Carbon Black Producer Plans Investments for Canadian Plant

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Cancarb Limited (Medicine Hat, Alberta), a subsidiary of TransCanada Pipelines Limited (Calgary, Alberta) is currently in the process of upgrading pelletizers and material handling upgrades in some of the plant's older production units at their Medicine Hat plant (Plant 1027449). Latter this year, Cancarb expects to begin construction of a major dust collection system (PEC 56000794) that will be tied into an existing stack to reduce particulate emissions in compliance with local regulatory requirements.

Cancarb has aggressively invested in growth projects at the Medicine Hat plant, even as they, and their competitors to the South, felt the pinch of rising energy costs and market conditions were less than attractive. The two original units in the plant were built in 1971, and a fifth production unit was added to the site in the summer of 2000. A sixth production unit (PEC 56000723) is now being considered and that project could begin construction in the summer of 2005, if market conditions continue to improve. Cancarb also independently produces 53 megawatts of electricity at the site with a Siemens steam turbine that was installed only a couple of years ago.

Recent strength in this market segment is fueling plans by carbon black producers using non-traditional technologies, such as those identified in this previously reported IIR Industry Alert: Success of Planned Unisphere Waste Tire to Carbon Black Plant in New Brunswick Could Lead to the Development of Several Similar Plants in North America.