Second PTA plant for Guangdong

BP Zhuhai, a joint venture between BP (85 per cent) and Fu Hua Group (15 per cent), currently operates a 350,000 tonnes a year PTA plant at the site and will also own and operate the new plant.

The new plant, with a capacity of 900,000 tonnes a year, will be the first to employ BP's latest generation PTA technology and, subject to final approval from the Chinese Government, is expected to come on stream at the end of 2007 to meet PTA demand growth in China.

The Zhuhai project has already received approvals from the Chinese Environment Protection Agency and the project application has been submitted to National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC).

PTA is the preferred raw material used to manufacture polyethylene terephthalate, a widely used polyester polymer for the production of textiles, bottles, packaging and film products.

In China, 90 per cent of PTA production is used in the textile industry. Government statistics show that China's PTA consumption in 2004 exceeded 10 million tonnes, of which only around 40 per cent was supplied by domestic production.