US chemicals firm ExxonMobil Chemical has acquired synthetic rubber maker Lion Copolymer Services’s facility, which is located adjacent to its Baton Rouge facility, for US$5.6 million. The sale includes three tracts of land spanning 94 acres.
Lion Copolymer, which purchased the plant from East West Copolymer in May this year, decommissioned the plant and it remain idled while it evaluated its strategic options.
East West, a synthetic rubber manufacturer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing liabilities that ranged up to US$50 million, and a federal bankruptcy court approved the sale of the plant in May. According to East West, the plant was initially profitable, but due to the competitive market for rubber and other synthetic polymers, it started showing losses.
According to reports, ExxonMobil will not continue current production operations at the plant and has no immediate plans for new projects at the facility.
The plant began operations in 1943 and was built by the US government during World War II.