Dec 7 2007
Dow Wolff Cellulosics today announced the Dow facility producing CELLOSIZE™ Hydroxyethyl Cellulose (HEC) Polymers at Aratu, Brazil will be closed in the first quarter of 2008 because it is not globally competitive in providing solutions to customers. The business exhaustively evaluated all options to maintain the plant, but ultimately decided to halt operations and decommission the 5,000 MT (~11 MM lbs) plant due to high structural and raw material costs. Dow Wolff Cellulosics has a strong position as a worldwide provider of HEC polymers and can supply customers globally from other sites in the USA and Belgium.
“Dow Wolff Cellulosics is prioritizing its expenditures and investments on break-through improvements and technologies that will enable long-term customer success,” said Martin Sonntag, general manager of Dow Wolff Cellulosics. “Rather than continuing to invest in non-competitive assets, we have chosen to shut one down, and apply resources towards the creation of next-generation products and sustainable manufacturing positions across HEC polymers and our cellulosics portfolio.”
The cellulosics ‘envelope’ is continuing to see an overall growth rate of more than 6%. Dow Wolff Cellulosics intends to remain an industry leader for HEC polymers by focusing more on future customer/application needs, other strategic assets and effective management of the costs to provide leading solutions.
“The shut down does not reflect the excellent performance of the Dow experts who have operated the Aratu asset reliably and safely for many years, but rather illustrates ever changing market dynamics as the plant was originally built according to different market conditions,” said Sonntag. “Dow Wolff Cellulosics is continuing to invest significantly in HEC application expertise, all other HEC facilities and across the entire span of cellulosics, as well as our companion chemistries.”
Approximately 40 affected employees will be either redeployed to nearby Dow sites or released of duty according to an appropriate shut-down schedule. Brazil and all of Latin America are critical areas of commitment and growth for The Dow Chemical Company and the Dow Wolff Cellulosics business. Dow sales revenues in Brazil in 2006 were US$ 2.2 billion and Dow Latin America accounts for 11% of total Dow sales. A significant portion of Dow Wolff Cellulosics sales revenue is generated in Latin America and the business estimates growth in that region to be at a rate of 5% in 2008 alone.
“Dow remains committed to Brazil and we will continue gearing our best efforts towards developing attractive investment projects that can ensure our growth in the region. As usual, safety, environmental performance, and respectful and fair treatment of our partners and employees will continue as top priorities during this period,” says Vicente Teixeira, director of corporate communications and human resources for Dow Latin America.
Hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) is an essential chemical building block used in a wide variety of industrial and consumer products. CELLOSIZE™ Hydroxyethyl Cellulose polymers are a nonionic, water-soluble polymers that are readily soluble in hot or cold water. They can be used to prepare solutions with a wide range of viscosities, and have an outstanding tolerance for dissolved electrolytes. These properties make them ideal for use in agricultural, construction, cosmetic, coatings, paint, paper, inks, textiles and oil production applications.