InterviewEPCA '11: Egypt’s OPC eyes PDH unit, PP expansion by 2015

03 October 2011 15:33  [Source: ICIS news]

By Tahir Ikram

BERLIN (ICIS)--Egypt’s Oriental Petrochemicals Co (OPC) plans to build a 250,000 tonne/year propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit and increase the capacity of its existing polypropylene (PP) plant to 220,000 tonnes/year by the end of 2015, the company's CEO said on Monday.

“The OPC is looking to be self-sufficient in [feedstock] propylene production,” Hesham Raafat said on the sidelines of the 45th annual European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) meeting.

“Studies are underway to build a PDH unit of 250,000 tonnes/year to supply the PP plant,” he added.

The company has a 160,000 tonne/year PP facility in the industrial zone in the northwest Gulf of Suez.

The unit was recently restarted after remaining idle for months because of a lack of propylene feedstock from Libya, its main provider, and the curtailment of purchases from southern Europe due to higher prices there.

The company has already signed a letter of intent to secure feedstock propane gas from the south of the Red Sea by 2015, Raafat added.

Simultaneously, the PP plant will be expanded to 220,000 tonnes/year. An economic and feasibility study has been completed for the two projects that will require a total investment of around $450m (€338m), Raafat said.

OPC has a market share of about 65% in the local market and the new capacity will be aimed at exports, he said.

Referring to the Egyptian PP market of about 400,000 tonnes/year, Raafat said it had grown by about 8% each year for the past three years and was expected to continue at this pace for another five years.

“This growth rate is due to the development of downstream markets, as a result of increase in population and the impact of rising standards of living in Egypt,” he added.

($1 = €0.75)

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By: Tahir Ikram
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