Jiangsu Jiatong Energy, a subsidiary of Chinese polyester yarn manufacturer Tongkun Group, has chosen Invista’s latest P8 PTA technology for two lines to be installed in Rudong, Nantong City, Jiangsu province. The first line is scheduled to start up in the fourth quarter of 2022. The companies did not give a start-up date for the second line. CTCI is the project’s engineering contractor.

IPT and Tongkun have already been working together for the past 10 years in PTA. Invista’s first P7 and first P8 technology platforms were installed and are operating at another of the group’s subsidiaries – Jiaxing Petrochemical.

Adam Sackett, IPT vice president PTA, commented: “Our companies have a long history of PTA innovation, and we look forward to working together on this new chapter of technology and cooperation between the two parties.”

The second contract was awarded by Sasa Polyester Sanayi for a project in Adana, Turkey. The plant will have an annual capacity of 1.5 million t, making it the largest single-stream design capacity that IPT has licensed. An on-stream date was not revealed.

“Sasa will continue to invest in polyester to position itself as the leading polyester producer after China and India,” said Sasa chairman Ibrahim Erdemoğlu. “This agreement will enable self-sufficiency in PTA, terminating all PTA imports into Turkey. This is also the first step of SASA’s investment in petrochemicals with more investment in polyester, PTA and MEG to follow in Adana's Yumurtalik district, he added.

IPT president Mike Pickens added that the companies have been collaborating since 1974 and the signing of this latest agreement “has great significance in terms of long-term collaboration between Sasa and IPT”.

Last month, IPT announced that Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) had started up a fifth PTA line at Changxing Island, Dalian, China. The 2.5 million t/y line takes Hengli’s total capacity at the site to 11.6 million t/y, all of which uses IPT’s technology. The fourth line, also producing 2.5 million t/y, reached full operations in March following start-up in January 2020.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist