Unipetrol Breaks Ground for new PE Plant
Czech petrochemicals and plastics producer Unipetrol has held groundbreaking ceremonies for its new polyethylene plant at Litvinov, scheduled to go on stream in mid-2018 with a capacity of up to 270,000 t/y. The new facility will add 150,000 t/y to the group’s PE capacity, as it will replace an older 120,000 t/y plant and complement another plant with capacity of 200,000 t/y. French engineering contractor Technip is building the new plant, which will use Ineos’ Innovene S technology under license.
At the same time, Unipetrol said it plans to reacquire Spolana, a Czech-based producer of nylon feedstock caprolactam, fertilizers and PVC from Poland’s Anwil for €1 million.
The Prague-based group, which sold Spolana to Anwil in 2006 – the Polish PVC producer has been seeking to unload it for at least five years – said it wants to now wants to reintegrate its former subsidiary as part of an internal reorganization scheme, especially with regard to its start-up of the new PVC plant. All of the companies involved belong to Polish chemical conglomerate PKN Orlen.
