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MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell has
broken ground on the first commercial Hyperzone polyethylene (PE) plant at its
La Porte, Texas complex, said the company on its website.
The plant will
be capable of producing 500 metric tpy of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and
will employ LyondellBasell's new proprietary Hyperzone PE technology that
provides enhanced material performance. Startup of the plant is planned for
2019.
Hyperzone PE technology enables customers to produce
cost-effective, light weight plastics that are strong, durable and widely
recyclable. The new Hyperzone PE technology also enables the production of a
broad spectrum of HDPE products in one single plant, whereas previous
technologies require multiple plants.
The company plans to make the
Hyperzone process technology available for licensing in the future. The
technology took years to advance to commercialization and was a product of
LyondellBasell's global research and development teams in Ferrara, Italy;
Frankfurt, Germany; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Houston, Texas.
The company
chose to build the new plant at its existing La Porte complex because of its
proximity to price-advantaged US feedstocks and the transportation
infrastructure needed to ship product to markets across the globe. The project
will create up to 1,000 jobs at the peak of construction and 75 permanent
positions.
The La Porte complex is one of LyondellBasell's largest
manufacturing facilities, spanning approximately 550 acres. The complex has two
docks on the Houston Ship Channel and truck and rail transportation
capabilities. Once the Hyperzone PE plant is complete, the La Porte complex will
more than double its annual PE capacity to 900 metric Mtpy. LyondellBasell
produces a total of 3 metric MMtpy of HDPE, including its share of capacity
through joint venture facilities. The company is a leading worldwide producer of
all forms of PE with an annual capacity of 5 metric MMtpy.
The Hyperzone
PE plant is part of LyondellBasell's plan for USD3 B–USD5 B of investments along
the US Gulf Coast. The company recently completed work on ethylene expansion
projects at its La Porte, Channelview and Corpus Christi sites in Texas.
Additionally, development of a world-scale propylene oxide and tertiary butyl
alcohol (PO/TBA) plant at the company's Channelview site is progressing, and a
final PO/TBA investment decision is expected in the second half of
2017. |
