MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem has commissioned a new UTEC ultra-high-molecular-weight-polyethylene (UHMWPE) production plant at its La Porte, Texas site. The new UTEC plant is scheduled for startup by the end of 2016 and reflects another milestone investment in Braskem's North American growth strategy, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.
The US UTEC plant will further Braskem's position in the UHMWPE market worldwide and complements the company's existing UTEC product line in Brazil. Braskem sells high performance UHMWPE under the trade name UTEC, developed and produced through Braskem's proprietary technologies.
"Our new UTEC UHMWPE plant in Texas is another step in bringing Braskem closer to our clients with advanced engineered polymers as well as creating additional high-quality engineering and production jobs in La Porte. The UTEC plant start-up scheduled for later this year will increase Braskem's UHMWPE capacity and market share as well as enable us to better serve our existing clients globally. The new plant combined with Braskem's dedicated US Innovation and Technology Center will make Braskem an even more reliable partner for its clients and play a key role in developing new applications for additional market segments," said Christopher Gee, Braskem Global Business Director for UTEC.
Earlier this year, Braskem enhanced its research and development capabilities for UTEC at the company's Innovation and Technology Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These new capabilities enable Braskem to expand its technical leadership in UHMWPE by providing instrumentation for testing, application development, and new product research.
In commissioning the new UTEC plant, Braskem is now completing the necessary steps to ensure a safe and successful startup. During this phase, the company is concluding functional tests and process control tests to verify performance of controls and integrated safety systems.
We remind that, as MRC wrote before, Braskem SA will soon decide whether to build a plant in Texas or Pennsylvania to convert low-cost natural gas into polypropylene. The factory would produce at least 1 billion pounds (450,000 metric tons) of resin a year and would be the U.S. polypropylene industry’s first world-scale project in about 12 years, said Mark Nikolich, a vice president at Braskem in 2015. Preliminary engineering is under way for construction at existing Braskem sites in either La Porte, Texas, or Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.
Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
MRC