In a ceremony earlier today that featured Governor Yeda Crusius of Rio Grande Do Sul, regional customers and company officials, Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc., officially opened a major resins manufacturing complex in Montenegro to serve the rapidly growing engineered wood products market in southern Brazil.
The plant is strategically located to serve large customer plants in the region that use UF resin in the production of engineered wood panels such as particleboard, interior-grade plywood and medium density fiberboard. These engineered wood materials in turn are used in various applications including the production of furniture, cabinetry and other wood products.
In her remarks, Governor Crusius said, "We are pleased to have Hexion make this significant investment in our region, supporting the rapidly growing forest products industry here and utilizing our highly skilled workforce at the new plant complex."
Hexion's Chairman & CEO Craig Morrison said, "This plant underscores our commitment to the regional forest products industry. We have been operating in Brazil, and more broadly in Latin America since the 1940s, and have deep and strong customer relationships here. This investment positions us to continue to serve as a strategic customer partner and regional market leader well into the future."
Hexion's Brazilian subsidiary, Hexion Quimica Industria e Comercio Ltda., operates the world-scale plant, which has a rated annual capacity of 450,000 metric tons of UF resins. The plant also produces formaldehyde, a basic building block for forest product resin systems, and will have a rated capacity of 150,000 metrics tons for this raw material. The plant employs about 50 associates and 120 contractors.
The plant complex sits on 42 acres of land, including a 3.7 acre preserve of native trees. As part of the project Hexion participated in a reforestation project that planted more than 2,000 native trees on the property, and an additional 400 native trees in the region. In addition, the company also funded an environmental education program that served more than 5,000 children at 23 schools in the area.
The facility includes state of the art environmental and safety protection, with recycling and reuse of waste streams, strict environmental control and monitoring systems. About 35 percent of the $60 million construction cost is related to environmental protection or safety features.
In addition, facility has the latest manufacturing technology enabling it to produce leading-edge resins that meet the highest environmental requirements for low-emitting resins.