Company news watch

04 July 2005 00:01  [Source: ICB Americas]

Nexen closes sodium chlorate plant in Ontario

Nexen Inc. will close its sodium chlorate plant in Amherstburg, Ontario, of its Nexen Chemicals subsidiary, effective July 31. With an annual capacity of 54,000 metric tons, the plant has been running at reduced operating levels for several months due to high electricity costs, prompting the shutdown. The company assures that it will continue uninterrupted product supply to all customers following the plant closure. Nexen Chemicals has roughly 405,000 metric tons per year of sodium chlorate production capacity in North America and 62,200 metric tons per year in Brazil.

DuPont to build sulfuric acid plant

DuPont Company will reportedly build a sulfuric acid regeneration plant in New Jersey starting in the fourth quarter, with operations expected to come on line by the end of 2006. The plant will be constructed at the 238,000 barrel-per-day ConocoPhillips oil refinery in Bayway, N.J., and will process spent sulfuric acid produced on site as well as from other refineries. DuPont has not disclosed the cost or size of the plant, but has stated that sulfuric acid produced there, which is meant for the US domestic market, would not be of sufficient capacity to impact imports.

Demeter constructs three ethanol facilities

Demeter Enterprises LLC plans to build three large-scale ethanol production facilities to be located in Linden, Ind.; Albion, Neb.; and Bloomingburg, Ohio, for $125 million each. Construction is expected to begin late this summer with full operation by the end of next year or early 2007. Each plant will annually produce 100 million gallons of ethanol and 315,000 tons of dry distillers grain and will source corn from Cargill AgHorizons’ grain elevators adjacent to the plant sites. Demeter is owned by AS Alliances Holdings LLC, Cargill Inc., Fagen Inc., and private partners.

Symrise restructures divisions to three units

Symrise is restructuring its business into three main divisions: flavors, fragrances and sensory ingredients. The company announced last week that it has consolidated the aroma chemicals and cosmetic ingredients units into one entity under sensory ingredients and is reorganizing the fragrance management teams at the global, regional and local levels. The new sensory ingredients division will focus on the development of unique aroma chemicals and innovative cosmetic raw materials for multisensory products. Meanwhile, as part of the fragrance division reorganization, Symrise will close its fragrance unit in Hamburg, Germany, and relocate operations to Holzminden. The global fragrance division will now be managed through a regional management structure.

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