LyondellBasell shutting down part of plant

Polypropylene Fibers LyondellBasell announced Monday it will close the polypropylene portion of its plant east of Morris by the end of 2008, concluding 30 years of production.Mark Mendelson of LyondellBasell in Wil-mington, Del., said the polypropylene portion of the Morris plant was too small by today's standard to operate economically.Production will be shifted to facilities in Lake Charles, La., and Pasadena, Texas.“Economies of scale are everything,” Mendel-son said, “and by today's standards the plant is not competitive.”Yves Bonte, a senior vice president, said the three polypropylene lines at Pasadena, Texas, and the two in Lake Charles, La., use the industry -leading Spheripol process.  “In addition to being more cost effective, this allows us to improve our portfolio of grades and enhance overall product quality, which will benefit our customers,” Bonte said.Mendelson said the polyethylene portion of the Morris plant - the largest portion of the facility - will continue to operate.“It is important to note that the polyethylene production will be unaffected,” he said, “and that is much the larger part of the plant.”Tom Nunheimer of the Morris plant said about 450 people work at the Morris site on a daily basis, including those working for contractors. At this point, he said, it is too early to know what impact this will have on the facility.“There are two teams of corporate personnel that are looking at the staffing levels and what will need to be done,” Nunheimer said.He said the announcement was made so employees would know when a decision was made.One polypropylene line was closed down late in 2007. “Our employees have been working for the past several years to improve efficiency, but there is only so much you can do,” he said. The other facilities have newer technology and an advantageous feedstock.Polypropylene, Mendelson said, is used in carpet fibers. It is also a hard plastic used in some toys and car battery casings.Nunheimer said the closing of the polypropylene portion of the plant will allow the company to concentrate on the several lines of polyethylene production. This will result in a stronger Morris plant, now and into the future.“We have targeted the fourth quarter to stop polypropylene production in Morris,” Mendelson said.In the interim, he said, there is a lot of planning that must be done to transfer the production to the other facilities.A detailed inventory of the equipment in the polypropylene portion of the plant will be done. Anything that can be used, will remain here.The remainder of the polypropylene facility, Mendelson said, “will be decommissioned in an environmentally friendly manner.”He added that a lot of engineering will go into how the plant is decommissioned.Lyondell merged with Basell in December 2007 and the firm is privately owned by Access Industries and headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands.The Morris plant is part of the company's Equistar subsidiary.The company, then known as Northern Petrochem-ical, completed the polypropylene portion of the Morris plant in June of 1978.Forty years ago, in April 1968, the company began construction of the first portion of the Morris plant, which produced ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol starting in July 1969. Ethylene oxide is used in detergents and ethylene glycol is the key ingredient in anti-freeze.For many years Northern produced Peak antifreeze, before selling it in 1986.Construction of the plastic resin portion of the plant began in December 1969, with production of low-density polyethylene starting in September 1971.In 1984, the company conducted a major upgrade at the plant to produce a linear low-density polyethylene called Norlin.Polyethylene is a common plastic used to make bags, film, caps and closures, houseware items and in appliances.The Morris plant produces the resin from which the products are made.In December 1983, the company reported 771 employees at Morris.In February 1988, the company, then called Quantum Chemical, announced it was establishing a research center at the plant at a cost of $1.9 million.Also in 1988, the company announced it was adding a second linear low-density polyethylene reactor and about 100 employees.At the end of 1993, the company, then part of Hanson Plc., ended production of ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol at the Morris plant.Also in 1993, the company closed its polyethylene reactor in Tuscola, Ill.In 1996, Hanson split and the facility was known as Millennium Chemical briefly. In 1997, Millennium merged with Lyondell and the plant became Equistar.Also in 1997, an agreement with NRG Energy was announced for a co-generation unit at the Morris plant, which would produce low-cost electricity. It began operating in 1999.On Dec. 31, 2003, the company closed the research center and cut about 40 jobs.