Ukraine's largest petrochemical maker to start up polyvinyl chloride plant

19-May-11

Ukraine's largest petrochemical company, KarpatNaftoKhim is preparing to start up a newly built 300,000 tpa polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant. "Pre-launch operations are underway," Eduard Maslov, deputy head of KarpatNaftoKhim's engineering department. "Currently we are carrying out a simulation of the launch." The company has invested about $234 million in the construction of the facility. KarpatNaftoKhim, owned by Russian oil company Lukoil, has repeatedly delayed the launch of the facility since December 2010, the original deadline, citing delays by equipment suppliers. In March, the company delayed the launch of the facility to May. In November 2010 the company launched a newly built chlorine and caustic soda plant with production capacity of about 200,000 tpa caustic soda and 180,000 tpa chlorine.