ExxonMobil Corporation to Initiate a 650MTPA Polyethylene Project at Texas

United States: ExxonMobil Corporation announced to initiate a new production plant to increase its polyethylene capacity at Beaumont, Texas plant by 65 percent. This new facility will add 650,000 metric tonnes of high performance polyethylene per year. The current capacity of the plant is 1,000,000 metric tonnes per annum and the construction of the new plant is expected to be completed by 2019. Moreover, abundant shale gas reserves in the United States, which can be used as a feedstock for ethylene production, would be advantageous for the company and would enable this expansion to meet the growing demand for high performance plastics.

TechSci Research depicts that the installation of the new capacity of polyethylene to the plant would help the company to strengthen its footprint in the global polyethylene market and would also cater to meet the growing demand for energy across the globe. This expansion would stimulate the economic growth of the region and would create thousands of jobs.        

According to the recently published report by TechSci Research, “Global Ethylene Market By End Use, By Region, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2025”, the global ethylene market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 11.26% during 2016-2025, on the back of growing demands for flexible packaging materials, disposable items and expanding real estate & construction sector, globally. Increasing awareness among people about package labelling and its advantages, along with production of light weight automobiles and expanding infrastructure sector in developing countries is expected to result in augmented demand for ethylene and its derivatives. Additionally, lifting of sanctions on Iran and its entry to the global market with abundant crude oil reserves and low cost feedstock availability in conjugation with discovery of shale gas reserves in North America, is expected to lead to higher production capacity of ethylene, globally. Global ethylene market is controlled by three major players, namely – SABIC, The Dow Chemical Company and Exxon Mobil Corporation. Few other players operating in the global ethylene market are Sinopec Corporation, LyondellBasell and Total S.A, France.