The first agreement is with China’s Sinochem Hongrun Petrochemical Chemical, which is planning to build a 450,000 t/y PP plant in Qingzhou, Weifang, Shandong province for startup in 2022. Grace said Sinochem Hongrun plans to produce the resins to meet growing demand for more complex PP products in China.

A second deal was made with construction group Enter Engineering, which will license Unipol PP technology for a plant being built as part of the proposed methanol-to-olefins gas chemical complex in Uzbekistan. Located in the Bukhara region, this PP facility will include one reactor capable of producing 257,000 t/y PP and is expected to go onstream by 2025.

Enter Engineering, which regards itself as the leading construction group in Russia and Central Asia, is acting as licensee on behalf of Jizzakh Petroleum, the future owner and operator of the complex. Jizzakh is a joint venture between JSC Uzbekneftegaz and Gazprom subsidiary Gas Project Development Central Asia.

“We welcome Enter Engineering and Jizzakh Petroleum into the Unipol PP technology family, and we are excited to launch our first Unipol PP process technology in Uzbekistan,” said Laura Schwinn, president of Grace’s Specialty Catalysts business. “We look forward to seeing Jizzakh Petroleum becoming the premier supplier of PP resins in the region,” she added.

Late last month, Grace announced it had agreed to be taken over by Standard Industries Holdings. The transaction is due to close in the final quarter of 2021.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist