Ineos Styrolution to shut down Canadian styrene plant by 2026

Styrenics producer Ineos Styrolution has announced plans to permanently shut down its 430,000 tonne/year styrene monomer production facility in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, by June 2026. The company said that economic conditions were a deciding factor, stating that the decision is unrelated to regulatory orders pertaining to emissions that have prevented the site from operating.

In April this year the site was temporarily shut down due to benzene emissions, following pressure from both the provincial and federal governments. The company has previously said that it “detected no emissions exceeding the prescribed limits.”

The government has introduced limits that would cap the Ineos plant’s average benzene emissions at 4.5 micrograms per cu m (ug/m3) annually, and one-hour average limits at 90 micrograms per cu m. The 4.5 annual limit is actually ten times higher than the province’s current yearly average limits for benzene, which are set at 0.45 ug/m3.

Benzene is a byproduct of the fuel refining process that Ineos uses to produce styrene.

Ineos has said the federal and provincial environment ministries are demanding unsafe timelines that would contribute to higher emissions.

“We will not jeopardize the safety of our employees, neighbours, and community,” the company said in a statement. “Despite our history of compliance, our company is being relentlessly targeted by Canadian government agencies.”

The Sarnia styrene facility was built by the Canadian Polymer Crown company in 1943 with a capacity of 50 million lbs/year. Over the years, the site continued to expand its footprint under different ownership structures to ultimately be wholly owned by Ineos in 2014. The site has a nameplate capacity of 430 kilotonnes/year of styrene monomer and employs 80 employees and a large number of contractors.

Ineos’s CEO Steve Harrington said, “This difficult business decision to permanently close our Sarnia site was made following a lengthy evaluation process and is based on the economics of the facility within a wider industry context. The long-term prospects for the Sarnia site have worsened to the point that it is no longer an economically viable operating asset.”

He added, “The production site in Sarnia is currently shut down due to recent orders from regulatory authorities that forced us to declare force majeure. We are currently assessing what is required to restart the site—a process that could take approximately six months.”

“Our decision to permanently close the Sarnia site by June 2026 is irrespective of the current situation. The economic reality is that we have made significant investments in the Sarnia site for many years to ensure safe and reliable operations. Additional large investments that are unrelated to the potential costs of restarting operations would be necessary in the near future. Such investments would be economically impractical given today’s challenging industry environment,” Harrington continued.

Ineos Styrolution adds that it understands the uncertainty the current temporary shutdown has presented for its Sarnia stakeholders and appreciates the patience of its employees, contractors, customers, and partners. Looking ahead, the company says it will work closely with all necessary parties to complete an orderly wind-down process and a permanent closure of the site in a safe, responsible, and compliant manner.

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