LyondellBasell Industries will indefinitely shut its Chocolate Bayou olefins complex near Alvin, Texas, by Aug. 4, 2009. The decision has said to be arrived after an viability assessment of the plant by the company which is presently restructuring under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The plant was operated by subsidiary Equistar Chemicals, LP on property leased to the company by Solutia. Reduced future for olefins, the limited feedstock flexibility, high fixed costs due to scale and high costs related to the site service agreements are the reason cited for the permanent closure.
Equistar, along with Lyondell Chemical Company and certain other affiliates, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 6, 2009. LyondellBasell exercised an option under Chapter 11 to reject the site lease and to permanently shut down the unit. Those motions were granted by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on March 10. The workforce to be hampered by the decision is drawing a transition plan for the safe and efficient transfer of the site to Solutia.
25-Mar-09 
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