French specialty chemical company Arkema announced July 28 the start-up of a new methyl acrylate plant at its Clear Lake site in Texas.
The investment represents the last phase of a $110 million plan intended to strengthen Arkema's position in the U.S. acrylics market.
The company commissioned a 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate (2EHA) production plant in Bayport in 2012 and opened an acrylic acid capacity expansion in Clear Lake in June 2013.
This commissioning now makes Clear Lake one of the world’s leading manufacturing sites for acrylic acid and derivatives.
With the completion of this investment program, Arkema aims to fully capitalize on the growth of acrylic acid and derivatives in the fast-growing markets of water treatment, superabsorbents and enhanced oil and gas recovery, the company said in a press release.
"With the finalization of this investment plan in the United States, our world-class site in Carling, France, and our project for the acquisition of Jurong’s acrylics assets in China due to be closed early September, Arkema more than ever ranks among the world’s acrylics leaders and is well positioned to serve its customers around the world from competitive and reliable production sites," said Marie-Pierre Chevallier, global group president for Arkema’s Acrylics business unit.
