JV agrees on feasibility study for chemical site
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 15 -- Germany's BASF AG and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) signed an agreement enabling preparation of a technical and commercial feasibility study for the expansion of the Verbund chemical site in Nanjing, China.
The agreement advances the companies' earlier commitment to invest more than $500 million to expand the steam cracker's capacity to 750,000 tonnes/year of ethylene from 600,000 tonnes/year and to increase downstream plants to further strengthen synergies at the 50-50 joint venture in Nanjing—BASF-YPC Co. Ltd. The expanded facilities are expected to come on stream in 2009 (OGJ Online, July 24, 2006, Newsletter).