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Battery chemicals producer Orion breaks ground on plant near Houston

By Jishnu Nair – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Apr 9, 2024

Orion S.A. (NYSE: OEC), a specialty chemicals company formerly known as Orion Engineered Carbons, has broken ground on a new plant near Houston to manufacture battery ingredients.

The company, which is incorporated in Luxembourg but has its principal offices in Spring, began construction on its second plant producing acetylene-based conductive additives on April 9. When Orion announced the plant in 2022, the company said it would invest between $120 million to $140 million into the facility, which will be the first of its kind in the U.S. Orion is the sole producer of acetylene-based conductive additives in the Western Hemisphere, according to the company.

The plant will produce 12 kilotons of additives per year after operations begin in 2025. A spokesperson told the Houston Business Journal that the facility would quadruple the company’s existing production capacity following the opening of an earlier plant in France.

A neighboring site owned by Equistar Chemicals LP, a subsidiary of LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE: LYB), will supply the acetylene, a colorless gas widely used as a chemical building block. LyondellBasell supplies Orion's similar plant in France as well.

Orion confirmed to the HBJ that the plant will employ 30 to 40 people at full capacity. The company was unable to disclose the size of the facility but said Australia-based Worley, which has its main U.S. office in Houston, was contracted for engineering work.

“Orion is already the sole producer of acetylene-based conductive additives in Europe,” Orion CEO Corning Painter said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “Our plant in La Porte will be a pivotal step toward strengthening the regional supply of conductive additives in the rapidly growing U.S. battery market.”