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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE [Docket 49-96) Foreign-Trade Zone 181--Akron-Canton, OH; Application for Subzone Status Ashland Inc. (Oil Refinery Complex) Stark and Allen Counties, OHAn application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) by the Akron-Canton Regional Airport Authority, grantee of FTZ 181, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the oil refinery complex of Ashland Inc., located at sites in Stark and Allen Counties, Ohio. The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of the Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and the regulations of the Board (15 CFR part 400). It was formally filed on June 4, 1996.
The refinery complex (227 employees) consists of 2 sites and connecting pipelines in northern Ohio: Site 1 (160 acres)--main refinery complex (73,000 BPD capacity) located at 2408 Gambrinus SW, Stark County, 2 miles southwest of Canton; Site 2 (112 acres)--Ashland Pipe Line Co. crude oil terminal (12 tanks with 1 million barrel capacity) located at 575 Buckeye Road, Allen County, south of the city of Lima. The refinery, terminal and pipelines operate as an integrated refinery complex.
The refinery complex is used to produce fuels and petrochemical feedstocks. Fuels produced include gasoline, jet fuel, distillates, diesel fuel, fuel oil and kerosene. Petrochemical feedstocks and refinery by-products include propane, propylene, sulfur and asphalt. About 35 percent of the crude oil (96 percent of inputs), and some feedstocks and motor fuel blendstocks used in producing fuel products are sourced abroad.
Zone procedures would exempt the operations involved from Customs duty payments on the foreign products used in its exports. On domestic sales, the company would be able to choose the finished product duty rate (nonprivileged foreign status--NPF) on certain petrochemical feedstocks and refinery by-products (duty-free) instead of the duty rates that would otherwise apply to the foreign-sourced inputs (e.g., crude oil, natural gas condensate). The duty rates on inputs ranges from 5.25 cents/barrel to 10.5 cents/barrel. Foreign merchandise would also be exempt from state and local ad valorem taxes. The application indicates that the savings from zone procedures would help improve the refinery's international competitiveness.
In accordance with the Board's regulations, a member of the FTZ Staff has been designated examiner to investigate the application and report to the Board.
Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions (original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is August 12, 1996. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15- day period (to August 26, 1996).
A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be available for public inspection at each of the following locations:
U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center, Bank One Center, Suite 700, 600 Superior Ave., East, Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 3716, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230
Dated: June 4, 1996. John J. Da Ponte, Jr., Executive Secretary. [FR Doc. 96-14745 Filed 6-10-96; 8:45 am]