LyondellBasell has been awarded a contract by Hyosung Vina Chemicals to supply its Spheripol PP technology for a new plant to be built in the Cai Mep industrial zone in Vung Tau province, Vietnam.

According to an August 2018 report by the Vietnam Investment Review, the Vietnamese government gave the go-ahead for South Korea’s Hyosung Group to invest $1.2 billion in a PP complex on the site, which is located near Ho Chi Minh City.

The two-phase project is said to include a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant as well as two PP facilities. The first phase was to comprise a 300,000 t/y PP plant, followed by a second same-sized unit and a propane dehydrogenation unit. A timescale for the project has not been confirmed.

LyondellBasell also confirmed the award by Advanced Petrochemical for its Spheripol and Spherizone PP technologies for a proposed PDH/PP complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

The complex is being built in a joint venture with South Korea’s SK Gas and will include two PP plants producing 400,000 t/y each.

Jim Seward, senior vice president of research and development, technology and sustainability at LyondellBasell said the award “demonstrates the need of operators to invest in benchmark process technologies to ensure PP product leadership over the lifecycle of the facility.”

Both plants will use LyondellBasell’s Avant ZN catalyst. The company added that it has now licensed almost 8 million t/y of PP worldwide.