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(plastemart) -- Braskem and Pequiven
had planned an investment outlay of US$1 bln, for petrochemical projects in
Venezuela. In a bid to adjust project facets to the new global market scenario,
the two companies plan to assess a new model for Venezuelan petrochemical
projects through the joint ventures Propilsur and Polimerica. To meet this end,
the two have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Brasilia, during a
meeting between the presidents of Brazil and Venezuela. The polypropylene project under the purview of Propilsur
will see changes in location as well as production capacity. These changes will
allow the JV to maintain the project’s schedule and reduce investment required
by approximately 60%. In December 2009, Venezuela’s PDVSA presented an
alternative feedstock source, the Paraguana Refinery Complex in the state of
Falcon, leading to a change in PP
plant location. Capacity has also been altered to 300,000 tpa, eliminating the
need for investment in an intermediate propane dehydrogenation unit. This will
bring down total investment to approx. US$500 mln. Studies of the new
configuration for the Propilsur project will begin in 15 days, with the plant
still expected to start up operations in 2013, provided the conditions proposed
by Pequiven, PDVSA and the Venezuelan government are ultimately confirmed.
As a result of this, the future supply of ethane gas and/or other feedstock
sources coming from PDVSA's Refinery Complex in Paraguana will be impacted.
Hence the two partners have agreed to postpone by one year, developments related
to the Polimerica project, which initially was planned for the Jose Industrial
Complex. The project envisages the construction of three polyethylene production units with combined production
capacity of 1100000 tpa, integrated with an ethylene production unit with capacity of 1300000 tpa,
for investment of approximately US$3 bln. The units could start up operations by
early 2015.
mrcplast.com |
