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Thursday, March 23, 2000
Celanese adds plastics unit
Bishop plant expansion means jobs
By Andrea Jares
Caller-Times
Celanese AG is adding a new $33 million unit to its plastics operations in Bishop, a move that will double the amount of high-density plastic the company produces.
Celanese's Bishop plant won the operation in a competition among other Celanese plants as well as other plastics-producing facilities in North America, said Darrell Nordeen, Celanese-Bishop plant manager.
The unit will produce a heavy, high-density plastic called granulated ultra-high molecular resin, or GUR, that is ideal for creating precise shapes and in applications where sliding is involved, such as skis and replacement hip joints. The unit will bring more than 35 permanent jobs and 150 construction jobs to the area, Nordeen said.
Money to build the facility is expected to come from Celanese around June, Nordeen said. That's when engineers will plan the project for construction, which is scheduled to begin in January 2001. The construction is expected to take a year, with operations beginning in 2002, he said.
The plant will produce 66 million pounds of GUR a year. When the unit is completed, it will produce half of the global production capacity of GUR for Ticona Polymers Inc., the plastics division of Celanese AG.
The plant is expected to dovetail with the current plastic-producing units at the plant, Nordeen said.
The GUR unit means more, higher-paying jobs for the region and says the area is ideal for economic growth, said Dick Messbarger, executive director of the Greater Kingsville Economic Development Council. "I think it sends a strong message to those who are looking at our region," he said. "I like it for a lot of different reasons; it demonstrates that this plant is very, very competitive."
The plant also will circulate new money from outside of the area, Messbarger said.
"Everyone benefits from industrial expansion," he said. "These are the kinds of jobs that fuel the rest of the economy."
A tax abatement approved by the Nueces County Commissioners Court tipped the scales in favor of the Bishop plant, Nordeen said. The abatement calls for no taxes to be paid on the development during construction and half of the taxes paid on the unit for the next four years after that, he said.
Nordeen said the plant's competitive cost outline for the project and safety track record also helped win the new unit.
Business writer Andrea Jares can be reached at 886-3678 or by e-mail at jaresa@caller.com
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