Huntsman and LyondellBasell join forces to produce hand sanitizer in US

Huntsman Corporation has begun producing hand sanitizer at its manufacturing site in McIntosh, Alabama, for distribution to health care facilities in the US. The move follows the company’s earlier announcement that it would begin making hydro alcoholic solution to produce hand sanitizer in Switzerland.

The Alabama site typically produces high-performance specialty chemicals used in aerospace and other industries. After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published temporary guidelines permitting Huntsman to produce hand sanitizer at the site, the company quickly mobilized to develop a manufacturing process to produce the sanitizer.

Huntsman does not produce isopropyl alcohol (IPA), a key ingredient in hand sanitizers, so turned to LyondellBasell for supply of that raw material. LyondellBasell agreed to donate the IPA needed to produce the first shipment.

Huntsman is producing hand sanitizer in the US to battle COVID-19.

Huntsman will donate free of charge the first 5-ton shipment of hand sanitizer to Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) and the associated medical facilities at the University of Utah to help protect health care workers treating COVID-19 patients.

Peter Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO of Huntsman Corporation, said, “We thank the FDA for moving swiftly to issue the temporary guidelines that have enabled us to fast-track our production and distribution of much-needed hand sanitizer in the US”

LyondellBasell CEO Bob Patel added, “This is a critical time where the public and private sectors can work hand-in-hand to help safeguard our health care workers. We are proud to have played a role in the fight against this pandemic.”