Jul 28 2006
The Sines complex among the most advanced in Europe
- Three new plants to be built and cracker capacity to be increased by more than 40%.
- The complex will have a production capacity of one million tonnes of olefins and another million tonnes of polyolefins.
- Over 1,500 jobs will be created in the construction phase of the new facilities.
- Sines will enhance its added value by using all current production as feedstock for the new polyolefin plants.
- Repsol YPF consolidates growth in its natural markets in the Iberian Peninsula and Southern Europe and complements its product portfolio.
Antonio Brufau, Executive Chairman of Repsol YPF, accompanied by Pedro Fernández Frial, Executive Director of Downstream, will meet today in Lisbon with the Portuguese Ministry of Economy and Innovation, Manuel Antonio Gomes de Almeida de Pinho, to present the company’s growth project for the Sines Petrochemical Complex in the 2006-2010 period, involving an investment of over EUR600 million.
This project contemplates the construction of three new plants, including a power station and two plants for the production of new plastic products (linear polyethylene and polypropylene) at the current installations, as well as increasing the capacity of the cracker currently in operation by more than 40% to 570,000 tonnes/year. Current production at the complex will increase twofold, boosting oleofin production to nearly one million tonnes and polyolefin production to a similar amount.
This investment will accomplish full integration of feedstock consumption (ethylene, propylene) at the Sines Complex, and optimise costs, as well as complement the product portfolio and increase production of higher added value products. As a result of all of this, the Sines Complex will increase its efficiency, making it one of the most technologically advanced of its kind in the European petrochemical industry.
This project offers high returns since total investment per tonnes of installed polyolefin production (including acquisition costs), represents 60% of the cost required to build a new complex.
A project of international dimension in Southern Europe
Repsol YPF’s Executive Chairman, Antonio Brufau, highlighted the importance of this investment in “an internationally competitive project that is very beneficial for Portugal in that, apart from taking advantage of a large part of the existing infrastructure in the area not fully exploited to date, it will create jobs, double the current size of the complex, and benefit the country’s economy and balance of payments by using the new capacity for export.”
Antonio Brufau underscored the strategic importance of this investment for Repsol YPF since it would be spent on “a profitable growth project aimed at strengthening the company’s presence in a natural market, such as the Iberian Peninsula/Southern Europe, and increasing core businesses in the chemicals division.”
Enhances added value of the Sines petrochemical complex
Following the construction of two new polyolefin plants, the complex will cease to be a mere exporter of raw materials (over 30% of ethylene and 100% of propylene produced at the complex is currently exported outside Portugal), and will significantly enhance its added value by using all the cracker’s ethylene and propylene production in the new polyolefin plants.
Linear polyethylene and propylene are plastics with numerous applications and constantly expanding markets. Demand for these products is showing very attractive annual growth rates (6% and 5%, respectively), greatly outpacing the economic growth rates of Western European countries.
The linear polyethylene plant will complement the range of products currently manufactured at the company’s facilities in Sines, as well as in the Puertollano and Tarragona complexes, where Repsol YPF is now producing low and high-density polyethylene (LDPE and HDPE).
With respect to polypropylene, the future range of products will complement that currently produced at the company’s Puertollano and Tarragona plants, using the most advanced technology currently existing in the market.
Creates a significant number of jobs
The investment project will create a considerable number of jobs over the next four years:
Construction phase 2007-2010:
- Over eight million working hours
- An average of 1,200 employees
- 1,500 employees at peak periods
Operations:
- 120 direct jobs
- 250 indirect jobs