In Wloclawek (Poland) the Presidents of PKN Orlen, Polimex-Mostostal and the City of Wloclawek together with representatives of Mitsubishi Chemical officially commenced the construction of a purified terephthalic acid plant (PTA). The installation, with an annual production capacity of 600,000 tonnes, will be operating on the premises of PKN Orlen adjacent to Anwil Wloclawek.Polimex-Mostostal was contracted the general constructor of the plant upon the agreement signed with PKN Orlen in 2007. The PTA process is licensed by Mitsubishi Chemical, the world`s third biggest PTA manufacturer and leading producer of the acid in Asia. The contracted technology complies with the best available techniques requirements.
The PTA plant is scheduled to commence production in H2 2010. Until then, PKN Orlen is to increase the production capacity of its paraxylene plant in Plock, a feedstock for PTA. The PTA plant cost is estimated at PLN 3.73 bln. The facility will directly employ over 200 staff with additional personnel to be employed by the maintenance and logistics companies.
The average yearly demand for PTA in Western Europe between 2003 and 2010 is forecasted to grow by 6 per cent every year mainly thanks to applications in the plastics industry, especially polyesters broadly used in such branches as textile, packaging, food and pharmaceuticals.
PKN Orlen is a Polish company and one of Central Europe`s largest refiners of crude oil. We specialize in processing crude oil into world-class unleaded petrol, diesel, heating oil, and aviation fuel as well as plastics and other petroleum related products.
PKN Orlen operates seven refineries, of which three are located in Plock, Trzebinia and Jedlicze (Poland), another three in Litvinov, Kralupy and Pardubice (the Czech Republic) and one in Mazeikiu (Lithuania). The total deep processing capacity of the refineries reaches 31.7 million tonnes per annum (PKN ORLEN share).
