Ineos Nitriles, part of the Ineos Group (Rolle / Switzerland; www.ineos.com) and Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industries (Tianjin / China; www.bohaichemical.com) have agreed to establish a 50:50 joint venture to build and operate a world-scale acrylonitrile plant to be located in Tianjin / China. The initial capacity of the facility, which will operate using Ineos process and catalyst technology, will be 260,000 t/y of acrylonitrile, with the ability to expand in line with growing demand in Asia. The plant is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016.

Ineos said that the partnership will add considerable value to both companies and their customers. The jv will bring together Ineos’ proprietary acrylonitrile technology with Tianjin Bohai Chemical’s operating capability, local feedstock benefits and proximity to derivative growth markets.

Jim Ratcliffe, Ineos chairman, said: “This is the second joint venture project [we] have announced in China this year: In March Ineos Phenol initialed a joint venture agreement with Sinopec YPC (http://ypc.com.cn/) for the design, build and operation of a 1.2m t/y cumene, phenol and acetone complex at Nanjing – see Plasteurope.com from 14.03.2013. Both joint ventures will add up to a total investment across all partners of more than USD 1 bn.”

Tianjin Bohai Chemical Industry is a large-scale chemicals company based in Tianjin which had sales of over USD 11 bn in 2012. The company markets a wide range of products including PP and ABS.