Ineos Styrolution and Innova expand styrene capacities in Americas

Styrenics maker Ineos Styrolution plans to increase capacity for acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), including a new ASA plant in the US. The plans include constructing a new 100 kt capacity ASA plant in Bayport, Texas, and increasing the ABS capacity for an additional 70 kt of ABS capacity at its ABS/ ASA plant in Altamira, Mexico.

The investment reflects increased demand in focus industries such as automotive, construction, electronics, household and healthcare, says the Germany-headquartered firm.

Bayport, in the Greater Houston Area, will become the location of the new ASA plant. The site was selected based upon its easy access to raw materials (e.g. being adjacent to the Ineos Styrolution styrene monomer plant), low cost utilities and proximity to major customer markets. Also, Bayport offers an excellent infrastructure for domestic shipments and exports. The new ASA plant in Bayport is expected to be operational by the end of 2020.

The planned investment demonstrates the company’s commitment to its Triple Shift growth strategy focusing on key industries, ABS and Specialties and on growth markets as well as reduces the need to import volumes from other regions, allowing for more localised supply.

Meanwhile, Brazilian petrochemicals firm Videolar-Innova, one of two major polystyrene producers in Brazil, will expand its styrene monomer production at the Triunfo complex (Rio Grande do Sul), to 420,000 tonnes/year from 260,000 tonnes/year. It is scheduled to start up by 2019.

It has also signed a long term raw material supply contract with Braskem for the supply of ethane from its 200,000-tonne/year project to produce green ethylene from sugar cane, while benzene will be supplied from the refining complex in Triunfo.

With the expansion exercise, it will also expand capacity of expandable polystyrene (EPS).

Innova operates two plants in the Manaus Industrial Pole (Amazonas) and one in the Triunfo Petrochemical Pole (Rio Grande do Sul, south of Brazil).

Unit I, in Manaus (AM), produces BOPP films, PS and PP sheets, ABS resin and closure caps for carbonated and non-carbonated beverages.

Unit II, in Triunfo (Rio Grande do Sul) is the only petrochemical site in the country to integrate, in the same plant, production of ethyl benzene (EB), styrene monomer, toluene, crystal (GPPS) and high impact (HIPS) polystyrenes, as well as EPS. It also houses the Styrenics Technology Centre.

Unit IV, in Manaus (Amazonas), is the first petrochemical in the northern region of the country, producing crystal (GPPS) and HIPS polystyrenes in various grades.

(PRA)