Leading Polish petrochemicals producer Grupa Azoty has announced plans to construct a major new 400,000-metric-tons-per-year plant in northern Poland to manufacture propylene through propane dehydrogenation (PDH) by 2019.
In its 424 million euro ($449.2 million) project, the biggest in Azoty's history, the group not only intends to build the propylene plant but also install power generating units at the chosen site in the city of Police. In addition, Warsaw-based Azoty will expand the chemicals terminal at the Police port facilities owned by the group.
The Grupa Azoty Police 2 project will employ an initial construction workforce of 1,000 and create 200 permanent jobs when complete.
In terms of size, the expansion is comparable with constructing an entirely new chemical plant in the northern Szczecin region, the group said.
Azoty's project will position Poland as a significant producer of propylene, a key chemical industry feedstock, at a time of growing demand and in the face of shutdowns of existing capacity based on old technologies in Europe.
In the next few years, the region is set to become a net importer of propylene, as Germany alone already has an annual deficit of around 850,000 metric tons, according to Azoty.
Azoty plans to allocate around 150,000 tonnes of the plant's annual output to fill its own needs.
Polypropylene will be sold to group companies, with most of it satisfying the raw material needs of Grupa Azoty Z.A. Kędzierzyn which produces OXO alcohols in its plasticizers, solvents and acrylic coatings business.
Sixty percent of the Police propylene production is destined for use in other process units and for export. As part of its project, Azoty intends to consolidate its position in international markets and become Europe's top propylene exporter, according to Paweł Jarczewski, president of the Grupa Azoty management board.
“Through investments in key chemical intermediates, we are building an innovative chemical industry with a global competitive advantage,” the executive commented.
Azoty's second Police operation will contribute around 498 million euros ($527.7 million) in group revenue and millions of euros in net profit starting in 2019.
“The production of propylene, as a key chemical intermediate, paves the way for building other process plants capable of making Poland an important producer of technologically advanced plastics,” said Włodzimierz Karpiński, the Poland's minister of state treasury.