Sterling Chemicals, Inc. announced that it has successfully restarted its
acrylonitrile plant at Texas City, Texas. Sterling also announced that it had entered into an expanded acrylonitrile relationship with BP Chemicals Inc. The new relationship is intended to provide Sterling with the ability to operate its acrylonitrile facility at optimal three-reactor rates throughout the acrylonitrile market cycles.
Richard K. Crump, Sterling's President and Chief Executive Officer said, "We are very excited to be restarting our acrylonitrile plant at Texas City. We have taken advantage of the time that the acrylonitrile unit was out of operation to upgrade our
control systems and complete a number of projects designed to reduce air
emissions, improve reliability and reduce overall costs. We are confident that this work will enable our facility to operate in a safe, reliable, and cost efficient manner. We want to thank our employees, customers and suppliers for their patience and support during this restart process. We are also excited about entering into an expanded acrylonitrile relationship with BP Chemicals. Since Sterling's inception in 1986, BP has been a highly valued business partner and we look forward to the opportunity of continuing to grow this relationship."