Sterling Chemicals, Inc.

Sterling Chemicals, Inc. (Old). Sterling Chemicals, Inc., is a major producer of seven commodity petrochemicals: styrene, acrylonitrile, acetic acid, plasticizers, lactic acid, tertiary butylamine and sodium cyanide, which are used in the manufacture of other goods or in other chemical processes. The company is a major producer of styrene monomer, a clear liquid used in the production of a variety of consumer goods including foam products and housing for kitchen appliances, and is the second largest producer of acrylonitrile, the principal raw material for synthetic fibers. Sterling Chemicals, Inc. also licenses, engineers and oversees construction of large scale generators for the pulp and paper industry to convert sodium chlorate into chlorine dioxide. Petrochemical operations accounted for 86% of fiscal 1995 revenues and pulp chemical operations, 14%.