Dow To Close Chlor-Alkali Facility and Polyethylene Plant in Canada
Dow Chemical Canada Inc. announced that the global Chlor-Alkali and Chlor-Vinyl businesses will close their chlor-alkali and direct chlorination ethylene dichloride (DC-EDC) production facilities at Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta by October 31, 2006. The facilities produce chlorine, caustic soda, hydrogen and hydrochloric acid. Dow's capacity at Fort Saskatchewan is approximately 990 million pounds of chlorine, 1.1 billion pounds of caustic soda and 1.4 billion pounds of EDC. Approximately 100 Dow positions and about 70 contractor positions at the site will be affected by the closure.
The Dow Chemical Company also decided to close its Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) production facility at Sarnia, Ontario, Canada in September 2006. The LDPE plant will run into early September 2006. Beyond that timeframe, Dow's focus will be to generate as much capacity as possible from its LDPE plant in Freeport, Texas to service customer demand. Dow will fulfill contractual obligations appropriately, but may not be able to maintain the current level of supply to all customers. In March 2006, ethylene shipments to Sarnia through the Cochin Pipeline were unexpectedly suspended by the pipeline's owner, BP, for safety reasons. Since then identifying an alternate economically sustainable source of ethylene has been a top priority for Dow. Multiple options were looked at, including imports and other sources in the area, but none could meet Dow's needs. The LDPE plant at Sarnia has a capacity of 220 MM/lbs annually and employs 33 people.
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