CHEMICALS

Arco Chemical Plans Facility in Europe: The plant will be built in Rotterdam, Netherlands, with an undisclosed equity partner to produce plastic products. Arco Chemical Co., based in Newton Square, Pa., also said it plans to upgrade its plastic raw materials plant in Channelview, Texas. The Channelview plant and a related project will replace a less efficient unit that produces ethylbenzene, a raw material for plastics. The projects will use up the majority of Arco Chemical’s $2.4-billion capital spending budget over the next five years, spokesman Gerald Davis said. Arco Chemical is 80% owned by Los Angeles-based Atlantic Richfield Co. The projects will increase Arco Chemical’s propylene oxide capacity by 20%, to 4.4 billion pounds a year.