Dow Chemical Canada Inc. announced today it will soon begin manufacturing market development quantities of polyethylene (PE) wax at its Product Development Plant, located in Sarnia, Ontario. These new materials, which will be made via INSITE* Technology, a Dow proprietary single-site catalyst and solution process technology, are the latest development products to be trialed at the facility.
The Product Development Plant was first used during the development of Ethylene-Styrene Interpolymers (ESIs), however, production of ESIs was halted in July, 2002, after Dow concluded a economically viable business model for the materials could not be achieved.
Dow will spend the remainder of 2003 modifying and preparing the plant for an early 2004 production start-up.
“We are very excited about this latest opportunity for the Sarnia Site,” said Steve Bolt, Director, Sarnia Operations. “This new project is a perfect fit for the plant, which was designed to be converted to trial new products as they are identified.”
“The Polyolefins and Elastomers Business Group is looking forward to producing market development quantities of these new materials at our Sarnia facility,” said Mike Gillis, Production Leader at the Product Development Plant. “Dow may build a world-scale plant dedicated exclusively to the production of PE waxes sometime in the future, if product development work proves successful. If a world-scale plant is required, Sarnia will be considered along with other Dow manufacturing sites, but this decision is years away, and the location for such a plant would need to be determined.”
Dow is a leading science and technology company that provides innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $28 billion, Dow serves customers in more than 170 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress, including food, transportation, health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction, among others. Committed to the principles of Sustainable Development, Dow and its approximately 50,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities.
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