Jun 18 2004
Borealis will expand its Noretyl ethylene cracker, a 50:50 joint venture with Hydro Polymers at Rafnes with 100,000 tonnes, and debottleneck its own polypropylene plant at Rønningen. The two Norwegian projects will be completed in the autumn of 2005.
“To meet our customers rising demand for enhanced polyolefin plastics for film, fibre and moulding, we will debottleneck our Norwegian polypropylene plant in connection with the expansion of the Noretyl ethylene cracker,” Roy Vardheim, General Manager Borealis Norway explains. The annual polypropylene production capacity will increase from 105,000 to 175,000 tonnes. The engineering part of the project, which started early June 2004, is handled by Jacobs Engineering.
On June 16 Noretyl AS signed a contract with Linde AG, Germany, to carry out the project to expand the cracker to about 550,000 tonnes per year in connection with a planned turnaround. The investment will amount to NOK 600-700 million (approx. EUR 70-85 million). The boost of the cracker’s capacity will increase the supply of ethylene and propylene to the two cracker-owners’ nearby downstream plants.
Staffan Lennström, Borealis’ Executive Vice President for Hydrocarbons adds that “the Noretyl cracker expansion enables us to increase our own feedstock production, an important step in our strategy of becoming a leading, profitable integrated polyolefins supplier.”
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