Company News I.C.I.A.N.Z. PLANS

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29865, 4 July 1962, Page 17

Company News I.C.I.A.N.Z. PLANS

New Plant At Botany (N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, July 2. Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand, Ltd., will build new plants costing £2.5m at Botany, New South Wales, to produce e'.hylene oxide and a range of derivatives. The plants, to be completed towards the end of 1983, provide for further expansion when required. Eihyiene oxide, which is not at present manufactured in Australia, is a basic building block for the chemical industry and a versatile raw material used for a large range of processes and products.

The derivatives to be manufactured include nonionic surfactants, ethanolamines, glycols and glycol ethers. They will find outlets as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers and solvents; and will be used for the production of commercial explosives, polyester resins, polyurethane foam and other chemicals.

The ethylene used by the plants will come from the new Clyde plant of Shell Chemical (Australia) Pty., Ltd. Pipeline Shell Chemical alreadv supplies ethylene to the 1.C.1.A.N.Z. polythene plant at Botany by the recently completed 19-mile pipe line. Ethylene oxide will be made available to Shell Chemical (Australia) Ply., Ltd., which is developing plans to manufacture those derivatives in which it is directly interested. Supplies of ethylene oxide will also be available for sale to other users in the Australian market.

Both 1.C.1.A.N.Z. and Shell Chemical (Australia) Pty.. Ltd., will market derivatives produced by the plants to many Australian industries for which they are already the major suppliers for these products. These include the textile, paint, automotive engineering and pharmaceutical industries.

Local production of ethylene oxide and its derivatives will eventually reduce Australia's expenditure on imports by £2m a year.