Some production is from swing capacity, which can be used to produce either ABS or polystyrene.
Almost all of the ABS produced is for the merchant market. Last year, Bayer closed its plant in Muscatine, Iowa, removing 160 million pounds from the market, but additional capacity is expected to go into the Addyston, Ohio, plant. Diamond Polymers' expansion to 50 million pounds was completed last year. Dow's plant in Torrance, Calif., with a capacity of 40 million pounds, is currently running polystyrene because of market conditions. In 1998, GE Plastics added 100 million pounds of new capacity to its site in Ottawa, Ill., while cutting capacity by 120 million pounds at Washington, W.Va.