One of Rhodia's 25,000-ton units in Baton Rouge, La., was sold to PVS and relocated to Chicago. PVS subsequently expanded that plant to 40,000 tons. Rhodia was formed earlier that year through a merger of Rhone-Poulenc's chemicals and fibers and polymers business units. Marsulex, the leading North American marketer of SO2, bought Intertrade Holdings, which still operates under its original name. Calabrian Corporation started up a 25,000-ton plant in Port Neches, Tex., bringing its total capacity for liquid sulfur dioxide to 50,000 tons.
Exports are negligible.
In 1997, demand was unexpectedly low, perhaps because of the substitution of merchant material with product made on-site. The merchant market applications for SO2 are diverse. Although the market has been stagnant over the past decade because those applications are mature, they are expected to remain steady. After the restructuring of 1998, industry capacity is more than adequate to meet foreseeable needs. The main raw material for SO2, sulfur, is long and faces low pricing.