Newly Formed LyondellBasell Industries Aims to Make Changes, Maintain Profits

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In early 2008, Basell Polyolefins (Hoofddorp, Netherlands) acquired Lyondell Chemical Company (Houston, Texas). Not only did the company obtain the new identity of LyondellBasell Industries, but also relocated many offices. Corporate headquarters was repositioned from Hoofddorp to Rotterdam, where Lyondell Chemical Company had originally planned to establish their European headquarters. The company decided that the North American headquarters of LyondellBasell Industries would remain in Houston, where Lyondell had previously held its corporate offices.

Many times the transitional phase of mergers or acquisitions of this size will hamper or delay the execution of growth plans or major projects. As part of its North American Project Database, Industrial Info is currently tracking 30 individual capital and maintenance projects valued at more than $400 million in future spending planned by LyondellBasell in the United States and Canada. Some of the largest future expenditures identified are major plant maintenance turnarounds. Scheduled to occur in early 2010 is a 45-day ethylene unit turnaround at its Chocolate Bayou plant in Alvin, Texas, with a $50 million total investment value. A planned maintenance turnaround of 30 to 45 days at the company's ethylene unit in Morris, Illinois, is also planned for early 2010. A series of other capital projects totaling more than $80 million are planned to take place in Morris at the same time.

As with many mergers and acquisitions, the consolidation of capacity and assets often means the elimination or closure of some operating units or plants. At least two polypropylene unit closures are pending at sites located in Corunna, Ontario, and Morris, Illinois. An elastomers plant employing an estimated 250 people in Grand Prairie, Texas, is expected to close by the end of the year. Earlier this year LyondellBasell closed plants in Varennes, Quebec, and Dunkirk, Maryland, eliminating close to 200 jobs.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.