Celanese to close Texas plant in January

10 November 2008 19:08  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Celanese will close its Pampa acetic acid and acetic anhydride plant in Texas by 4 January, the company said on Monday.

The closing, first announced in August 2007, allows Celanese to jettison the Pampa operation's outdated technology based on butane feedstock. The Texas unit's days have been numbered since the company opened a 600,000-tonne/year plant in Nanjing, China, in June 2007.

The Pampa plant produces 290,000 tonnes/year of acetic acid and 145,000 tonnes/year of acetic anhydride, according to Celanese.

The Pampa plant's new owner, Australian investment firm Babcock & Brown, is involved in energy projects in the Texas panhandle involving wind and conventional electricity generation. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

Babcock & Brown has said it plans to use the site to generate both coal-based and wind-based electricity.

A Celanese spokesman said all removal of finished product from the Pampa site would be completed by 1 March.

For more on Celanese's Pampa, Texas, acetic acid plant, visit ICIS plants and projects
For more on acetic acid, visit ICIS chemical intelligence
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By: Lane Kelley
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