16 April 2010 09:29 [Source: ICIS news]
Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined "Indian Oil eyes commercial production at Panipat PP plant in May" dated 16 April 2010, please read in the first paragraph ... Haryana state ... instead of ... Uttar Pradesh .... A corrected story follows.
SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Indian Oil Corp (IOC) expects to begin commercial production at its new polypropylene (PP) plant in Panipat, Haryana state in the first half of May, a source close to the project said on Friday.
“The initial output from the 600,000 tonne/year PP plant is now undergoing quality tests,” the source said.
Propylene feedstock from IOC’s 857,000 tonne/year naphtha cracker at the same site was fed into the new PP plant on Thursday. The cracker was commissioned in March.
The company’s 650,000 tonne/year polyethylene (PE) facility was set to go on trial production in late April or early May and should achieve commercial output in early June, the source added.
“Preparations are on for ethylene from the cracker to be fed into the PE facility by the end of this month,” the source said.
IOC has been building up inventories of propylene and ethylene feedstock at the cracker complex, ahead of the start-ups of the polymer plants, the source added.
Meanwhile, India would face a huge oversupply of polymers once products from IOC’s PP plant hit the market, traders said.
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Other major Indian producers of PE and PP include Reliance Industries and Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd.
With additional reporting by Malini Harihar