MOSCOW (MRC) -- An explosion and fire at Optima Chemicals’ manufacturing facility in Belle, West Virginia, Tuesday evening has left four injured, according to local news reports, said Chemweek.
Doug Cochran, general manager of the facility, says all process units have been taken offline. The Optima facility is located on a site owned by Chemours, which sold the assets to Optima, a toll and custom manufacturer of fine chemicals, in 2015. Belle Chemicals, which also has a production facility at the Chemours site, says it has also taken production offline. Belle, an affiliate of Cornerstone Chemical, acquired Chemours’s methylamines business and associated assets in January 2020.
The explosion, which reportedly threw debris as far as one mile, occurred at about 10 pm. It seems to have involved chlorinated dry bleach and methanol, and to have started on a barge, according to local authorities cited by the West Virginia Metro News. The fire was extinguished within two hours.
Other producers with operations at the site include Lucite International and Kureha PGA. Kureha has been manufacturing polyglycolic acid (PGA) at Belle since 2011. Lucite produces higher methacrylates at Belle.
Earlier it was reported that Lucite International UK will be renamed Mitsubishi Chemical UK later this month. The rebranding will take effect on November 17, 2020 as part of the parent company's transition to One MCC worldwide. Lucite International offices in other countries will go through a similar name change process to become Mitsubishi Chemical.
The main application, consuming approximately 75% MMA, is in the production of polymethyl methacrylate acrylic plastics (PMMA). Methyl methacrylate is also used to produce methyl methacrylate-butadiene-styrene copolymer (MBS) used as a modifier for polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
According to MRC's DataScope report, last month's SPVC imports to Russia dropped to 1,600 tonnes from 2,300 tonnes in October. High PVC prices in the foreign markets and seasonal decline in demand continued to put significant pressure on import purchases of PVC from Russian companies. Thus, overall imports were 40,100 tonnes in January-November 2020, compared to 48,500 tonnes a year earlier, with PVC from China and the United States accounting for the main reduction in imports. PVC shipments from these countries decreased by almost a third over the stated period.
MRC