BASF, Sinopec plan to spend US$900 mln to expand JV

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp) and German chemical company BASF plan to invest US$900 million in the expansion of their joint project in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, BASF said in a press release yesterday.

The expansion plan of the Verbund site project, which is currently run by the joint venture BASF-YPC Co Ltd (BYC), is a significant step forward for strategic downstream products expansion, and is expected to make great contribution to meet the domestic market demand, according to the statement.

The focus of the expansion project includes the expansion of the steam cracker from 600,000 to around 750,000 metric tons of ethylene per year as well as the existing oxo-alcohol and propionic acid plants, the development of the ethylene oxide derivatives and the C4 value chain, and the extension of the acrylics value chain.

These expansions are expected in phases starting this year. The cracker expansion is scheduled for 2009/2010, said the statement.

Founded in 2000, BYC is a 50-50 joint venture of BASF and Sinopec. The first phase project involved a total investment of US$2.9 billion.

BASF and Sinopec also agreed to integrate another joint operation Yangzi-BASF Styrenics (YBS) in Nanjing into BYC to increase efficiency and make full use of existing synergies.