ExxonMobil said it will spend $100 million at its Baton Rouge chemical plant so the facility can produce ultra-pure isopropyl alcohol, which is used to make the advanced computer chips that power artificial intelligence and data centers.
The work is expected to create 45 construction jobs, ExxonMobil officials said. Work will begin this year and the plant is expected to begin production in 2027.
Baton Rouge is home of the largest isopropyl alcohol manufacturing facility in the world. ExxonMobil has produced the antiseptic at the plant for more than 80 years, said Kate Lightfoot, manager of the chemical plant.
“With this investment, we’re enhancing one of our legacy chemical products to meet growing demand in the tech industry,” Lightfoot said.
The standard isopropyl alcohol found in consumer products such household cleaners, sanitizers and medical-grade sterilizers is 99.9% pure. The industrial isopropyl alcohol that has been manufactured at the plant for more than 30 years and was used in microchips, semiconductors and consumer electronics is 99.99% pure.
The new product will be 99.999% pure isopropyl alcohol. Manufacturers need the ultra-pure product to clean delicate, tiny computer chip parts before assembly. ExxonMobil officials said the extreme purity is needed because some of the chips are so small that 150,000 would fit across a single grain of salt.
ExxonMobil has talked about producing ultra-pure isopropyl alcohol at the Baton Rouge plant since 2023. Officials said the interest in the unit was sparked by the CHIPS and Science Act, federal legislation that was enacted in 2022 to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.
ExxonMobil has agreed to dedicate sales and use taxes generated from the alcohol manufacturing facility to address blight in the neighborhoods surrounding the plant. The expansion and another proposal to establish an advanced plastics recycling facility at ExxonMobil have received property tax breaks totaling $8.6 million under the Industrial Tax Exemption Program.
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