Sunoco Inc. announced on January 13 that it will permanently close its polypropylene manufacturing facility located in Bayport, Texas, no later than April 30, 2009. The facility can produce approximately 400 million pounds of polypropylene each year.
"The decision to close the facility was made after an extensive review which demonstrated that the plant is no longer financially viable," said Bruce D. Rubin, vice president of Sunoco Chemicals.
Sunoco has three other polypropylene facilities, located in La Porte, Texas; Marcus Hook, Pa.; and Neal, W.Va., that will assume a portion of Bayport's production. "Our goal is to ensure that we make the most competitive and profitable mix of products to meet customer demand," Rubin said.
Sunoco expects to record a non-cash after tax charge in the fourth quarter of 2008 totaling approximately $35 million in connection with the decision to close the facility.
Sunoco, Inc., headquartered in Philadelphia, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of petroleum and petrochemical products. With 910,000 barrels per day of refining capacity, approximately 4,700 retail sites selling gasoline and convenience items, approximately 6,000 miles of crude oil and refined product owned and operated pipelines and 44 product terminals, Sunoco is one of the largest independent refiner-marketers in the United States. Sunoco is a significant manufacturer of petrochemicals with annual sales of approximately five billion pounds, largely chemical intermediates used to make fibers, plastics, film and resins. Utilizing a unique, patented technology, Sunoco's cokemaking facilities in the United States have the capacity to manufacture approximately 3.0 million tons annually of high-quality metallurgical-grade coke for use in the steel industry. Sunoco also is the operator of, and has an equity interest in, a 1.7 million tons-per-year cokemaking facility in Vitoria, Brazil.
