Rohm And Haas To Form Monomer Joint Venture With Stockhausen

Rohm and Haas Co. (Philadelphia) and Stockhausen GmbH & Co. KG (Krefeld, Germany), a wholly owned subsidiary of Degussa-Huls AG, will form a global partnership to manufacture acrylic acid. The 50/50 joint venture will be fully operational by the end of 2000, with a combined manufacturing capacity of 330,000 metric tons per year.

Rohm and Haas will also acquire Stockhausen's merchant monomer business in Europe. Financial details of the venture were not disclosed. The companies will apply for all appropriate regulatory approvals.

Acrylic acid is an essential building block material for products made by both companies. Rohm and Haas uses acrylic acid and its derivatives in products such as paints, coatings, adhesives, and plastics. Stockhausen uses glacial acrylic acid to manufacture superabsorbent materials used in baby diapers and personal care products.

Under the planned venture, Rohm and Haas will share 165,000 metric tons of its Deer Park, TX, acrylic acid manufacturing capacity. Stockhausen will share 90,000 metric tons of its existing acrylic acid capacity in Marl, Germany. An additional 75,000 metric tons of production capacity, presently under construction, will come on-stream before the end of 2000 in Marl.

The two companies intend to add more than 100,000 metric tons of new acrylic acid capacity at Marl before the end of 2003. In addition, Rohm and Haas will build a world-scale butyl acrylate plant there to serve the European market. The companies may also increase their acrylic acid capacity in Brazil.

Rohm and Haas is a specialty chemical company that makes products found in decorative and industrial paints, semiconductors, personal care items, and water purification systems. After Rohm and Haas completes its acquisition of Morton International (Chicago) in June 1999, the company will report annual sales of approximately US $6.5 billion.

Stockhausen is a producer of absorbent polymers used in the personal care, packaging, horticulture, landscaping, and forestry industries. Stockhausen also produces water-treatment polymers, textile auxiliaries, and skin-care products. In 1998, Stockhausen reported annual sales of US $600 million.

For more information, call Laura Hadden of Rohm and Haas at 215-592-3054.