Dow to close Louisiana Union Carbide PP plant

06 November 2007 21:31  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--Dow Chemical will suspend polypropylene (PP) production at its Union Carbide plant at Hahnville, Louisiana and will permanently close the facility by year end, the company said on Wednesday.

Dow said in a statement the 500m lb (228,000 tonne)/year plant at the St. Charles Operations site would be closed due to economic reasons.

“The closing of the St. Charles Operations polypropylene plant is a difficult decision, but due to a number of factors, including the inability to secure a source of economically sustainable propylene, the use of older technologies at the plant and needed capital improvements to maintain operations to Dow standards, it will be unavoidable,” said Julie McAlindon, Dow polypropylene global business director.

The shutdown will affect about 60 employees, Dow said. “It is expected that a large majority of those employees will be redeployed to other roles at St. Charles Operations,” the company said.

Dow said it would attempt to meet contractual obligations, but it may not be able to maintain the current level of PP supply to all customers.

Dow did not say whether customers would be placed on allocation.

It was not yet clear how the closing of the St. Charles Operations plant would impact the US PP market, or how prices would react to the reduction of supplies.

By Gabriela Wheeler
+1 713 525 2600

By: Staff Reporter
+44 20 8652 3214

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