INEOS Polyolefins expanding Grangemouth capacities

London - INEOS Polyolefins is to invest in random co-polymer technology on its liquid pool polypropelene (PP) unit at Grangemouth, Scotland. By linking ethylene supply from its crackers to the PP unit, random co-polymer grades with a wide range of melt flow rates will be produced from Q3 2008 for the blow moulding, packaging and medical sectors, the company said.

INEOS Polyolefins recently completed a 50ktpa debottleneck of its liquid pool polypropylene unit, raising its capacity to 285ktpa. The company now plans to introduce swing capability on its 310 ktpa LLDPE plant to produce HDPE grades. This follows the recent development by INEOS Polyolefins of rotomoulding grades at Grangemouth and the appointment of ICO Polymers as its exclusive partner to distribute its range of advanced hexene co-monomer rotomoulding polymers.

The new HDPE injection moulding grades will be produced in addition to the exisiting LLDPE/MDPE grades and will complement the existing HDPE product range, according to a company statement.

"INEOS Polyolefins is strongly committed for the long-term to serving the polyolefins market with high quality, cost-effective and innovative products," said Bill Reid, CEO of INEOS Polyolefin. "With these investments we continue to create a robust production platform throughout Europe that will allow us to maintain our leading market position and ensure the future growth of our business."