Hanwha Total Petrochemical, a 50/50 joint venture between Hanwha and Total (Paris, France; www.total.com), will invest to expand its Daesan refining & petrochemicals integrated platform. The planned $450-million investment will increase the site’s ethylene capacity by 30% to 1.4 million ton/yr.
Daesan is one of Total’s six world-class integrated platforms and a strategic asset for Hanwha. This site, which is comprised of a highly flexible condensate splitter, a competitive steam cracker and polymers, styrene and aromatics units, generated a net result of nearly $1 billion in 2016.
The extension will significantly increase the site’s flexibility, enabling it to process competitively priced propane feedstock, which is abundantly available, notably due to the shale gas revolution in the U.S. The expansion project is set to be completed by mid-2019.
The additional ethylene production will meet local demand and also supply the nearby fast-growing Chinese market which imports a significant part of its ethylene requirements.
“This project is part of our strategy to invest in world-class integrated platforms to develop petrochemicals based on competitive feedstock and targeting high- growth markets,” says Bernard Pinatel, president Refining & Chemicals of Total. “The investment reflects the strong partnership with Hanwha and will contribute to the growth of our Refining & Petrochemicals cash flows.”