Nova Innovene to raise its Europe EPS capacity

21 February 2007 11:26  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Nova Innovene is raising its European expandable polystyrene (EPS) capacity from 350,000 to 410,000 tonnes/year, the company said on Wednesday.

Additional volumes would come onstream gradually over the next 12 months, the Nova Chemicals and Ineos joint venture said.

The debottleneckings would meet rising EPS consumption, driven by demand from the construction sector where insulation was now recognised as the most effective way of improving energy efficiency, said Martin Pugh, Nova Innovene’s managing director.

Nova Innovene estimates growth in European ABS demand growth at 3-5% per year, mainly in the construction/insulation industry.

"We are utilising our strength in process technology to achieve capacity additions at extremely low capital cost, remarked Peter Ayrey, EPS business director.

The cost of the debottleneckings would be "less than a few million euros", said a company spokeswoman.

Nova Innovene’s European EPS plants are located in Breda, The Netherlands, Ribécourt, France, and Marl, Germany.

Also included in the debottleneckings is a site in Wingles, France, which is owned and operated by BP France SA.

Nova Innovene has the sole distribution rights for all output from the Wingles site.

By: Anna Jagger
+44 20 8652 3214

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