First Phase of Major Ethylene Expansion in Portugal Complete, Second Phase Under Review

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--At this time last year, Repsol YPF (Madrid, Spain) announced it was moving forward with an expansion of the company's olefins complex in Sines, Portugal. Industrial Info had been tracking plans for this project since 2006, which included capacity additions for ethylene, low-density polyethylene, and polypropylene. Despite the collapse of global markets and weakened demand for ethylene since the project began, construction for the first phase of the ethylene expansion has been completed.

With the anticipation that markets will continue to improve, Repsol continues to prepare design and estimates for the next phase of expansions for the Sines complex, which could begin by next summer. Repsol is working with Linde AG Werksgruppe TVT (Munich, Germany) for the ethylene portion of these plans. This project will include the addition of two new furnaces and help the plant reach the ultimate production goal of 570,000 metric tons per year. Initec Tecnicas Reunidas S.A. (Madrid, Spain) is supporting Repsol with design and estimates for the addition of a new low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit at the site. Maire Tecnimont SpA (Milan, Italy) is providing similar support for the potential addition of a polypropylene unit based on Basell's spherizone technology that will produce an estimated 300,000 metric tons per year of polypropylene.

Each of these projects is being scrutinized against future demand, as well as the market outlook for 2010 and beyond. Currently, there are only a handful of ethylene capacity addition projects planned across Europe, and even fewer in North America. Ethylene capacity projects are in some phase of planning that could see construction begin by 2011, and be brought online in 2012 or sooner, in Germany with LyondellBasell Industries; in Norway with Noretyl I S; and Romania with Rompetrol Petrochemicals SRL. In the short-term outlook, ethylene isn't showing many signs of dramatic improvement for 2010 and 2011, and most producers are looking to 2012 and beyond for substantial advances in demand for downstream products, such as plastics and resins.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.