US chemical producer W. R. Grace (Columbia, Maryland; www.grace.com) is licensing its “Unipol” polypropylene technology and services to South Korea’s Hyosung Corporation (Seoul; www.hyosung.com) for use in a new 200,000 t/y plant at Ulsan, expected to start up in 2017. It is Hyosung’s second purchase of a licence for the technology acquired by Grace with the USD 500m purchase of the Polypropylene Licensing and Catalysts business of Dow Chemical (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com) in late 2013 – see Plasteurope.com of 06.12.2013.

A leading supplier of polyolefin catalyst technology, following the acquisition of the Dow licensing business, Grace now claims to have the broadest portfolio of polyolefin catalyst technologies of any independent polyethylene/polypropylene catalyst producer. Al Beninati, president of Grace Catalysts Technologies, said he is pleased Hyosung has opted to take a second licence, attributing the deal – apart from technical considerations – to the company’s “commitment to customer service.” With the new line, Hyosung is planning to produce “even more advanced PP products,” said division president Young-Gyo Choi.