OxyChem finishes US chlor-alkali conversions

28 April 2008 22:26  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US producer Occidental Chemical (OxyChem) has completed the conversion of its Taft chlor-alkali plant in Louisiana to produce potassium hydroxide, or caustic potash, the company said on Monday.

The conversion allowed OxyChem to close down its mercury-cell potassium hydroxide plant in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In the process, the company said it has ceased all North American production based on mercury cells.

"Our ability to offer all of our caustic soda and caustic potash customers’ product made in a non-mercury-cell process reinforces our position as an industry leader in chlor-alkali production in North America,” OxyChem President Chuck Anderson said.

Mercury-cell plants have been known to emit toxic mercury. While most have been either closed or converted to a cleaner and more efficient membrane-cell process, the few remaining mercury-cell plants in the US are frequent targets of criticism from environmental groups.

The Taft facility is equipped with membrane-cell technology.

Market sources said the conversion of the Taft chlor-alkali plant has also contributed to caustic soda supply tightness in North America. The plant had a caustic soda production capacity of 230,000 tonnes/year.

However, Shintech will make up that supply gap when its new chlor-alkali complex in Plaquemine, Louisiana, begins operation in May. That plant will have an initial caustic soda production capacity of 300,000 tonnes/year.

For more on caustic soda, visit ICIS chemical intelligence

For more on Shintech's Plaquemine project, visit ICIS plants and projects

By: Greg Holt
+1 713 525 2653

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