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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS -.f Britain: The single-cell-protein (scP) plant that Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. is building at Billingham, near Teeside, Is the final hope for Western companies to produce animal-feed pro- tein from hydrocarbons. Last month, competitor British Petroleum Co. (BP) announced the closing of its only remaining scP plant at Grangemouth, Scotland. That followed shutdowns of scP facilities by BP and other companies in Japan, France, and Italy as a result of guidelines governing the domestication of foreign-owned subsidiaries In India would be modified for companies. that Invest the profits they would othepvise remit abroad, in "certain sophisticated Industries." Current rules require that foreign companies progressively re- duce their stake to 40%, although those that diversify into high-technology or export-oriented sectors may be permit- ted to hoid up to 51%. Patel's state- ment marks a further relaxation of the environmental opposition. Environmen- -guidelines. In spite of the low technolo- talists claim scP is a potential' carcino-" -gy involved, government observers be- gen. ict, which will produce scP from lieve that Hindustan Lever, a former methanol (an alcohol made from natu- Unilever subsidiary, may have Its ral gas), hopes to avoid the cancer request~ to retain 51% of a new cement plant granted-partly because of the k.7 _._ _.~s'.~ .(, : p.~....._~ .. . .. Installing a fermenter at ICI's new single-cell-protein plant in Billingham. "controversy that still surrounds other processes, all of which use petroleum- based feedstocks. But opposition re- mains, even though the U. N. Protein Advisory Group states: "No other food product has ever been subjected to such rigorous research as scP, and it can now, be considered less harmful than many foods currently fed to humans."' The Soviet Union, using petroleum-based feedstocks, is now the world's largest producer, with a capacity of 500,000 to 700,000 tons per year. The Billingham plant will have a capacity of 70,000 tons annually. • India: Finance Minister Hirubhai' Patel told Parliament last week that the Italy: The Lega Nazionale delle CQoper- _~ ative e Mutue, Italy's association of some 11,000 agriculture, construction, banking, and transport cooperatives, ls' reaching out into Third-World markets. Last week the Lega, which Is the commercial arm of the Italian Commu- nist- and Socialist parties, signed a letter of intent with the Vietnamese to handle the construction of such turnkey' projects as roads, lumberyards, and warehouses in Vietnam, in exchange for coffee, tea, rubber, and ceramics. The Lega will also train Vietnamese in Italy. The little-known cooperative, which ranks fourth among Italian industrial groups, exported more than $300 million last year out of total sales of $5 5iilion. - West Germany: The $6 billion program of economic stimulus that Bonn will launch next year to fulfill its July summit pledge is fueling inflation fears. The German money supply has been rising at 13% in the past few months because of the Bundesbank's support of the dollar and efforts to halt the exodus from low-yield bonds. Stimulation, mostly in the form of tax cuts and increased public child support, will add $3.5 billion to an already hefty budget deficit of perhaps $26.5 billion. To finance it, the government will have to go to a slumping bond market. Econo- mists are predicting that German infla- tion, which bottomed out at 2.4% in June, then rose to 2.6% last month, will be pushed back up to 3% late this year by the rising money supply. Some are predicting 4% inflation by 1979-a rate that most other Europeans would regard as a godsend. BUSINESS WEEK: August 21, 1978 45 of cement in India .