18 January 2007 – Ineos Polyolefins has set out detailed plans for a three-year ˆ150m investment in its European assets.
The company intends to expand PP capacity at its facilities in Geel, Belgium, and Grangemouth, Scotland. At Geel, the Innovene P gas phase PP unit will undergo a 220,000tpa expansion, taking the unit’s capacity to 500,000tpa.
Ineos said the smaller slurry/dry flash PP asset at Geel will close later this year.
The company’s 220,000tpa liquid pool PP unit at the Grangemouth complex (image) will have its capacity raised to 280,000tpa.
News of the company’s plans for its HDPE plant in Grangemouth was reported in PRW.com earlier this week (see PRW.com 15 January 2007). If there is no improvement in the market climate, Ineos will close its HDPE unit there at the end of 2007, redeploying the 35-strong workforce.
At its Lillo site in Belgium, Ineos will invest in its HDPE production. The capacity of its bi-modal slurry phase unit will shoot up from 200,000tpa to 630,000tpa by 2009.
“In making these investments, we greatly strengthen our market positions in products where we have a long-term competitive advantage...,” said Bill Reid, ceo of Ineos Polyolefins.
Ineos also intends to commit “significant funds” to accelerate the development and commercialisation of advanced LLDPE products made from its proprietary metallocence catalyst technology.
