Brazil Braskem plans to build new PE plant in Texas
Jessie Waldheim
27-Jun-2014
HOUSTON
(ICIS)–Braskem plans to build a new polyethylene (PE) plant
at its complex in La Porte, Texas, the resins producer
announced on Friday.
The new plant will produce ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) under Braskem’s trade name UTEC. The product has excellent mechanical properties, is eight times lighter than steel and lasts 10 times longer than high density PE (HDPE), Braskem said.
UTEC is used in the construction, agriculture, automotive, textile, pulp and paper, food and beverage, coal and mining, high performance fibres, battery separators and waste-water treatment industries.
“This is the next logical step for our UTEC business as we have been providing UTEC to clients in the United States and Europe for over ten years. Further, this new plant will potentially enable Braskem to serve more markets than we have been able to serve in the past,” Braskem CEO Fernando Musa said.
Braskem acquired the LaPorte complex from Sunoco in 2010. It has 330,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) capacity, according to the ICIS plants and projects database.
The company had announced a possible US project in West Virginia to operate a PE facility built by Brazilian industrial conglomerate Odebrecht.
Several companies have announced PE projects in the US, including Sasol, ExxonMobil, Chevron Phillips Chemical, Dow Chemical, Formosa Plastics and LyondellBasell.
|
US POLYETHYLENE PROJECTS | |||||
|
Company |
Project |
Capacity |
Grades |
Location |
Start-up |
|
Sasol |
New unit |
450,000 tonnes |
LLDPE |
Lake Charles, Louisiana |
2016 |
|
Sasol |
New unit |
420,000 tonnes |
LDPE |
Lake Charles, Louisiana |
NA |
|
Sasol/INEOS |
New unit |
470,000 tonnes |
HDPE |
La Porte, Texas |
2016 |
|
ExxonMobil |
New units |
1.3m tonnes |
PE (premium) |
Mont Belvieu, Texas |
Late 2016 |
|
Chevron Phillips |
New units |
1m tonnes |
HDPE, LLDPE, other |
Sweeny, Texas |
2017 |
|
Dow Chemical |
New units |
NA |
PE (high-value), LDPE |
Freeport, Texas |
2017 |
|
Formosa Plastics |
New unit |
300,000 tonnes |
LDPE |
Point Comfort, Texas |
2016 |
|
Shell |
New units |
NA |
Unspec |
Monaca, Pennsylvania |
2019-2020* |
|
Odebrecht |
New units |
NA |
Unspec |
West Virginia |
NA |
|
LyondellBasell |
Debottleneck |
100,000 tonnes |
Unspec |
US |
Early 2014 |
|
LyondellBasell |
New unit |
454,000 tonnes |
Unspec |
US |
Late 2016 |
|
* ICIS estimate | |||||
|
Source: Companies, ICIS analysis | |||||
With shale gas dominating the headlines and ethane a
major talking point in the petrochemical industry, ICIS
editors in Houston are closely monitoring the situation. See
the ICIS special report on shale, ethane and US ethane
exports at ICIS News TV.
Global News + ICIS Chemical Business (ICB)
See the full picture, with unlimited access to ICIS chemicals news across all markets and regions, plus ICB, the industry-leading magazine for the chemicals industry.
Contact us
Partnering with ICIS unlocks a vision of a future you can trust and achieve. We leverage our unrivalled network of industry experts to deliver a comprehensive market view based on independent and reliable data, insight and analytics.
Contact us to learn how we can support you as you transact today and plan for tomorrow.
READ MORE
