Huntsman Corporation today announced the start of commercial operation of a new methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) splitter at its Geismar site in Louisiana. The $180 million splitter gives Huntsman the ability to produce more high value, differentiated grades from the crude MDI manufactured at the plant, thereby enabling growth in key customer applications. 

“The new splitter reinforces our strategy of delivering value over volume by creating a more differentiated product portfolio,” said Tony Hankins, President of Huntsman’s Polyurethanes division. “It enables us to provide our customers in automotive, furniture, construction, adhesives and coatings markets with more options for innovative, sustainable polyurethanes products.” 

The completion of the MDI splitter project was celebrated at a special event on Wednesday, July 13, at the Geismar facility hosted by Huntsman Chairman, President and CEO, Peter Huntsman. Guests included Attorney General of Louisiana Jeff Landry, local officials, key customers, suppliers, members of Huntsman’s senior leadership team, and Geismar employees.

Speaking at the event, Jan Buberl, Polyurethanes’ Vice President for the Americas region said “Our new splitter bridges the gap between our upstream MDI manufacturing assets and the downstream needs of our customers – both domestic and international. Our mission is to deliver what our customers need to help them innovate and grow. This investment will strengthen our ability to meet, and exceed, those expectations.”

Mark Dearman, Site Leader at Geismar, recognized the hard work of the many people associated with the project. “Our thanks go to our construction partners, suppliers and every associate and contractor involved in the new splitter,” he said. “Even without factoring in the additional health and safety measures we needed to put in place for COVID, and the extreme weather events such as Hurricane Ida, the construction of a new splitter is a major undertaking. The project was completed on time, incident free, demonstrating Huntsman’s focus and commitment to safe working practices.”

About Huntsman:

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2021 revenues of approximately $8 billion. Our chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets. We operate more than 70 manufacturing, R&D and operations facilities in approximately 30 countries and employ approximately 9,000 associates within our four distinct business divisions. For more information about Huntsman, please visit the company's website at www.huntsman.com.

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