Ineos has awarded the front end engineering and design (FEED) contract for its new vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) plant to US-headquartered contractor Fluor. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

The 300,000 t/y plant is being built at the Saltend Chemicals Park in Hull, UK. Work will be led by Fluor's office in Farnborough, UK, with input from Ineos engineers. Fluor said the front-end work will establish the design basis and technology selection for the plant with associated cost and schedule estimates.

“Fluor is pleased that Ineos has chosen us to continue supporting the company’s strategic investment plans with the return of this important VAM processing capability to the UK market,” said Simon Nottingham, president of Fluor’s Energy & Chemicals business in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. “Our early involvement in this FEED allows Fluor to optimize cost and schedule certainty by leveraging our in-house construction-driven expertise.”

Ineos in 2013 closed its original VAM plant in Hull, which it bought from BP in 2008. At the time, the company blamed a difficult trading environment and cheap imports from the US and Saudi Arabia.

VAM is a key raw material in products that include laminated wind screens, toughened glass, adhesives, films, coatings and textiles. 

The £150 million investment in the plant is part of a £1 billion spending program in its UK assets that Ineos announced in February this year.