MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, has informed the engineering and construction contractors it will slow construction of its world-scale propylene oxide (PO) and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) plant, said the producer in its press release.
The company is limiting non-essential activities at this time due to ongoing concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including government orders designed to limit human contact.
"The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and evolving. Because the PO/TBA site is currently under construction and not producing needed products yet, in the interest of health and safety we believe it is prudent to limit construction activities at this time," said Torkel Rhenman, executive vice president, Intermediates & Derivatives (I&D). "We remain committed to the completion of this strategic investment incorporating our low-cost, next generation PO/TBA technology. Over the next several weeks, we will be working with our contractors and suppliers to develop a revised project timeline."
LyondellBasell's PO/TBA project broke ground in August 2018. Currently, the project is more than 30 percent complete with ongoing installation of key equipment and towers. The PO/TBA project has a split-facility design to optimize synergies between two existing LyondellBasell sites. A 140-acre PO/TBA plant is being built at the company's Channelview, Texas facility, and an associated 34-acre ethers unit is being built at the company's Bayport Complex in Pasadena, Texas. When complete, the PO/TBA plant will produce approximately 1 billion pounds (470,000 metric tons) of PO and 2.2 billion pounds (1 million metric tons) of TBA annually, which will serve the growing need for better insulation material, home comfort, cleaner fuels and other consumer applications.
This announcement does not impact LyondellBasell's ongoing operations at Channelview or Bayport, which are designated as part of the United States' critical infrastructure by the Department of Homeland Security.
As MRC reported earlier, Lyondell Basell Industries said maintenance operations were staffed at its Houston refinery to assure safety and reliability. Gulf Coast market sources told Reuters hundreds of contractors were home last week to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading in the 263,776 barrel-per-day refinery. Those contractors work for companies hired by Lyondell to perform maintenance on units in the refinery. Lyondell employee operations and maintenance staff continue to work in the refinery, the sources said.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 215,390 tonnes in the first month of 2020, up by 23% year on year. Shipments of all grades of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) increased due to higher capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 127,240 tonnes in January 2020, up by 33% year on year. ZapSibNeftekhim's homopolymer PP accounted for the main increase in shipments.
LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
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