Butadiene unit sold
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.
$100 million
investment
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.
Chlorine expansion
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.
Maleic anhydride unit
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.
Amines plant
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%.
Ammonia production
restart
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.
PFOA to be scrapped
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.
