NOVA REVAMPS STYRENICS

Abstract

NOVA CHEMICALS, THE world's fourth-largest styrene and polystyrene producer, is making a series of capacity expansions in specialty styrenics and shutdowns in commodity polystyrene that it says will reduce costs and allow it to focus on more value-added products. Nova will close suspension polystyrene resin capacity in Breda, the Netherlands, and Chesapeake, Va., on Sept. 1. In Chesapeake, it will close a 100 million-lb-per-year plant, leaving 14 workers without jobs. In Breda, the closure of 75 million lb of capacity will mean the loss of 23 positions. Christopher Pappas, president of Nova's styrenics business, said at a press conference in New York City that Nova's goal is to increase the share of high-performance, high-growth products like its styrene copolymers and certain grades of polystyrene and expandable polystyrene (EPS) from 15% of its product slate today to 25% by 2004 and 30% by 2005. To this end, ...