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POLYETHYLENE　USA

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Millions of pounds per year
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(S) indicates swing LLDPE/HDPE capacity

HDPE

Equistar Chemicals is a polymers and olefins joint venture that Lyondell Petrochemicals and Millennium Chemicals formed in 1997. In 1998, Occidental Chemical merged its olefin and derivatives business into Equistar. In 1999, Equistar expanded its Matagorda, Tex., HDPE plant by 480 million pounds. The company also completed a 125-million-pound HDPE debottlenecking at its Victoria, Tex., site. In February, 2000, Equistar permanently shuttered a 240-million-pound HDPE reactor at its Port Arthur, Tex., facility. Also, a 300-million pound HDPE reactor mothballed in 1999, was closed permanently.

Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999 to form a new entity, ExxonMobil.

Chevron and Phillips Petroleum merged their chemical operations into a 50-50 joint venture in 2000. The new entity is called Chevron Phillips Chemical Company (CPC). That same year CPC completed the addition of another 330 million pounds of HDPE capacity to its facility in Orange, Tex.

Solvay and CPC have selected a CPC site in Texas as the location for their jointly owned 700 million pound HDPE slurry loop plant, announced last year. CPC and Solvay will each own 50 percent of the plant and will share its production. Start-up is slated for the fourth quarter of 2002. The companies intend to build a second shared facility at a Solvay site in the 2005-2007 time frame as market demand grows.
This year, Solvay and BP are forming a US joint venture for HDPE in which Solvay holds a 51 percent stake and BP owns the remainder. Solvay will contribute its plant in Deer Park, Tex., to the deal.

Dow Chemical Company acquired Union Carbide Corporation in early 2001. In the second quarter of this year, Formosa Plastics will bring on line 880 million pounds of new HDPE capacity at its Point Comfort, Tex., plant.

LDPE

The long side-chain branching of the LDPE molecules produce a more amorphous polymer having a lower melting point and higher clarity, compared to linear-low-density polyethylene (LLDPE). LDPE is also differentiated from LLDPE by lower physical property values in tensile strength, puncture and tear resistance, and elongation.

Chevron shut down its 150-million-pound-per-year LDPE operation at Orange, Tex., in 1999. Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999 to form a new entity, ExxonMobil. The next year, an extra 210 million pounds of capacity was added to the Baton Rouge LDPE plant. Dow Chemical Company acquired Union Carbide Corporation in early 2001, and with it, the LDPE plant in Seadrift, Tex. Equistar Chemicals is increasing LDPE capacity at its Morris, Ill., site by 70 million pounds, to an estimated 630 million pounds per year. The project is due for completion by the second quarter 2001. The company is also conducting engineering work on a project to add 250 million pounds of LDPE capacity at La Porte, Tex. Meanwhile, Equistar is considering converting the LDPE reactor at Bayport, Tex. to produce ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers. The LDPE capacity will be replaced by the expansion at Morris. Earlier this year Equistar closed its 160-million-pound LDPE reactor at Port Arthur, Tex. The unit's small scale was deemed uneconomical to operate.

LLDPE

LLDPE is produced in low-pressure, swing capacity plants capable of alternatively producing high-density polyethylene (HDPE). In 1999, about 10 billion pounds or 40 percent of total available capacity was geared toward LLDPE production. The absence of long side-chain branching produces a more crystalline polymer having a higher melting point and lower clarity, compared to high-pressure, low-density polyethylene (LDPE).

LLDPE is also differentiated from LDPE by higher physical property values in tensile strength, puncture and tear resistance, and elongation. Equistar Chemicals is a polymers and olefins joint venture that Lyondell Petrochemicals and Millennium Chemicals formed in 1997. In 1998, Occidental Chemical merged its olefin and derivatives business into Equistar. In 1999, Equistar expanded its Matagorda, Tex., plant by 480 million pounds. The company also completed a 125-million-pound debottlenecking at its Victoria, Tex., site.

In February, 2000, Equistar permanently shuttered a 240-million-pound reactor at its Port Arthur, Tex., facility. Also, a 300-million-pound reactor mothballed in 1999, was closed permanently. Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999 to form a new entity, ExxonMobil. Chevron and Phillips Petroleum merged their chemical operations into a 50-50 joint venture in 2000. The new entity is called Chevron Phillips Chemical Company (CPC). That same year CPC completed the addition of another 330 million pounds of capacity to its facility in Orange, Tex. Solvay and CPC have selected a CPC site in Texas, as the location for their jointly owned 700-million-pound slurry loop plant, announced last year. CPC and Solvay will each own 50 percent of the plant and will share its production. Start-up is slated for the fourth quarter of 2002. The companies intend to build a second shared facility at a Solvay site in the 2005-2007 time frame as market demand grows.

This year, Solvay and BP are forming a US joint venture for polyethylene in which Solvay holds a 51 percent stake and BP owns the remainder. Solvay will contribute its plant in Deer Park, Tex., to the deal. Dow Chemical Company acquired Union Carbide Corporation in early 2001. And, in the second quarter of this year, Formosa Plastics will bring on line 880 million pounds of new capacity at its Point Comfort, Tex., plant.