Sterling and BP Amoco Expand Their Capacity For Acetic Acid in Texas

22 February 1999 00:00  [Source: ICB Americas]

By Alex Tullo

Houston-based Sterling Chemicals Inc. and BP Amoco PLC, the world's largest merchant supplier of acetic acid, are expanding the acetic acid capacity of Sterling's Texas City, Tex., plant by 200 million pounds. When the project is completed in March, it will give Sterling a nameplate of 1 billion pounds, representing 18 percent of US capacity.

BP Amoco will provide its Cativa process technology and a portion of the $10 million in capital needed for the expansion. As part of an existing arrangement, BP Amoco will also market the new acetic acid output, as it does for the rest of Sterling's capacity.

"The expansion of Sterling's acetic acid facility demonstrates the strength of the Sterling/BP Amoco relationship, which has been ongoing since 1986," says Peter De Leeuw, Sterling's president and CEO. "This new effort expresses our continuing commitment to the marketplace and provides additional evidence that Sterling is becoming a cost leader in the commodity chemicals industry."

Sterling says the project will include minor hardware modifications and take advantage of the most recent advances in the Cativa technology. The company says that after the upgrade, the Texas City plant will become one of the most cost-efficient acetic acid facilities in the world.

"The acetic acid unit will provide secure, cost-advantaged product for our growing acetic acid requirements," says Iain Macdonald, chief executive of BP Amoco's acetyls business unit. He adds that BP Amoco's production will soon exceed 4 billion pounds worldwide. The company says BP's technology accounts for about 70 percent of the world's acetic acid capacity.

US demand for acetic acid was about 4.1 billion pounds in 1998, and annual growth is around 3 percent. With a 60 percent share of demand, vinyl acetate monomer is the largest market for acetic acid.

Acetic acid's next three major uses, each with roughly a 10 percent market share, are acetic anhydride, esters and DMT/PTA.

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