UpdateINEOS to close UK caustic, TCE/PCE and chlorine plants

13 January 2009 15:40  [Source: ICIS news]

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LONDON (ICIS news)--INEOS ChlorVinyls will close three plants at its Runcorn, UK, site due to shrinking demand caused by the global economic downturn, the chemicals group said on Tuesday.

INEOS said it would close its trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) plant and as well as its anhydrous caustic soda facility by the end of the first quarter at the latest.

The company also planned to close one of its two remaining mercury chlorine plants at the site, while increasing output from its recently constructed membrane chlorine facility to balance output.

“As a bulk commodity chemicals manufacturer we compete almost entirely on price, which means it is essential we focus on products that have a strong market position if we are to secure the long term sustainability of Runcorn site,” said CEO of INEOS ChlorVinyls Chris Tane.

“This has been brought into very sharp focus during the recent economic downturn where we have seen a marked deterioration in certain sectors resulting in rapid decline in demand,” he added.

INEOS said the closures would not result in job losses, with employees at the three plants all expected to be transferred to continuing operations.

The PCE facility has a capacity of 130,000 tonnes/year while output for TCE is 100,000 tonnes/year, according to ICIS plants and projects.

Markets for TCE and PCE products held up quite well during the fourth quarter of 2008 but prices were due to fall in the first quarter as a result of the huge drop in the ethylene contract and waning demand, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing. 

Stuart Moir contributed to this article

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By: Mark Watts
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