RHODIACO/PTA EXPANSION

completed

SUMMARY OF PROJECT INFORMATION (SPI)Project Name Brazil-Rhodiaco Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) Expansion Project Region Latin America and CaribbeanSector IndustryProject No. 004777Projected Board Date June 29, 1995Company Name Rhodiaco Industrias Quimicas Ltda. (Rhodiaco)Technical Partner and/or Major Shareholders Sponsors: Rhodia-Ster S.A. (a joint venture between Rhodia S.A. (Rhodia), the Brazilian arm of Rhone-Poulenc S.A. of France and Excel Industrias e Participacoes S.A. of Brazil) and Amoco Chemical Company (Amoco) of the U.S. Rhodiaco is a joint venture between Amoco do Brasil Ltda., Propex Ltda., (wholly-owned subsidiaries of Amoco) and Rhodia-Ster S.A.Project Cost including proposed IFC investment US$84.2 million of which US$30.0 million for IFC A Loan and US$30 million for IFC B LoanLocation of project and Description of site Rhodiaco''s plant is located within Rhodia''s industrial complex in Sao Paulo state in southeast Brazil, about 10 km from Paulinia. Description of Company and Purpose of Project Rhodiaco, the sole producer of PTA in Brazil and the surrounding region, was incorporated in 1970 and commenced operations 1977. Continuing increases in the demand for PTA led to Rhodiaco undertaking successive debottlenecking operations, resulting in current production capacity of 110,000 tpy. The Project involves the expansion in the production capacity of Rhodiaco''s existing PTA plant to 230,000 tpy. Environmental Categories and Issues This is a category B project according to IFC''s environmental review procedure. Environmental and occupational and health issues associated with this project include air emissions, liquid effluent, catalyst, recovery and recycling, plant safety and emergency response, and training of employees. As part of the expansion program, Rhodiaco will adopt new air emission control systems and obtain closer control of operations. In addition, the project includes a new solvent recovery tower. The wastewater treatment facility at the plant will be expanded and designed for 40 mg BOD/liter. A new catalyst recovery unit will be installed and the recovered catalyst will be returned to the process. An emergency plan has been prepared for the facility and the facility has its own fire brigade. Employees are regularly trained in safety procedures and special training for all employees will be conducted prior to start-up of the expansion plant. IFC will ensure ongoing compliance with World Bank guidelines during the life of the project by evaluating monitoring reports submitted annually to IFC by Rhodiaco and by conducting periodic supervision.The Environmental Review Summary is expected to be available on or about June 20, 1995 from the Public Information Center. Host country location of environmental documents: Rhodiaco.Date SPI sent to PIC May 31, 1995For additional Information contact: Corporate Relations Unit - telephone (202) 473-7711 - facsimile: (202) 676-0365.Environmental documents for this project are available at http://www.ifc.org and from the World Bank InfoShop (http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/aboutinfo.html).