Basell will end polypropylene production in Sarnia, Ontario, in mid-2008, the company has announced.
Operational since 1978, the plant was one of the last to be built in North America with slurry process technology, said Michael Mulrooney, president of Basell North America.
Annual production had averaged only 100kt in the past two years and the operating costs were no longer competitive, added Mulrooney.
Basell intends to shift production to sites that use Spheripol or Spherizone process technologies. The company, which has PP lines in Louisiana and Quebec, is scheduled to bring on stream a third PP line at its Bayport plant in Texas.
Indelpro, Basell’s joint venture in Mexico with Alpek, already operates a Spheripol line at Altamira and is building a 350kt Spherizone PP plant on the same site for start-up in early 2008.
Basell will end polypropylene production in Sarnia, Ontario, in mid-2008, the company has announced.