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sia, especially China and India, has been pushing sales for European manufacturers. The polyolefins market is no different and the region will be the growth driver for the PP and PE markets, said Anton de Vries, LyondellBasell's Senior Vice-President of Olefins and Polyolefins. He said that an additional 30 million tonnes of polyolefins demand is forecast by 2014.

"Most of the capacity build up is in the Middle East. It is the only exporting region, compared to all other regions that are importing," said de Vries at a pre-K2010 preview in June.

Having emerged from its bankruptcy in April this year Netherlands-based LyondellBasell is now poised to enjoy the growth, he said, adding that the company had been through "a lot of stress". Last year, it shut down 1 million tonnes of capacity in Europe and the US, reduced its staff force to 14,500 and trimmed fixed costs by US$1 billion.

Looking to the future, the company will take advantage of the low cost of feedstock in the Middle East to boost capacity at its three 2.1 million capacity PP and PE joint venture plants. De Vries pointed out that the Saudi Ethylene and Polyethylene joint venture in Al Jubail is producing 850,000 tonnes/year of Lupotech LDPE and Hostalen and the processes were said to be running well after having started up last year. Another large plant is the Al-Waha joint venture that started up its 450,000 tonnes/year Spherizone process for a mix of PP products last year.

In Thailand, HMC Polymers added a third Spherizone PP line, increasing capacity by 300,000 tonnes/year. LyondellBasell's latest addition is the 320,000 tonnes/year Hostalen HDPE plant in Münchsmünster, Germany, catering to Europe and the Middle East.