NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- ARCO Chemical Company
(NYSE: RCM) announced today that its board of directors has approved moving
forward with a new world-scale butanediol (BDO) plant in Rotterdam, the
Netherlands. The plant will be located on the Maasvlakte industrial site,
adjacent to the company's propylene oxide/styrene monomer plant (PO-11)
currently under construction. Startup of the BDO plant will be in 2001.
The new BDO plant, the world's largest, will have an annual capacity of
250 million lbs. (113,000 metric tons). BDO and derivatives are used in the
production of urethanes, engineering resins, fibers, solvents,
pharmaceuticals, food and beverages.
The plant also will produce N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, gamma butyrolactone,
and tetrahydrofuran -- all derivatives of BDO -- as well as allyl alcohol.
ARCO Chemical is the leading worldwide marketer of allyl alcohol. ARCO
Chemical's BDO technology uses propylene oxide (PO) as the primary feedstock
and also co-produces MPDiol(R) glycol, a unique and fast-growing specialty
glycol used in a range of applications, from powder coatings to adhesives,
sealants and elastomers.
ARCO Chemical currently operates a BDO plant in Channelview, Texas. When
a debottleneck is completed in the next quarter, that plant will have an
annual capacity of 120 million lbs. (54,000 metric tons) of BDO.
According to Mark Barlow, Business Director, Performance Chemicals, the
new plant in Rotterdam supports ARCO Chemical's strategy to grow from a major
North American supplier of BDO and derivatives to the leading worldwide
merchant supplier of these products. "Our superior BDO technology makes use
of the economies of scale available from our PO and BDO manufacturing
operations and provides us with a key cost advantage that we believe will
enable us to grow downstream PO markets," Barlow stated.
ARCO Chemical's subsidiary, ARCO Chemie Nederland, Ltd. (ACNL), which will
build the new BDO plant, has awarded the engineering contract for the project
to Raytheon Engineers and Constructors, B.V., located in The Hague. Raytheon
has worked on a number of ARCO Chemical PO projects, as well as the original
BDO plant.
ARCO Chemie Nederland, Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of ARCO Chemical
Company, a leading worldwide manufacturer and marketer of PO and derivatives
and other intermediate chemicals. ARCO Chemical's products are used in a wide
range of consumer goods including automotive components, foam cushioning,
paints and coatings, antifreeze and reformulated gasoline.
Visit the new Press Room on ARCO Chemical's web site at
http://www.arcochem-news.com where you'll find press releases, company facts
and figures, photo images, and more. To receive a press release by fax, call
800-758-5804; use code #062063 (US only).
SOURCE ARCO Chemical Company
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CONTACT:
Martin Beck, Public Affairs - Europe,
44-1628-775012, or Sallie Anderson, Manager, Communications,
610-359-5773, or Sami Ahmad, Manager, Investor Relations,
610-359-3171, all of ARCO Chemical
CNOC: http://www.prnewswire.com or fax, 800-758-5804, ext.
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