New Martinsville -- Bayer MaterialScience llc has announced that the MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) plant in New Martinsville, which it closed in September has now been transformed into a state-of-the-art speciality chemicals facility and business park.
According to the statement, BMS' restructuring programme for MDI and TDI (toluene diisocyanate) in the NAFTA region is complete.
"We have consolidated NAFTA production into our world-scale plant at Baytown, Texas," said Patrick Thomas, chairman of the board at Bayer, in the statement. The facility has an MDI capacity of 300 kilotonnes per annum and a TDI capacity of 200 ktpa.
The New Martinsville facility will continue to be an MDI, TDI and hydrochloric acid trans-loading and distribution centre, sourcing material from the Bayer's Baytown plant. The facility will also continue to produce other isocyanates and polyols, coatings raw materials and thermoplastic polyurethanes, said BMS.
The company also said that it has its first tenant at the new business park - the River Valley Bio-Refinery llc, which will build a biodiesel facility.
"We have achieved a major milestone with the closure of the MDI facility and a new tenant to produce biofuels at the New Martinsville business park," said Peter Vanacker, head of the Polyurethanes Business Unit, in a 5 Oct statement.
The new biodiesel facility will be built using some of the land and equipment previously used to make MDI, according to Jim Covington, plant manager at New Martinsville. ss
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