include a 500,000-m.t./year Spherizone PP plant at Karabatan, due onstream in 2013. Separately, LyondellBasell confirmed plans last week for a 490,000-m.t./year Spherizone-process PP plant in Trinidad and Tobago as part of a complex including a methanol-to-propylene plant, for completion in 2012.

China and India will continue to be the growth engines for PP consumption beyond 2009, analysts say. China’s imports of PP rose 4% last year, to 3 million _{1. 1 (0.3)} m.t., says Qu Guangdong, manager at SRI Consulting (Beijing). Qu forecasts a 4% reduction in imports this year as more domes- _(0.6) tic capacity comes online. China’s PP capacity will rise by 730,000 m.t. /year, to 8. 4 million m.t./ year this year, he says. ^{Source: LyondellBasell.}

Investments in PP capacity will continue and, “if all the proje cts come onstream as scheduled, China’s total PP capacity should reach 12. 2 million m.t./year by 2011 and almost 15. 5 million m.t./year by

2016,” Qu says. Meanwhile, Fujian Refining and Petrochemicals Co. will bring online a 470,000-m.t./year, Novolen process PP plant at Quanzhou, China in the second quarter of 2009. e company is a jv in which Sinopec,

POLYPROPYLENE TRADE FLOWS WILL CHANGE (in millions of m.t.)

Europe

0.5

North America

( 1. 6)

?

South America

(0.6)

4. 2

0.3

Africa and Mideast

2006

2012

grated refinery and petchems complex owned by the jv partners. Sabic signed a deal earlier this year to market Aramco’s polyolefins share from Quanzhou in China, including 120,000 m.t./year of PP.

Sabic signed a separate deal with S inopec to form a 50-50 jv for a p etchems complex that is under c onstruction at Tianjin. e comp lex includes a 450,000-m.t./year, S pherizone-process PP plant and

^Asia i s due online in September 2009.
(0.4) F ormosa Plastics, meanwhile, brought
o nline a 450,000-m.t./year, Novolen
^{( 2. 1)} p rocess PP plant at Ningbo last year.
Analysts’ opinion is divided on
whether China will become more self
s u cient in PP as additional capac-
i ty comes onstream there. CMAI
s ays that China”s PP imports will
n ot decrease significantly. “With the
d emand potential for PP, I don”t think
t hat China will ever become self-su cient,”
Dennett says. China is importing 3. 5 million
m.t.- 4 million m.t./year of PP, he says. “ e
growth rate of imports is decreasing and there

Net trade flows

 

through its Fujian Petrochemical Co. subsidiary, holds a 50%-stake, and Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil Chemical each have 25%. e Quanzhou PP plant forms part of an inte-

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