Huntsman Chemical (GB-Carrington M31 4AJ) has announced plans to invest up to $300m in polystyrene manufacturing at its Carrington, UK plant. This could result in capacity being more than doubled by the end of the century. The privately owned US-based chemical company only expanded capacity at Carrington to 125,000 t at the end of 1994 and have long made it clear that they want to further enhance their position in the European market. Unlike most other polystyrene manufacturers who are looking to increase their role in specialities and move away from being a commodity supplier, Huntsman have aggressively gone after the bulk end of the business. The plant at Carrington is run at high utilisation rates with product exported throughout Europe. The further expansion of Huntsman's plant will give the UK an even greater export surplus which currently stands at around 40,000 t.

These investment plans are part of a long term strategy which will aim to double the company's output of polystyrene to 1.2m tonnes by the end of the century with a total investment spend of between $1 bn and $1.5 bn. The company has grown significantly over recent years largely through the acquisition of businesses from other chemical companies. The plant at Carrington was acquired from Shell in the 1980s, whilst in 1993 Huntsman acquired Elf Atochem's expanded polystyrene plant in France. At present Huntsman's capacity in polystyrene is approximately 650,000 t worldwide.