Eastman Chemical to invest $100M in S. Carolina facility

Eastman Chemical Company announced it is continuing capital investments of approximately $100 million to transform and reinvest in its Calhoun County, S.C., facility.

Supporting previously announced strategic growth efforts for both specialty copolyesters and polyethylene teraphthalate (PET) product lines, the company disclosed this expenditure encompassing a number of projects. Projects include the conversion of an existing polymer line to add specialty copolyester production to the site, transformation from dimethyl teraphthalate (DMT) to purified terephthalic acid (PTA) production to create an integrated PTA-based polymer site, and infrastructure investments. Also included are projects aimed at increasing the capacity of the site's IntegRex technology polymer production by at least 50 percent. The projects are currently under way and expected to be completed in 2008.

"These investments will be used for a variety of projects including the important work of upgrading our infrastructure," said Gregory O. Nelson, executive vice president and head of Eastman's polymers business group. "They will also allow us to continue the transformation of our South Carolina site through the expansion of specialty copolyester manufacturing there as well as fuel strategic growth for the company by extending the use of our proprietary IntegRex technology."

Commenting on the importance of these investments to the company's specialty copolyesters business in particular, Dante Rutstrom, vice president and general manager of Eastman's specialty plastics business, said, "Eastman is dedicated to efficiently serving the needs of our customers in the global copolyester market. The additional capacity and flexibility the expansions will give us are a clear demonstration of our commitment to this business and to growing with our specialty copolyester customers."

Nelson noted the site began operation in 1967 as a manufacturer of polyester textile fibers. During the early 1980s, the site became one of the earliest producers of PET resin for carbonated soft drink bottles. In the late 1980s, the site ceased fiber production and was fully converted to the manufacture of PET resin for packaging applications. The site remains one of the world's largest PET resin manufacturing facilities.

"It's appropriate that we're beginning these projects during the 40th anniversary of our South Carolina Operations. As we're celebrating the site's history, these investments are about its future," Nelson said.