Italian-headquartered PET packaging specialist Gruppo Mossi & Ghisolfi (M&G, Tortona; www.gruppomg.com) has awarded a USD 1 bn engineering, procurement and construction contract to China’s Sinopec Engineering Group (part of the Chinese state-owned Sinopec group, www.sinopec.com) for the 1m t/y PET polymerisation plant M&G is building at Corpus Christi, Texas / USA. The plant is back-integrated into a 1.2m t/y PTA feedstock unit – see Plasteurope.com of 17.05.2011.

Equipment and back-up services for the new facilities will be supplied by M&G, which sees itself among the top three producers in this field in the Americas. The Italian company said the PET complex will be the largest in the western world. Industrial and Commercial Bank China (ICBC) and Mexico’s Banco Inbursa are to provide financing.