W.R. Grace: Licence for another polypropylene plant in China

The US chemical company W.R. Grace & Co. will be the technology supplier for another polypropylene plant of the China Coal Shaanxi Energy & Chemical Group Company.

In a recent press release, W.R. Grace announced the extension of an existing licence agreement with the Chinese company. Accordingly, China Coal Shaanxi is planning to build a new plant with an annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes of polypropylene (PP) at the Yulin site in the northern Chinese province of Shaanxi. The complex will use the Unipol PP process licensed from W.R. Grace to produce high-quality PP homopolymers, PP terpolymers, PP impact and PP random copolymers. The Americans are also providing their "UniPPac" software for process control. The new plant is expected to be commissioned in 2025.

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Grace manager Thomas Deman explained in the current press release: "We are pleased to support China Coal Shaanxi in expanding its PP production capacity. W.R. Grace's Unipol PP process, combined with UniPPac process control software, is the fastest and most efficient way for China Coal Shaanxi to maximise reactor output while achieving competitive advantages in product diversification, quality and cost."

China Coal Shaanxi already operates a plant in Yulin with an annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes of PP, for which W.R. Grace licensed its Unipol process in 2011. With the new complex, the Chinese company will now double its total PP capacity to 600,000 tonnes per year.

China Coal Shaanxi is also planning to build a new plant for the production of EVA copolymers, HDPE and PP at the Yulin site, for which the LyondellBasell chemicals group will provide the Lupotech T, Hostalen ACP and Spheripol technologies on the basis of a licence agreement signed in January of this year.

W.R. Grace, based in Columbia, Maryland, is a leading global manufacturer of catalysts and speciality chemicals and currently employs more than 4,500 people worldwide. The annual turnover of the company, which is part of the US holding company Standard Industries, amounts to more than USD 2 billion.

More information: www.grace.com

W. R. Grace & Co., Columbia, Maryland, USA

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