MOSCOW (MRC) -- Unipetrol AS has started construction on a grassroots polyethylene (PE) production unit at its Chempark Zaluzi petrochemical complex in Litvinov, Czech Republic, said the producer on its site.
The company officially broke ground on construction activities for the 270,000-tonnes/year PE3 unit during a ceremony held on June 7, Unipetrol said. The unit remains on schedule to be commissioned shortly after construction reaches mechanical completion in mid-2018, the company said.
Unipetrol’s total investment in the PE3 project amounts to about USD357.5 million, the biggest investment to date in the history of the Czech petrochemical industry.
The PE3 project comes as part of Unipetrol’s 2013-17 group strategy, the core of which entails further integration of the company’s refining and petrochemical businesses.
Designed to replace the complex’s existing 120,000-tpy PE1 unit, the two-line PE3 unit will join the remaining 200,000-tpy PE2 unit to boost Unipetrol’s overall HDPE production at the site to 470,000 tpy from its current 320,000 tpy.
In addition to increased production safety and reliability, PE3 also will enable higher utilization of the complex’s recently damaged steam cracker, which following its reconstruction, will be able to produce 544,000 tpy of ethylene feedstock for the more-profitable HDPE units as global demand for basic ethylene continues to decline.
Technip Italy SPA is providing engineering, procurement, and construction services for the PE3 unit, which will be equipped with Ineos Technologies Ltd.’s proprietary Innovene S slurry technology for production of mono and bimodal HDPE.
Unipetrol , a.s. is a group of companies operating in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005 Unipetrol became a part of the PKN ORLEN Group, the largest oil processor in Central Europe. The UNIPETROL Group is oriented mostly towards oil processing, fuel distribution and petrochemical production. In all of these business areas the Unipetrol Group is among the key players both in the Czech Republic and on the Central European market. The Group ranks among the leading firms in the Czech Republic in terms of its revenues, and employs almost 4,000 people.
MRC