By Vanesa Brashier, editor@bluebonnetnews.com
Huntsman Corporation, which has Texas plants in Dayton, Port Neches and Chocolate Bayou in Alvin, announced Wednesday that it was selling its five chemical intermediates and surfactants businesses to Indorama Ventures, headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. The transaction is valued at $2.076 billion and will not be final until the end of the year.
According to Ann Knisely, director of corporate communications for Huntsman, two other affected plants are in India and Australia. The 1,150 employees working at the five plants will be transferred over to Indorama’s payroll once the sale is final.
The Dayton plant has 67 employees and is one of Huntsman’s smaller plants. The Port Neches plant has 636 employees while the Chocolate Bayou plant in Alvin has one employee, who works at a unit inside a larger plant, Knisely said.
The Dayton plant, located on 270 acres at 3892 US 90 West, has a regional economic impact of $6 million in annual salaries, wages and benefits. Huntsman acquired the site in 1996 from Baker Chemicals, originally named Magna Corporation. The plant was built in 1975 by Arjay Chemicals to produce agricultural chemicals.
Today, many of the products made at the Dayton plant are used in soaps and shampoos, Knisely said. Its products are also used in energy and fuels, food production, construction, coatings and gas treatment.
“Surfactants reduce the surface tension between two liquids, a gas and a liquid, or a liquid and a solid,” Knisely said.
Huntsman Corporation’s Dayton facility contributes to or participates in the Rotary Club, Citizen Advisory Panel, Friends of the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge, Liberty-Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and Dayton Chamber of Commerce.