Solvay Readies More Epichlorohydrin

Solvay’s Thai-based Vinythai affiliate is moving forward with plans to build a 100,000-metric-ton-per-year epichlorohydrin plant in Taixing, China. The plant will be Vinythai’s second utilizing Solvay’s Epicerol technology, which converts glycerin, a by-product of making biodiesel, into epichlorohydrin, a raw material for epoxy resins. The first unit opened in Thailand in February. Solvay expects that the new plant will cost $190 million and open in the second half of 2014. Solvay began studying the project in 2010. At the time, it expected the unit to come on-stream in 2013.