Borealis Invests in Strong International Polyolefins Market

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Borealis Group (Kogens Lyngby, Denmark) is investing approximately $230 million at its site in Schwechat, Austria by constructing a new polyethylene unit (PEC 79000023) and expanding the production capacity of an existing polypropylene unit (PEC 79000013). Both units will utilize the bimodal Borstar process technology, a technology invented by Borealis.

The polyethylene unit will have a production capacity of 350,000 metric tons a year and the expansion of the polypropylene unit will add 100,000 metric tons a year to the already existing production capacity of 200,000 metric tons a year. These projects should be complete by the second half of 2005.

Industrialinfo.com has reported 18 international polyethylene capacity additions this year consisting of three grassroot plants, fifteen major unit additions, and one small expansion with a Total Investment Value (TIV)of nearly $4 billion. "A majority of these projects were capitally funded at the time we reported them. The international polyolefin market shows a tremendous growth opportunity when compared to the domestic market, where we only reported on five capital projects in the same time period with a TIV just over $20 million," commented Chris Easley, Industry Specialist with Industrialinfo.com.

Click the image to the right to view a project index of the International Polyethylene Projects reported by Industrialinfo.com during 2003.

Borealis spent the years between 1995 through 1998 developing the Borstar process technology for the manufacturing of polypropylene at their research center in Porvoo, Finland. The break-through process won the Innovation Award from the Scientific Advisory Board of the Chemical Industry in 1998. Borealis commissioned its first full-scale Borstar technology polypropylene plant in May of 2000. The bimodal Borstar process incorporates specialty catalysts run through a loop reactor then through a gas-phase reactor, which is both more efficient and yields a higher quality end product.

Borealis is one of the world's major producers of polyolefins producing close to 1.75 million tons a year. Borealis is a joint venture that is owned by Statoil (Norway), OMV (Austria) and International Petroleum Investment Company (United Arab Emirates). Borealis has production sites all over the world. Borealis licenses its process technology, as well as incorporates it for their production sites. Borealis' main technology competitor is Montell with their Spheripol process.