DSM Considers Expansion Options in Louisiana

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). DSM Elastomers America (Addis, Louisiana), a subsidiary of DSM NV (AMSTERDAM NL:00977) (Heerlen, Netherlands) is considering expansion plans for their Addis, Louisiana plant site that will potentially bring a new production unit to the site.

Several years ago DSM began considering the addition of a third production unit for this plant site to produce EP (ethylene propylene) rubber as well as evaluating a project effort titled "Horizon". The plan for Horizon was to perform multiple process upgrades and retrofits including the addition of a finishing line to increase the plants output at the cost of approximately $100 million. Nearly 10% of that was spent before market conditions prompted delays for the project.

Today DSM is evaluating its options for expansion and is working with Jacobs Engineering Group Incorporated (NYSE: JEC) (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) on cost estimates and front-end engineering to determine the best route to meeting market demands that appear to be increasing as the overall economy begins to revitalize.