Borealis (Vienna / Austria; www.borealisgroup.com) has held its groundbreaking for a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Kallo / Belgium – see Plasteurope.com of 13.03.2019. Located at Borealis’ existing production site there, the new facility is planned to have a propylene production capacity of 750,000 t/y. The company has invested around EUR 1 bn in the project, which is the largest investment in Europe made by Borealis.

The new plant at the port of Antwerp has a planned start-up date in mid-2022 and is expected to create around 100 full-time positions. The propylene splitter tower will be over 100 m high, and at a weight of more than 1,200 t, it will be shipped in one piece to Kallo.

Borealis will also increase polypropylene production downstream of the additional C3 capacity. The expansion of PP capacity in Kallo will be from 300,000 t/y to 380,000 t/y by mid-2020 – see Plasteurope.com of 10.12.2018. The Austrian group is also looking into raising PP production in Beringen / Belgium from 250,000 t/y to 300,000 t/y. According to Plasteurope.com’s Polyglobe database (www.polyglobe.net), capacity here is currently 385,000 t/y. Upon deciding to go ahead with the plans, C3 would be supplied to the PP plant in Beringen via underground pipeline.