Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, a global petrochemical producer, has started developing a new technology center under its Integrated Oxides & Derivatives (IOD) business at The Woodlands, Texas. The new facility will be the company’s U.S. research and development hub for new products used in the home, personal and industrial cleaning, agrochemicals, energy, lubricants, mining, and coatings markets.
“IOD is committed to strengthening our innovation platforms and meeting our customers’ market needs," said Alastair Port, IOD president and COO. "Our new facility will be a significant milestone on our ‘future ready’ roadmap and serve as a center of excellence for the development of new niche and sustainability product lines. The Woodlands landscape creates a perfect setting for this investment.”
The world-class IOD business, which was acquired from Huntsman in January 2020, is one of IVL’s three global business segments together with the Fibers and Combined PET segments. IVL continues to invest in IOD research and development to improve product efficacy and processes and support environmental stewardship.
Extensive designing and engineering of the research center will start in coming months, and full occupation is expected in early 2022. It will be a hub for IOD research in the Americas, with links to sister facilities in Australia, India, and China.
The Woodlands facility will also support IVL’s Fibers and PET segments on various sustainability projects. IVL, the world’s biggest maker of fully recyclable PET bottles, is investing USD 1.5 billion to towards its recycling and net zero targets.
