APLA ’06: Chile projects delayed but still viable

14 November 2006 16:27  [Source: ICIS news]

RIO DE JANEIRO (ICIS news)--Projects to add polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) capacity in Chile have fallen behind schedule but remain on the agenda, a Petroquim executive said on Tuesday.

The plants will be in the Talcahuano area of Chile and are scheduled to start up in 2011, said Petroquim commercial manager Alfonso Silva at the 26th annual meeting of the Asociacion Petroquim y Quimica Latinoamericana (APLA) in Rio de Janeiro.

The first project is a 400,000 tonnes/year linear-low-density and high-density polyethylene plant pursued jointly by Empresa Nacional del Petroleo (ENAP) and Petroquim. The second one is a 230,000 tonnes/year PP plant.

Cost for the plants has risen to $1.4bn (€1.1bn), he said, but did not confirm or deny talk that Petroquim was looking for a partner to share in the investment.

Currently, the major challenge for the Chilean PP industry remains the availability of propylene, Silva said.

Petroquim upgraded PP production capacity earlier this year to 140,000 tonnes/year - an increase of 30,000 tonnes. The extra capacity, however, has not been utilised for lack of propylene.

Petroquim has about a 70 % share of Chile’s 92,000 tonnes/year domestic PP market. The new project is expected to entirely satisfy local demand with plenty of material for exports, Silva said.

The APLA conference, which attracted more than 700 participants representing 240 companies, ends on Tuesday.

By: George Martin
+1 713 525 2653

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly