Ineos (London; www.ineos.com) has seen some tough times recently: after solid results last year, the UK supplier announced drastic job cuts at its Belgian phenol plant in Antwerp.

Shortly thereafter, came the next piece of – at least temporary – bad news, the possible end of the company’s multi-billion dollar Project One cracker plans in the port of Antwerp after a local court overturned the approval process. It is still unclear if, when, and how this project can continue.

With this in mind, the group and owner Jim Ratcliffe, the British multi-billionaire, should be chuffed to offer some positive news, with the Tianjin Nangang Ethylene project announced in December 2022 apparently picking up speed. Ineos has announced that a 50/50 joint venture has now officially been concluded with state-owned Chinese petrochemical group Sinopec (Beijing; www.sinopec.com).

According to current planning, the site’s petrochemical complex, which is to include a 1.2 mn t/y cracker and 0.5 mn t/y in HDPE capacity, is scheduled to start operations in April 2024.