In 1989, KMCO purchased 30 acres of undeveloped land from Chevron. The site, located on the Intercoastal Waterway (Texas) across from Texaco Island in Port Arthur, was targeted for commercial continuous distillation for the Fortune 100 chemical companies. The initial construction phase continued until 1992 and soon after the first commercial run was made. In 1994, KMTEX began operating the site to market custom distillation services for speciality chemicals, petrochemicals, food grade chemicals, agricultural chemicals, and oleochemicals. In 1996, KMTEX purchased an additional 12 acres to increase rail siding. Since then, KMTEX has grown significantly and continues to expand plant and equipment capacity to meet customer demand.