In 1998, the plant was transferred to Equilon Enterprises, the joint venture between Texaco and Shell. In 1999, Frontier purchased the plant from Equilon. In January 2001, Sunoco acquired Aristech. Exports are believed to be small, if existent. AMS does not have a serious competitor in these niche uses, and its largest application, in ABS resins, shows little sign of weakening.
ABS resins themselves are something of a high-end market and represent the biggest specialty resin.
There is no apparent weakness at this time. AMS supply is tied to phenol production from cumene. Because it can be recycled within this process, the amount of AMS produced can be varied, and this means that supply is generally well balanced with demand. In the production of ABS resins, AMS will grow about 3 percent annually. PCP has been growing at more than 10 percent and will continue growing in the double digits.