THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF LOUISIANA 
377 
 
per day each of ammonia and urea and 600 tons per day of nitric acid. Union
Texas Petroleum Division completed a 500-million-pound-per-year ethylene
plant. Borden Chemical Co. completed expansion of a vinyl acetate plant and
neared coinpletion of a methanol plant expansion, raising Borden's methanol
capacity to 160 million gallons per year. Shell Chemical Co. completed plant
facilities for ethylene o,cide and derivatives for use in detergents, paints
and antifreeze, and a plant to produce primary alcohols used in manufacturing
soft detergents. 
 In the Baton Rouge area, Copolymer Rubber and Chemical Corp. completed a
25,000-long-ton-per-year solution polymer rubber facility. Enjay Chemical
Co. completed a 50-million-gallon-per-year benzene plant, expanded an ethylene
plant and a butadiene plant, and began constructing a 200-milllion-pound-per-year
polypropylene plant. Allied Chemical Corp. announced plans to build a 500-million-pound-peryear
vinyl chloride monomer plant at Baton Rouge to utilize feedstocks from the
plant at Geismar. The new plant will he adjacent to Allied's industrial chemical
plant and the plastic plant. At Carville, Cos-Mar, Inc., a joint venture
of Cosden Oil & Chemical Co. and Mai~bon Chemical, approached completion
of a 500million-pound-per-year styrene monomer plant. Hercules, Inc., was
building an 80million-gallon-per-year-methanol plant in Iberville Parish,
just south of Plaquemine. 
 In the New Orleans area, Shell Chemical Co. completed a 500-million-poundper-year
ethylene plant. American Cyanamid Co. completed a 48-million-poundper-year
methyl methacrylate monomer plant expansion at Avondale. Gulf Oil Corp. completed
a 600-ton-per-day urea plant at* Donaidsonville, continued work on a 1,000-ton-per-day
ammonia plant, and began constructing an 80-milliongallon-per-year methanol
plant. In the same area, Central Farmers Fertilizer Co. was building a 1,000-ton-per-day
ammonia plant, as was Nitrogen, Inc. At its Taft complex, Union Carbide Corp.
completed a caprolactam plant, peracetic acid plant, glyoxal plant, acrylic
acid and esters plant, a 250-million-pound-per-year polyethylene plant (the
first stage of a 500-millionpound-per-year plant) and a 100-milliongallon-per-year
benzene plant. Tenneco Oil Co. was constructing a new aromatics 
and paraxylene plant at Chalmette and expanding its orthoxylene plant. 
 In the Lake Charles area, Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. completed a 150-millionpound-per-year
vinyl chloride plant. Calcasieu Chemical Corp. expanded ethylene glycol capacity
to more than 20million gallons per year. Continental Oil Co. completed a
high-purity olefIns plant with a 500-million-pound-per-year capacity and,
in a joint venture with Stauffer Chemical Co., continued construction of
a 600-million-pound-per-year vinyl chloride plant. Columbian Carbon Co. completed
a 60- to 80-million-pound-per-year polyethylene plant. Petroleum Chemicals,
Inc., a subsidiary of Columbian Carbon Co., completed a 25-million-pound-per-year
cyclic chemicals plant, the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.
Cities Service Petroleum Co. completed a paraxylene unit and a benzene plant.
Hercules, Inc., was expanding polypropylene capacity by 30 million pounds
per year. 
 In northeastern Louisiana, Commercial Solvents Corp. completed a 1,000-tonper-day
ammonia plant and planned to build a 100-million-gallon-per-day methanol
plant. 
 
NONMETALS 
 
 Value of nonmetals produced in 1967 was $262 million or 6.6 percent of total
mineral value, and an increase of 20 percent over the 1966 total. Combined
value of construction materials (clay, lime, cement, gypsum, sand and gravel,
and stone or shell) gained 7.3 percent. 
 
 Barite.—Crude barite, principally from Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri,
and various foreign countries, was crushed and ground in three plants at
New Orleans and in one at Lake Charles. Output was used mainly as a weighting
agent in oil well drilling fluids. Production was down 4 percent from 1966.

 
 Cement.—Portland cement was produced at four Lousiana plants—one
near Lake Charles, one at Baton Rouge, and two at New Orleans. Production
was 2 percent higher than in 1966. Ready-mix concrete companies were the
chief consumers, followed by highway contractors, concrete products manufacturers,
and other contractors. 
 The Lone Star Cement Corp. in late 1967 announced the closing of four cc-