Ineos delays startup at ethylene unit at Alvin, Texas

13-Oct-15

US olefins producer Ineos has delayed a startup of one ethylene unit at its Alvin, Texas, complex, as per market sources in Platts. Ineos operates two steam crackers at the petrochemical complex, each capable of producing 907,000 tpa of ethylene, according to Platts data, while polypropylene production at the site is at 440,000 tpa. The ethylene plant was scheduled for restart over the weekend. However, the process has been extended without clear indication of duration. A company spokesman confirmed the delay in startup but was unable to provide a time frame for its completion or reasons behind the delay. The complex suffered an area-wide power outage in mid-September, which led to a two-week outage at its Olefins No. 1 plant and polypropylene plant on the site. Sources said that the Olefins No. 2 plant was still down, though a company spokesman did not confirm which one of the units was still down.