Projects news in brief

03 January 2011 00:00  [Source: ICB]

SINOPEC EMBARKS ON MTO PROJECT
China's largest refiner, Sinopec, plans to build a 1.7m tonne/year methanol-to-olefins (MTO) plant at Huainan city, in Anhui province. The ground-breaking ceremony took place on December 18. The project, a 50:50 joint venture between Sinopec and Anhui's Wanbei Coal Electricity Group, will cost yuan (CNY) 24.2bn ($3.6bn). Construction should be completed by the end of 2013.

STYRON TO BUILD S-SBR LINE IN SCHKOPAU
US-headquartered Styron plans to expand its solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR) capacity in Schkopau, Germany, by building a 50,000 tonne/year production line. The expansion takes into account the growing demand for high-performance tires where S-SBR is used. Construction of the new line will start in May 2011, with production expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2012.

BASF AND SINOPEC TO EXPAND BASF-YPC JV
German chemical giant BASF and Sinopec, China's largest refiner, have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand their integrated petrochemical joint venture (JV), BASF-YPC, with plans to invest approximately $1bn (€760m) in new plants. The new projects under consideration aim to extend the propylene and C4 value chains. BASF-YPC is a 50:50 joint venture between BASF and Sinopec. It is based in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province. The plans include the construction of a new acrylic acid facility with a capacity of 160,000 tonnes/year, a new butyl acrylate plant, as well as capacity increases at the 2-propyl-heptanol, styrene monomer and nonionic ­surfactants plants, BASF said. The acrylic acid plant will supply feedstock to a superabsorbent polymers plant.

By: Will Beacham
+44 20 8652 3214

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