BASF and Shell start up Ellba Eastern plant in Singapore
BASF South East Asia, a subsidiary of BASF Aktiengesellschaft, and Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd. have successfully completed building a world-scale SMPO plant at Seraya on Singapore's Jurong Island. The new plant, called Ellba Eastern, is a 50:50 joint venture between BASF and Shell. The propylene oxide (PO) and styrene monomer (SM) output of the plant will be marketed independently by the respective shareholders into their respective businesses and geographic markets.
Ellba Eastern has an annual capacity of 250,000 metric tons of propylene oxide and 550,000 metric tons of styrene monomer. Capital expenditure for this project was more than €500 million.
This plant will serve BASF's PO and SM demand in Asia as well as in the other regions. Both, SM and PO are consumed mainly for captive use in BASF's styrenics and polyurethane businesses. PO imports from Europe and the United States will gradually be phased out and substituted by production in Singapore. Due to the excellent logistics set up in Singapore, Ellba Eastern is well integrated into BASF's global PO and SM network.
The investment decision in Ellba Eastern was made in the middle of the Asian economic crisis in 1998/1999. This plant is now ready at the right moment to participate in a rebound of the global polyurethane markets. It will meet the short-term growth expectations for PO in polyetherols and other PO derivatives in Asia of approximately 6 to 8 per cent in 2002 compared to the previous year. Based on the experience with the Ellba I plant in Moerdijk, The Netherlands, which started up in the third quarter of 1999, BASF expects a gradual ramp up of capacity from a first stable production level of around 50 percent in July 2002. Within a year the plant is expected to run at full capacity.
Propylene oxide is the most important raw material for the manufacture of polyols. Polyols are building blocks for polyurethanes. These versatile polymers are used in the automotive industry, in refrigerators, sports equipment, upholstery, flooring and the soles of shoes. With sales in the Polyurethanes division of €2.7 billion in 2001, BASF is one of the world's leading suppliers of polyurethane basic materials and polyurethane systems.
Styrene is a starting material for plastics such as polystyrene, ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) and SAN (styrene-acrylonitrile). The most important areas of application for these products are automotive construction, electrical engineering and packaging.
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