M&G Group to build 1 mln tpa PET plant and 1.2 mln tpa PTA plant at Corpus Christi, Texas

12-Jul-11

M&G Group, the largest Americas producer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for packaging applications, has selected Corpus Christi, Texas, as the location for its previously announced 1 mln tpa PET plant and accompanying 1.2 mln tpa terephthalic acid (PTA) plant. Construction time for both the PET and PTA plants is estimated to be 30 months. The engineering, project management, sourcing and construction management will be performed by Chemtex Global S.A., a subsidiary company of the M&G Group. The new PET single line plant will employ the same technology as M&G's single reactor Suape (Brazil) PET plant, including M&G's revolutionary EasyUp ™ SSP technology. Corpus Christi is strategically located on the Gulf of Mexico is the sixth largest port in the United States in terms of tonnage, and will soon expand significantly as a major trade gateway for Mexico and Latin America with development of the La Quinta Container Terminal. "Corpus Christi is an excellent strategic home for what will be M&G's largest-ever investment. It has exceptional highway, deep-water and rail access, including three Class 1 railroads," said Marco Ghisolfi, CEO of M&G's Polymers Business Unit. "It was not only the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation's and Governor Perry's Economic Development & Tourism Division's aggressive business-friendly approach in attracting M&G to Texas that weighed heavily in making the location decision, but also the service and supply efficiencies resulting from the presence of six refineries and Paraxylene production in the area, as well as the excellent port infrastructure that allows the benefit of having marine access to most of the PTA/PET facility's key raw materials, Paraxylene, Acetic Acid and Ethylene Glycol," added Ghisolfi.