Dow Will Build Chlor-Alkali Plant

Dow Chemical will break ground in Freeport, Texas, this year on a membrane-based chlor-alkali plant scheduled to open in 2011. Dow says it will close several existing chlor-alkali plants at the site over the next three years, creating a net reduction of its chlor-alkali capacity on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

At the same time, the company has renewed a long-term agreement to supply feedstock vinyl chloride to the polyvinyl chloride producer Shintech. Dow says Shintech has been a customer for more than 30 years.

Because the deal with Shintech will partly fund the new chlor-alkali plant, Dow CEO Andrew N. Liveris calls the investment part of the company???s ???asset light??? strategy by which it tries to avoid major investments in basic chemicals.

Dow, the world???s largest producer of chlorine and caustic soda, notes that it is planning chlor-alkali plants in Saudi Arabia, as part of a petrochemical project with Saudi Aramco, and in China, as part of a coal-to-chemicals project with Shenhua Group.