Röhm plans US methyl methacrylate plant

Röhm, the former acrylates business of Evonik Industries, and the oxo chemicals maker OQ Chemicals plan to build a 250,000-metric-ton-per-year methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant at OQ’s site in Texas City, Texas. The plant will use Röhm technology, dubbed LiMA, which makes the acrylic resin raw material from ethylene and methanol. Röhm has been piloting the process since 2016 in Germany. Conventional MMA is made with hydrogen cyanide and acetone. Last year, Mitsubishi Chemical announced its intention to build an MMA plant in Geismar, Lousiana, that also uses ethylene and methanol.