Exxon Buys Shuttered La. Chemical Site

ExxonMobil has purchased a 94-acre manufacturing site that includes a historic rubber plant — but the company doesn’t plan to restart its operations.

The site is adjacent to Exxon’s chemical facilities in Baton Rouge. A company spokesperson said it will likely be turned into a facility with an emphasis on “safety, operational excellence and corporate citizenship” for the company’s other sites.

Exxon bought the plant from Lion Copolymer for $5.6 million. Lion Copolymer has only owned the facility since May, when it purchased it from East West Copolymer, who shuttered the facility in March after filing for bankruptcy.

Before being shut down, the plant produced styrene butadiene rubber and nitrile butadiene rubber, which are used in a range of products, including tires, cable, shoe soles and more.

The facility, which was launched by the U.S. government in 1943, was one of the first in the world to produce commercial synthetic rubber.