Chexpress - June 25, 2014

North America

Polyethylene units

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP has had its second groundbreaking for its U.S. Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project in Old Ocean, Texas. The construction includes two polyethylene units that will each produce 500,000 metric tons of plastic resin annually. The resin will be used for a variety of products, including new flexible packaging options that extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, as well as the creation of plastic piping, merchandise bags and bottles. In addition to constructing the production facilities, 45 miles of railroad track will be installed to hold and transport the output of these units.

HDPE plant

    

INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA and Sasol Chemicals North America LLC have reached a final investment decision to form a joint venture to build a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in LaPorte, Texas. The 50/50 joint venture will produce 470 kilotons per year of bimodal HDP using technology licensed from INEOS Technologies. The ethylene required for the production of the HDPE will be supplied by INEOS and Sasol in proportion to their respective ownership positions. Plant start-up is expected in 2016.

Facility opens

Entegris Inc. has opened its new i2M Center for Advanced Materials Science in Bedford, Massachusetts. The $55 million facility will serve as the main innovation center for developing filtration and specialty coating technologies used to improve yields in microelectronics manufacturing environments.

World

Specialty esters plant

Oxea’s specialty esters plant in Nanjing, China is now complete and ready for commissioning and start-up. The plant will complement the company’s three existing specialty esters plants in Europe and will boost its global production capacity for specialty esters by 40 percent.

Fire

    

An explosion caused a fire at Caligen Europe’s plastics factory in Breda, The Netherlands. The flames were quickly extinguished and no one was hurt. The blast was in a machine used to make foam.

Oil refinery project

Two consortia from Russia and South Korea have emerged as the final bidders for Uganda’s $2.5 billion refinery after two others from China and Japan were knocked out of the bidding process. The Ministry of Energy said that a consortium led by South Korea’s SK Energy Co. and another led by Russia’s RT-Global Resources have been selected to proceed to the final phase of the bidding process. A bid from China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau did not adequately satisfy all the requirements of tender and a bid from Marubeni Corporation was not evaluated because it lacked a bid bond. The final winner is expected to take up a 60 percent stake in the project as well as develop and operate it. A final winner should be announced by the end of the fourth quarter this year. The facility is planned to process 60,000 bpd. Oil production is expected to begin in 2017 with maximum output expected to be 200,000 barrels.