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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Industria Quimica del
Istmo (Iquisa; Mexico City, Mexico) has hired Bluestar Chemical Machinery Co.
(BCMC) to build a membrane-cell chlor-alkali plant in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico,
with capacity to produce 150,000 metric tons/year of chlorine, reported Chemweek.
BCMC, which announced the
news Monday, says it will supply its proprietary electrolysis technology for the
project, which is to begin construction this month and to be completed within
two years.
The new plant will replace a mercury-cell plant that has
125,000 metric tons/year of chlorine capacity and 138,000 metric tons/year of
caustic soda capacity, according to data from IHS Markit.
Xiaofeng Qiao,
president of BCMC, says the company is aiming for a worldwide presence. “The
project with Iquisa will be the first one for BCMC in the Americas,” he says.
“It will give us the opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities in this
continent. BCMC looks forward to having a strong participation in the conversion
of Latin American mercury plants to the new membrane process. We can offer
outstanding technology, competitive prices, fast track construction and turn-key
projects to the American customers. We will also take advantage of this initial
location in the Americas to develop a base for local maintenance services.” BCMC
is a subsidiary of ChemChina.
There are seven other mercury-cell
chlor-alkali plants totaling 384,000 metric tons/year of chlorine capacity still
operating in South America, according to data from IHS Markit.
Iquisa, a
unit of Cydsa, produces chlor-alkali at Monterrey, Mexico, and Ecatapec, Mexico,
by membrane-cell technology. Quimobasicos, a joint venture between Cydsa and
Honeywell, produces refrigerant gases and other fluorocarbons in
Monterrey.
As MRC informed earlier,
AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals will upgrade its Rotterdam chlor-alkali plant to
strengthen development of the local industrial cluster. The company
will invest in a second, independent production line for chlorine and
caustic soda and will also implement a series of other upgrades, starting with
the implementation of new ‘e-flex’ technology, which automatically adjusts
production in line with electricity supplies, as per the company's press release
in 2018. The new production line, which is due for completion in 2021, will
ensure a continuous supply of chlorine, including when one line is undergoing
maintenance. It also enables the company to expand production capacity in the
future to accommodate further demand growth. The Rotterdam plant is at the heart
of an important industrial cluster for several essential chlorine derivatives
including polyvinyl chlorie (PVC), epoxy resins and polyurethane.
We
remind
that November production of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) in Russia were
111,000 tonnes (100% of the basic substance) versus 108,000 tonnes a month
earlier. Russia's overall output of caustic soda totalled 1,165,600 tonnes in
the first eleven months of 2020, down by 1.3% year on year. |
