Brussels, November 6, 2013 --- Solvay announces today that it will build and operate a large-scale alkoxylation unit in Pasadena, Texas, at an integrated industrial facility of LyondellBasell’s Equistar Chemicals affiliate, in order to serve a growing North American market. Equistar will supply the ethylene oxide raw material to the unit, in which Solvay will invest nearly € 40 million and is expected to be operational in 2015.
Alkoxylates are used as emulsifiers, detergents and wetting agents and are the chemical foundation for a wide range of Solvay Novecare specialty surfactants. The on-pipe unit will ensure greater security of alkoxylate supply for North American customers. Following completion, it will bring to eight Novecare’s global alkoxylation plants.
“This is the latest in a series of strategic investments we have made to deploy capacity and product development assets to serve our customers in dynamic market segments,” said Emmanuel Butstraen, President of Solvay Novecare. “Spurred by a rebounding housing market and a dynamic manufacturing sector, the new facility will enable us to help our North America customers meet growing business opportunities in many markets.”
This investment follows Solvay’s announcement in April that it will build an on-pipe alkoxylation facility in Singapore. Thanks to its presence on LyondellBasell's site, Solvay can benefit from an existing, competitive industrial footprint and assets as well as access to road, rail and navigable shipping transport to key customers and suppliers.
“We are pleased to see a strategic customer such as Solvay Novecare expand into the Bayport Industrial District,” said Pat Quarles, LyondellBasell Senior Vice President of Intermediates and Derivatives. “Co-locating the Solvay Novecare facility at our Bayport site and linking to our ethylene oxide unit by pipeline offers new opportunities and benefits for each of our companies to grow our businesses.”
About LyondellBasell
LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB) is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies and a member of the S&P 500. LyondellBasell (WWW.LYONDELLBASELL.COM) manufactures products at 58 sites in 18 countries. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels. Equistar Chemicals, LP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of LyondellBasell.
About Solvay Novecare
Solvay Novecare is a worldwide leader in specialty surfactants and a major player in polymers, amines, guar, and phosphorus derivatives. Solvay Novecare engineers and develops formulations that provide consumer products and state-of-the-art industrial applications with specific functional qualities designed to modify fluid behavior and deliver cleansing, dispersal, gelling, moisturizing, penetrating, softening or texturizing properties. These formulations are used in shampoos, detergents, paints and lubricants as well as in crop protection, mining and energy production and stimulation. Novecare, which boasts a worldwide network of 25 manufacturing sites and seven R&D centers, has become the preferred partner of its customers in rapidly growing economies and leverages an innovation platform based on sustainable solutions.
As an international chemical group, SOLVAY assists industries in finding and implementing ever more responsible and value-creating solutions. The Group is firmly committed to sustainable development and focused on innovation and operational excellence. Solvay serves diversified markets, generating 90% of its turnover in activities where it is one of the top three worldwide. The group is headquartered in Brussels, employs about 29,000 people in 55 countries and generated 12.4 billion euros in net sales in 2012. Solvay SA SOLB.BE) is listed on NYSE Euronext in Brussels and Paris (Bloomberg: SOLB.BB- Reuters: SOLBt.BR).
