Four Firms Working on Trinidad and Tobago's 450,000-Ton Polypropylene Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A world-scale polypropylene plant is to be constructed in Trinidad and Tobago. The fully integrated plant will include a gas-fed methanol plant that will feed the methanol-to-propylene unit at the complex, which will produce 450,000 tons per annum of polypropylene.

In the country's 2007-08 budget, a polypropylene plant was noted as one of five gas-based projects planned for construction. The other projects are the Essar steel complex, Methanol Holdings AUM complex at Point Lisas, the gas-to-liquids plant at the Pointe Pierre refinery and Petrotrin's gasoline-optimization program. The polypropylene complex will form the cornerstone of the country's strategy to promote downstream diversification and to build the foundation for a local plastics industry, which will add value to the manufacturing supply chain and increase downstream investment.

Basell (Hoofddorp, the Netherlands), the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC) and the national Energy Corporation (NEC) have entered into a memorandum of understanding confirming their intention to construct and operate the integrated project.

Basell will undertake the project with Lurgi (Frankfurt, Germany), a world leader in methanol and methanol-to-propylene technology, who will be the main contractor for the project. Basell is the global leader in polyolefins technology and is the largest global producer of polypropylene and advanced polyolefin products.

Just Janz, President of Basell's technology business, said the project, based on Basell's Spherizone technology, would benefit from a highly innovative product portfolio. Resins produced would enhance the performance of existing applications while creating opportunities for polypropylene to expand into new end uses, he said.

NGC has a key role in the country's natural-gas-based energy sector. NEC is a fully autonomous entity within NGC with the mandate to promote new gas-based and associated downstream energy industries and the development and management of industrial estates, port and marine facilities for the gas-based energy sector.

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