INEOS Sets Up Two More Sanitizer Production Units in the U.S.

British petrochemicals giant, INEOS has built two new hand sanitizer plants in the Unites States in its bid against COVID-19 pandemic. The facilities located in Jacksonville and Neville Island in Pennsylvania will provide hand sanitizers to hospitals for free. The plants would be capable of producing 1 million bottles of hand sanitizer each month to prevent nationwide shortage of the commodity. With more than 1.29 million confirmed cases, as on Friday, 8^th May, the country is facing acute shortage of hand sanitizers. INEOS has already built hand sanitizer facilities in the Germany, UK, and France which are supplying around 4 million bottles across Europe. Many other chemical players have started producing hand sanitizers to aid the country in its battle against COVID-19. These include Shell, ExxonMobil, PPG, Axalta, BASF, PPG, Lanxess and several others. Production at the Jacksonville plant started this week and is already producing 3,600 gallons per day of sanitizer which will be distributed to all the hospitals located in COVID hotspot states across the country. INEOS has assured that the sanitizers produced would match the WHO specifications, specifically set to kill bacteria and viruses. Apart from that, the company has already ramped up productions of the key chemicals used for medical purposes. One such chemical is Acetonitrile, which is used essentially in pharmaceutical analysis and is under “Critical to ensure National Resilience” list of products, declared by the US Department of Homeland Security.