Cornerstone Chemical

Acid Plant Database February 6, 2012

Owner	Cornerstone Chemical Company
Location	10800 River Road Westwego, Louisiana USA 70094
Background	Formerly American Cyanamid Company Cytec Industries Inc. 1991 - American Cyanamid consolidates its chemical business into a separate division called Cytec Industries based on West Patterson, New Jersey. 1993 - Cytec sold to its shareholders 2011 - Affiliate of H.I.G. Capital purchases the Building Block Chemicals division of Cytec Industries and renames the company Cornerstone Chemical Company
Website	www.cornerstonechemco.com
Plant	Fortier Manufacturing Complex
Coordinates*	29º 57' 44" N, 90º 16' 21" W
Type of Plant	Acid Regeneration
Gas Source	Spent MMA Acid
Plant Capacity	960 MTPD
SA/DA	DA
Emissions	-
Status	Operating
Year Built	1978
Technology	MECS
Contractor	-
Remarks	1993 - Plant converted from a sulphur burning to waste acid regeneration plant to support their MMA plant.
Permits	Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
	Permit No.	Issue Date	Expiry Date	Details
	PSD-LA-2	May 25, 1976	-	-
	PSD-LA-575 (M-1)	December 5, 1994	-	-
	594-V0	April 28, 2005	-	-
	594-V1	March 27, 2007	-	-
	PSD - Prevention of Significant Deterioration
Pictures
General	The Fortier Complex is an 800-acre, continuous process facility located just outside of New Orleans on the mighty Mississippi River. The site employs more than 420 persons in maintenance, administration, and six operating units, and has a proven, 50-year tradition of manufacturing excellence. Fortier manufactures high quality products shipped around the globe, including acrylonitrile, melamine, and sulfuric acid/oleum. These products are used in a variety of everyday applications, including recreation (CD players, fishing rods), automobiles (tires, headlight lenses, batteries), homes (dishware, countertops, plastic piping), clothing (acrylic fibers), and flame retardants.
References	-
News	February 28, 2011 - H.I.G. Capital, LLC, a leading global private investment firm, announced today that an affiliate has completed the previously announced purchase of the Building Block Chemicals (“BBC”) division of Cytec Industries Inc (NYSE: CYT). Based outside of New Orleans, BBC is a leading manufacturer of melamine, acrylonitrile and sulfuric acid, which are key intermediate chemicals critical for the manufacturing of a broad array of products used in water treatment, oil recovery, agriculture, plastics, furniture, flooring and performance coatings. The business will be rebranded and operate under the name, “Cornerstone Chemical Company.” January 31, 2011 - Cytec Industries has reached an agreement to sell its building block chemicals business to an affiliate of H.I.G. Capital for $180 million. The purchase is the third chemical acquisition in recent years for the Miami-based private equity firm. The main asset of the building block chemicals business is a plant in Fortier, La., that manufactures melamine, acrylonitrile, and sulfuric acid. The business had sales last year of $600 million. Cytec says it decided in the fourth quarter of last year to divest the business. CEO Shane Fleming says the sale will allow Cytec to "put more attention and resources on our core growth platforms of engineered materials, in-process separations, and waterborne and radcure [radiation cured] coating resins." The sale will come at a cost to Cytec. Although the building block chemicals business mainly serves the merchant market, it does supply Cytec with melamine to make melamine resins and acrylonitrile to make carbon fiber. Cytec expects having to buy these chemicals at their current high prices will reduce its earnings this year by about 15 cents per share. Laurence Alexander, a stock analyst at Jefferies & Co. noted in a report to clients that building block chemicals has historically been one of Cytec's most volatile businesses. Although sales last year were $600 million, they averaged $336 million over the past 10 years. And earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization were about $59 million last year, compared to $37 million over the past 10 years, Alexander said. For its part, H.I.G. is developing a small stable of chemical businesses. In 2008, it purchased two Illinois-based firms: a Croda oleochemicals business and the surfactants maker Petroferm. Last year, the oleochemical business, renamed Vantage Specialty Chemicals, invested in Lipo Chemicals, a supplier of ingredients to the personal care industry.

MTPD - Metric Tonne per Day STPD - Short Ton per Day
MTPA - Metric Tonne per Annum STPA - Short Ton per Annum
SA - Single Absorption
DA - Double Absorption

* Coordinates can be used to locate plant on Google Earth


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