News

Röhm and OQ break ground on Texas MMA Plant

28.10.2022 - Together with compatriot project partner OQ Chemicals, Germany’s Röhm has broken ground on a new world-scale methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant it is building at OQ Chemicals’ Bay City, Texas site.

The new 250,000 t/y facility is due to go on stream in 2024, as the first to use the Darmstadt-headquartered acrylic specialist’s proprietary LiMA (Leading in Methacrylates) technology. It will be backed up with key raw materials supplied by its Oberhausen-based partner, which will also provide with site services and utilities.

OQ Chemicals, the former Oxea, said it has invested “significantly” in additional capacity for propionaldehyde and local infrastructure to support the plant. This will be Röhm’s second MMA production facility on the US Gulf coast – the other is in Louisiana.

With the LiMA plant, Röhm will strengthen its technological competence and further expand its leading market position in methacrylates, said Ron Ayles, managing partner at Advent International, the private equity group that owns Röhm.  

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist