MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemours plans to sell its methylamines and methylamides unit to Belle Chemical, an affiliate of Cornerstone Chemical, said Wchstv.
The sales price was not disclosed. Chemours has signed a letter of commitment with Belle Chemical Co. to sell Chemours' methylamines and methylamides business and production facilities at the Belle location, officials announced Thursday at the Kanawha County Commission meeting.
“That is fantastic news for the Upper Kanawha Valley - fantastic news for Kanawha County,” Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said. “Now that’s what I call a Christmas present."
Belle Chemical signed a letter of commitment to acquire the plant, with the intention of completing the deal on 31 December, Chemours said. Belle Chemical Co. is an affiliate of Cornerstone Chemical based in Louisiana, a county official said.
Earlier this year, Chemours announced it would stop making methylamines and methylamides at the plant. In 2020, it planned to start dismantling the methylamines operations.
Once Belle takes possession of the plant, most of the employees at Belle and others assigned in supporting roles at other locations will become part of Belle, Chemours said. Cornerstone makes acrylonitrile (ACN) and melamine at Fortier, Louisiana. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ACN is a feedstock for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).
According to MRC's DataScorpe report, overall ABS imports to the Russian market fell in the first ten months of 2019 by 2% year on year to 28,000 tonnes. This figure was 28,600 tonnes in January-October 2018. October ABS imports to Russia dropped by 4% year on year to 3,500 tonnes from 3,600 tonnes in October 2018. Imports of material into the country were 2,600 tonnes in September 2019.
Chemours is a global leader in titanium technologies, fluoroproducts and chemical solutions, providing its customers in a wide range of industries with market-defining products, application expertise and chemistry-based innovations. Chemours ingredients are found in plastics and coatings, refrigeration and air conditioning, mining and oil refining operations and general industrial manufacturing. Chemours has approximately 9,000 employees across 37 manufacturing sites serving more than 5,000 customers in North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Chemours is headquartered in Wilmington, Del.
MRC