Agrium says that it has decided not to build a gasification facility to supply coal-based syngas
to its 325,000-ton/year nitrogen fertilizer plant at Kenai, AK and that the Kenai plant will be
mothballed “shortly.” Agrium says that it had been evaluating the feasibility of building a gas-
ification plant to supply Kenai since 2005 but has determined that “current economics are not
sufficient” to proceed. Agrium’s Kenai nitrogen facility was closed last year due to a shortage
of natural gas supply. Agrium says it will still pursue other gasification projects, including the
use of bitumen upgrading to produce syngas in Alberta. Agrium also has a deal with Faustina
Hydrogen Products, under which Agrium will purchase 40% of the approximately 1. 3 million
tons/year of anhydrous ammonia produced at Faustina’s planned gasification plant at St. James
Parish, LA. That plant will be operated by Eastman Chemical, and is due to start up in 2011
(CW, Aug. 1/8, 2007, p. 9).
■ Kronos Income Slides
Kronos Worldwide (Dallas) reported
fourth-quarter 2007 net income of
$1.6million, compared with income
of $41.3 million in the same year-ago
period. Sales rose 4%, to $310.4 million.
The company’s titanium dioxide (TiO)
2
business reported profits down 71%, to
$11.3 million. Kronos cites lower average
selling prices, higher maintenance costs,
and the negative effects of fluctuations in
currency exchange rates. TiO sales vol-
2
umes increased 2% on higher volumes
in the U.S. and export markets. However,
TiO production volumes dropped 6%.
2
Representative Albert Wynn (D., MD) has introduced legislation that would make perma-
nent the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) rules on chemical site security. The bill,
unlike the one passed last week by the House’s homeland security committee, does not include
a provision requiring chemical facilities to consider use of inherently safer technology (IST)
(CW, March 10, p. 6). “Unlike the impractical and partisan legislation approved last week, we
are pleased that this bill places greater emphasis on appropriate security measures and less on
carrying out the agenda of environmentalists,” says Socma president and CEO Joe Acker. “This
legislation would eliminate sunset provisions to the existing standards and, importantly, does
not include the highly impractical and controversial IST provisions,” Acker says.
Eastman Chemical says it will boost capacity for its Tritan brand copolyesters at Kingsport, TN.
The project includes a new manufacturing plant and conversion of certain existing operations,
Eastman says. The company did not disclose capacity figures; it says the expansion will add
“significant” production capacity. The expansion is due for completion in late 2009. Eastman
says it expects global demand for copolyesters to grow 6%-8%/year. The company launched
the Tritan product line late last year. The product has higher heat resistance, improved design
flexibility, and can be more easily processed than other copolyesters, Eastman says. End uses
include housewares, appliances, and extruded-sheet applications. Meanwhile, the company says
that a previously announced plan to open a specialty copolyester plant at Columbia, SC is on
track to start up in the first half of this year (CW, May 16, 2007, p. 8).
■ Polymer Group Loss Narrows
Polymer Group (Charlotte, NC) reported
a net loss of $21.8 million for its fiscal
fourth-quarter ended December 29, 2007,
compared to a loss of $18.9 million in the
same year-ago period. The company cites
“rapid and significant” increases in raw
material costs. “However, the underlying
business initiatives were in place, vol-
ume in the disposable markets remained
steady, and the general fundamentals
of our business and capacity for growth
remain strong,” says Veronica Hagen , Polymer Group’s CEO. Fourth-quarter
sales were about flat at $265.4 million.
DuPont says that Ellen Kullman, executive v.p., will assume overall responsibility for the com-
pany’s efforts to drive growth in international markets. Kullman has also been given direct
responsibility for the company’s performance materials, and electronic and communication
technologies businesses. The growth opportunities for these two businesses are directly linked
to international markets, especially in emerging economies, DuPont says.
■ ConocoPhillips Boosts Energy Spend
ConocoPhillips says it will invest $400 mil-
lion this year to develop technology for
non-conventional and renewable resource
energy sources. These include coal gasifi-
cation, carbon capture and sequestration,
and cellulosic ethanol conversion. The
company says it will also build a technol-
ogy center and corporate learning center
on land recently purchased at Louisville,
Ting Tsung “T. T.” Chao, founder and former chairman of both Westlake
Chemical (Houston) and Titan Chemical (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia),
died on March 7 at the age of 86. Chao is credited with building Tawain’s
first polyvinyl chloride plant in 1954, and ten years later founded China
General Plastics Group (Taiwan), which included China General Plastics
Corp., Taita Chemical Co., and Asia Polymers Corp. Chao turned his
attention to the U.S. market in 1986 and set up Westlake via the acquisi-
tion of an idled polyethylene plant at Lake Charles, LA. He expanded
Westlake via a series of acquisitions and grassroots investment. Chao
Chao: Asian petchem founded Titan Chemicals in 1989, the first petchem company in Malaysia
industry pioneer. and the largest polyolefins producer in Southeast Asia in terms of capacity.
Chao retired from his chairman positions at Westlake and Titan in 2004 and 2006, respectively.
References:
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