Dow to sell its site in Institute, West Virginia, to Altivia

Dow has agreed to sell its Institute, West Virginia, complex—including its acetone derivatives business—to Altivia for an undisclosed sum. With the acquisition, Altivia will take on the largest North American facility for ketones and carbinols, used primarily as solvents for nitrocellulose and other cellulose ethers and for various resins. “Acquiring this facility and associated technology provides downstream expansion for Altivia’s acetone production capacity and access to global markets for acetone derivatives,” Altivia CEO J. Michael Jusbasche says in a statement. “Additionally, the Institute Industrial Park’s excess capacity of utilities and services provide options to install additional chemical production for a fraction of the cost of alternatives.” The 185-hectare site on the Kanawha River was originally owned by Union Carbide, which operated a methyl isocyanate facility comparable to the plant that exploded in Bhopal, India, in 1984. The sale by Dow, which has owned the site since 2015, marks the fourth time the facility has changed hands. Dow, DuPont, and US Methanol will remain tenants.