Huntsman Corp. is selling its U.S. butadiene and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) business to Texas Petrochemicals.  The $275 million sale includes a manufacturing facility in Port Neches, Texas will be complete in the middle of 2006.  The Port Neches facility has the capacity to produce approximately 405,000 metric tons/year of butadiene and 11,000 barrels/day of MTBE.  Other nearby facilities are not included in this sale.

Tetra Technologies Inc. will invest $100 million to develop brine resources around Magnolia, Arkansas.  Tetra Tech plans to add brine production wells, a bromine plant, a calcium plant and the expansion of its existing bromide facility in West Memphis, Arkansas.  Construction will involve two stages – the first phase is expected to be operational by late 2007 and the second phase will be on line in 2009.  The Magnolia expansion will allow the company to produce all the raw materials to fully integrate its fluids business.  The West Memphis expansion will enable Tetra Tech to take bromine from Magnolia and use it to manufacture brominated clear brine fluids (CBFs) for its oil and gas services business.

Bayer will expand its chlorine facility in Baytown, Texas by 200,000 tons/year.  This expansion is part of an $836 million investment package for its Material Science division.  As a result of this investment, the Baytown facility will produce 500,000 tons of chlorine/year.  The project should be complete by the end of 2007 or the beginning of 2008.

Huntsman has selected its Geismar, Louisiana facility as the new home of its 100 million pound maleic anhydride unit.  Huntsman is in the process of detailed engineering and reactor procurement in preparation for startup in the third quarter of 2008. 

BASF will build an alkylethanolamine (AEOA) plant at its Geismar, Louisiana facility.  The new plant will complement the existing amine production at the site.  Startup is scheduled in 2007.  This expansion will increase the company’s worldwide production of specialty amines by 40%.

Terra Industries will restart its ammonia plant in Yazoo City, Mississippi.  Production was halted last November because of high natural gas costs and in order to complete extended turnarounds. 

Eight worldwide companies have agreed to reduce and eventually eliminate emissions of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) by 2015.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency received agreement from Arkema, Asahi, Ciba, Clariant, Daikin, DuPont, 3M/Dyneon and Solvay Solexis.  PFOA will be reduced by 95% by 2010 and 100% reduction by 2015.  The measurement of each firms’ PFOA reduction levels will be against a baseline of emissions detected in 2000.