Asia's largest SM/PO facility launched by Shell and BASF
Singapore, September 27, 2002 - Shell and BASF today celebrated the formal launch of Ellba Eastern in Singapore. Ellba Eastern is a 50-50 joint venture between Shell Seraya Pioneer (Pte) Ltd, a subsidiary of Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd. and BASF South East Asia Pte Ltd for the production of styrene monomer and propylene oxide (SM/PO).
With a capacity of 550,000 tonnes per year of SM and 250,000 tonnes per year of PO, the new plant is the largest of its kind in Asia. Shell and BASF invested more than US$500 million in Ellba Eastern, which came on-stream in July 2002, and clocked over 15 million work-hours without lost time injury (LTI).
Minister for Trade and Industry, Brigadier-General George Yeo, joined senior company representatives, employees, and public officials to celebrate the plant's official opening.
Said Mr Evert Henkes, CEO of Shell Chemicals Limited, "Economics and job opportunities are clearly key elements of Shell's commitment to contributing to sustainable development. So too are environmental considerations. The leading edge proprietary SMPO technology we use in this plant allows us to make a major economic contribution while, at the same time, minimising the impact on the environment."
Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, BASF Aktiengesellschaft, noted: "In the long-term the Asian market demand for polyurethanes will be about one-third the total global demand with annual growth rates expected to be significantly higher compared to other regions. We intend to expand our global capacities for polyurethane basic materials by concentrating on integrated world-scale plants at selected sites, like this one."
Shell's share of the products from the Ellba Eastern plant is destined for a wide range of geographic markets integrated within the global logistics network of Shell. The access to these markets is in various forms either as PO or as PO-derivatives of polyols and propylene glycols.
BASF will use the PO manufactured at Ellba Eastern to produce polyols for Asia. 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 this operation, BASF increases its commitment in polyurethane systems in Asia and presents itself as a producer with a comprehensive range of basic polyurethane products in this region. From Ellba Eastern, BASF will meet the styrene requirements for its own production facilities, primarily in Asia.
BASF and Shell are already partners in various projects including a similar SM/PO complex in Moerdijk, the Netherlands. The facility there began production in 1999.
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