As managing editor of Dow Chemical Co. and Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP announced this morning that they have signed a deal that would form a joint venture combining their polystyrene and styrene monomer businesses in the Americas.
This is definitely a trend: Nova Chemicals Corp. and Ineos Group announced the same kind of deal in late March.
Dow intends to contribute: a styrene monomer plant (Camacari, Brazil) and six polystyrene plants (Gales Ferry, Connecticut; Ironton, Ohio; Joliet, Il.; Torrance, Calif.; Cartagena, Colombia; and Guaruja, Brazil). Chevron Phillips Chemical intends to contribute a styrene monomer plant (St. James, La.) and a polystyrene plant (Marietta, Ohio).
In semi-related news, Dow came out with a firm denial of the rumors of a leveraged buyout that drove the company's stock up yesterday.