Shell leaves PTT market to DuPont

摘要

Until this month, there were only two world suppliers of polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT): DuPont and Shell/PTT Poly Canada. Now there will only be one. In an unexpected statement on 3rd March, PTT Poly Canada announced that it will permanently shut down its plant in Montréal East. The 95 kta plant is a 50-50 joint venture between Shell Chemicals Canada and Société Générale de Financement du Québec (SGF). It is the largest, and first continuous, PTT plant in the world. Construction started in 2002 (see C2+Dec01) and the plant started up in 2004. It has been operating off and on in “campaigns” and last ran in November. The plant got its purified terephthalic acid (PTA) from nearby Interquisa and its 1,3-propanediol (PDO) from Shell at Geismar. PTT Poly said it had been unable to achieve profitability, owing to overcapacity in the world polymer industry and the recession. Camford Chemical Report says “The hope remains that a buyer for the plant can still be found. If not, the facility will be dismantled and sold off in parts”.