Sasol Ltd. (Johannesburg, South Africa; www.sasol.co.za) announced that its new U.S.-based linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit has achieved beneficial operations — the first of the seven production facilities of Sasol’s Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP) to come online.
“Reaching beneficial operations of our first LCCP unit is a defining moment in Sasol’s history and a significant milestone in delivering on the promise of LCCP,” said Mike Thomas, senior vice president of Sasol’s North American Operations. “This success is attributable to our team of Sasol employees, contractors and industry partners, who worked for several years to safely enable this milestone.”
“We have been in the global polymers industry for more than 50 years with local presence established in all regions with employees and distribution partners,” said Adriaan Janse van Rensburg, vice president of Polymers for Sasol’s Base Chemicals strategic business unit. “Our competitive cost position, world-scale, state-of-the-art assets and good logistics location will provide for robust economics over the long term as we supply polymers to new and existing customers in fast-growing global markets.”
The LLDPE unit, which uses Univation Technologies’ UNIPOL PE process to produce 470,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of LLDPE, is one of two polyethylene plants at the LCCP site. The second, a 420,000-m.t./yr low-density polyethylene plant using ExxonMobil technology, is scheduled to come online later this year. Additionally, Sasol has a third polyethylene facility in the United States, a high-density polyethylene plant, through Gemini, its 50/50 joint venture with INEOS, in LaPorte, Texas. The new U.S. polymers facilities will effectively double Sasol’s global polymer production capabilities, benefiting customers in all regions.
The remaining six Lake Charles Chemicals Project manufacturing units are expected to reach beneficial operations throughout 2019 and early 2020.