the introduction of tariff walls, they
were able to make massive inroads into the important and expanding markets for synthetic
dyes in the East. This created a dependence on German supplies not unlike that
experienced in Europe and North America before 1914. The result was that the exports of