Sterling Chemical plans changes at its' 3 reactor 500 million lbs/yr acrylonitrile (ACN) plant at Texas City this month. The changes will involve increasing output from two reactors and shut down of a third reactor. That reactor, with a capacity of about 240-mil lbs/yr, has faced problems and not run steadily in recent months. Speculations are rife that the company would idle this reactor, if market conditions do not improve. The output would definitely be reduced, but the extent is not known. The US ACN market is overbuilt, and domestic demand has not caught up to output.
Earlier this month, Solutia had announced plans to shut down its US acrylic fibers production, and place the ACN supplied to that unit into the export market.
31-Jan-05 
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