Huntsman misses debt payments.(Brief Article)

Plastics News, December, 2001 by Esposito, Frank

Hit by a nine-month loss of $175 million in its polyethylene and polypropylene businesses, Huntsman Polymers Corp. was unable to make an interest payment on its corporate debt on Dec. 1. Its parent firm, Huntsman Corp., expects to miss a similar payment Jan. 1. Huntsman Corp. spokesman Don Olsen declined to reveal the amount of the payments the firm would miss.

Total corporate debt for Salt Lake City-based Huntsman and its various units is estimated at $2.2 billion. ``It's been a difficult year, no question about it,'' Olsen said. ``But [missing the payments] won't have any effect on our ongoing cost-reduction program, which is more than halfway done.'' Huntsman is working to restructure its corporate debt. The firm obtained up to $150 million in new...