Great Lakes starts Mexican antimony trioxide plant

Great Lakes Chemical Corp. (Indianapolis, IN) has begun producing antimony trioxide at its Reynosa, Mexico, plant ahead of schedule. It also plans to manufacture specialty grades of antimony trioxide and other antimony derivatives at the site as well.

Great Lakes previously produced antimony trioxides and derivatives at in Newcastle, UK, and Laredo, TX, as well as Reynosa. In June, it announced plans to concentrate global antimony production at the Reynosa site. The ISO 9000 facility lies on the Rio Grande River in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

According to Great Lakes, the consolidation improves the company's global competitive position. Thanks to Reynosa's flexibility, it can produce its complete line of antimony derivatives and other synergists at the facility.

Antimony trioxide acts as a synergist in brominated flame retardant formulations. Plastics compounders use it to maximize flame retardancy in polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Specialty grades catalyze the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resins.

Edited by Alan S. Brown
Managing Editor, Chemical Online
abrown@vertical.net

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