Sekisui Chemical buys the Celanese PVOH business

The Japanese company, Sekisui Chemical has agreed to buy the Celanes PVOH (polyvinyl alcohol) business for USD 173 mio.  

The business has sales of around USD300 mio and includes assets in Calvert City, Texas, Tarragona, Spain and the Houston, Texas technology centre.  Celeanese had bought this business from Air Products in 2000 for USD326 mio and later added the Acetex business in 2005.

The agreement with Celanese apparently includes a deal for the long supply of vinyl acetate (PVOH raw material) by Celanese to Sekisui. 

Celanese restructures PVOH and emulsion polymer business

Celanese announced it will restructure its PVOH and emulsion polymer business in North America and Europe. This includes restructuring and aligning manufacturing and R&D to ensure sustainable profitability. Structural and capacity utilisation improvements are expected to be realised over the next 18 months.