(PlastEurope) -- French oil and chemical group Total plans to invest about EUR1bn in expanding its chemical activities, with half the money earmarked for petrochemistry and the other half for special chemistry. In financial 2010, the group's petrochemical activities - including its plastics divisions - accounted for about EUR 10.7 bn in revenues, while special chemistry yielded EUR 6.8 bn. Speaking to Germany's Handelsblatt, Francois Cornelis, the group's deputy CEO and board member responsible for Total Chemicals, clarified that Total would hold on to its polystyrene business, which it plans to structurally improve in Europe and expand in Asia.
Following the October 2011 merger of the styrene activities of both BASF and Ineos in Styrolution, Total dropped down to the position of world's second largest styrene player. With global capacities of about 1.6m t/y, the French group continues to play a lead role, with the world's third largest styrene producer Styron trailing quite some distance behind.
Together, these three players account for about one third of the world's PS market. As for the direct feedstock VCM, Total occupies fourth spot in the global rankings, but its 2.2m t/y monomer capacity make it a fully integrated player.