Celanese sells Rock Hill formaldehyde business to Georgia-Pacific

Celanese Chemicals, a business of Celanese AG, announced it would sell that portion of its formaldehyde business which is serviced by the company's Rock Hill, SC, facility to Georgia-Pacific Resins Inc., the chemical division of Georgia-Pacific Corp., and supply the Atlanta-based company with formaldehyde under a long-term supply agreement.

The Rock Hill facility has a production capacity of 140 million pounds of formaldehyde per year based on a 37 percent solution.

According to the contractual agreement, Georgia-Pacific will utilize the output of the formaldehyde plant for its internal needs as well as to supply current customers of the Rock Hill facility. Celanese will retain all assets and provide continued employment to its employees.

"The sale of the formaldehyde business at Rock Hill is part of a continued restructuring strategy to increase the efficiency of Celanese Chemicals and enhance the company's position in its core products," said Armin Bruch, vice president of Celanese Chemicals' acetyl derivatives and polyols business line. "Celanese Chemicals will concentrate its formaldehyde production at its Bishop, Texas, and Edmonton, Alberta, facilities. These sites are fully integrated with methanol production and derivative uses. The Rock Hill site does not have this degree of integration."

The Bishop and Edmonton facilities have a combined formaldehyde production capacity of 2 billion pounds per year based on a 37 percent basis.

Edited by Drew Bowden
Assistant Editor, Chemical Online

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