INEOS outlines Europe PP, HDPE expansion plans

18 January 2007 00:50  [Source: ICIS news]

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LONDON (ICIS news)--INEOS Polyolefins will invest more than €150m ($193m) in its European assets during the next three years, lifting polypropylene (PP) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) capacities at sites in Belgium and the UK, the company said in a statement distributed on Wednesday.

INEOS said it was making the move to strengthen its market position in products where it believes it has a long term competitive advantage.

PP facilities in Geel, Belgium and Grangemouth, Scotland will be expanded, along with HDPE at Lillo in Belgium.

At Geel, INEOS will replace older, unprofitable, production capacity with increased production from its PP2 facility.

The 220,000 tonne/year expansion would make the Geel plant one of the largest PP production plants in the world based on the world-leading Innovene P gas phase technology, INEOS said.

Geel’s capacity would reach 500,000 tonnes/year after the upgrade.

At Grangemouth, the company intends to debottleneck its current PP unit to 280,000 tonnes/year from 250,000 tonnes/year, and would consider a further 30,000 tonne/year expansion if appropriate.

INEOS said it would close its 185,000 tonne/year HDPE plant - the smaller and older of its two gas phase PE units - at Grangemouth at the end of 2007.

The HDPE output at INEOS’ Lillo manufacturing site would be increased by 200,000 tonnes/year to 630,000 tonnes/year, focused on differentiated products.

The new capacity would be in place by 2009.

(Additional reporting by Stephen Burns and Brian Ford in Houston)

($1 = €0.77)

By: Linda Naylor
+44 20 8652 3214

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