With the start up of its 1 million/tonne-year steam cracker, ExxonMobil Chemical is now producing ethylene in Jurong Island, marking the completion of a multi-billion dollar expansion project at its Singapore petrochemical complex. The company said over the next few weeks, the petrochemical complex, powered by a 375-megawatt cogeneration plant, will increase production at its three PE plants, two PP plants, a speciality metallocene elastomers unit and the expanded oxo-alcohol and aromatics units..

The expansion adds production of at least 1.4 million tonnes/year of polymers and elastomers, which have already entered commercial operation. The complex is now the ExxonMobil’s largest globally and will produce about 2.6 million tonnes/year of petrochemicals aimed at meeting regional demand.

The project had been scheduled to start up at the end of 2011, but it was delayed due to the weak economic outlook, according to industry sources. However, though there be a downward trend of petrochemical prices in the short-term due to the start-up, ExxonMobil is likely to use the ethylene for its own products, said an industry analyst.