INEOS / SASOL
Plans for HDPE joint venture finalised / Debt-financing details being worked out
Ineos Olefins & Polymers USA (League City, Texas; www.ineos-op.com) and South African petrochemicals producer Sasol (Johannesburg; www.sasol.com) have finalised plans for a 470,000 t/y bimodal HDPE plant in the US to take advantage of cheap shale gas-derived feedstocks. A memorandum of understanding on the project was signed a year ago – see Plasteurope.com of 30.07.2013.
“All relevant permits have been secured,” the companies said, adding, however, that final closing is contingent on settlement of the terms for debt financing.
The plant, due to start up in 2016 – rather than 2015 as initially planned – will be owned as a 50:50 joint venture between the Swiss- and South Africa-based groups. It will be operated by Ineos at its Battleground site in La Porte, Texas, and use the Ineos "Innovene S" bimodal slurry process. Each of the partners will supply half of the ethylene feedstock.
Access to the US Gulf Coast petrochemical infrastructure and the South African company’s current and proposed ethane cracker and derivatives production in southwest Louisiana are two main benefits of the selected location, said Fleetwood Grobler, Sasol group executive for global chemicals.
Dennis Seith, CEO of Ineos Olefins & Polymers USA, said the new plant will allow the company to meet the needs of its customers for additional bimodal products as well as supporting its strategy “to invest and to capture synergies on our major sites."
“All relevant permits have been secured,” the companies said, adding, however, that final closing is contingent on settlement of the terms for debt financing.
The plant, due to start up in 2016 – rather than 2015 as initially planned – will be owned as a 50:50 joint venture between the Swiss- and South Africa-based groups. It will be operated by Ineos at its Battleground site in La Porte, Texas, and use the Ineos "Innovene S" bimodal slurry process. Each of the partners will supply half of the ethylene feedstock.
Access to the US Gulf Coast petrochemical infrastructure and the South African company’s current and proposed ethane cracker and derivatives production in southwest Louisiana are two main benefits of the selected location, said Fleetwood Grobler, Sasol group executive for global chemicals.
Dennis Seith, CEO of Ineos Olefins & Polymers USA, said the new plant will allow the company to meet the needs of its customers for additional bimodal products as well as supporting its strategy “to invest and to capture synergies on our major sites."
12.06.2014 Plasteurope.com [228473-0]
Published on 12.06.2014
German version of this article...