Solvay BASF responding to growing PVC global market

The vinyls joint venture of Solvay and BASF (75%/25%) is planning to increase the capacity at its fully integrated PVC plant in Jemeppe, Belgium. Solvin will raise output from 400,000tpa to 475,000 by 2009, the company has announced today.

In Europe, Solvin has already rationalised production, shutting down its Ludwigshafen unit in Germany at the beginning of 2006 and transferring production to other units.

The company said the global vinyls market has grown by more than 6% per annum in recent years and is expanding by nearly 15% per annum in Eastern Europe and China, largely due to the material’s use in construction and utilities applications. Last month, Solvay and Solvin, and the Russian petrochemicals group Sibur, signed a €650m deal to build a 330,000tpa PVC plant in Russia, scheduled to come on stream in 2010.

Located in the Nizhny Novgorod region, which is approximately 400km east of Moscow, the facility will also produce 225,000tpa of caustic soda.