M&G Chemicals to expand Corpus PTA, PET plant

M&G Chemicals plans to increase the capacity of its project in Corpus Christi, Texas, for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA), the company confirmed on Thursday.

In a statement, M&G announced an increase in planned PET capacity from 1 MMtpy to at least 1.1 MMtpy, and in PTA capacity from 1.2 MMtpy to 1.3 million MMtpy.

“We strongly believe in our Corpus Christi project, which is the most advanced ever in this industry," said CEO Marco Ghisolfi. "We decided to increase our investment in order to make it even more efficient. Most of the increased capacity has already been committed in the market. A portion of the capacity will also be used to displace our current imports from Mexico.”

This is not the first time that an M&G Chemicals facility has exceeded its planned capacity. The company notes that it already happened in Altamira, Mexico, and Suape, Brazil, where the current capacity increased well in excess of 30% versus the initial design capacity.

“Our proprietary technology is very reliable and powerful, and it allows us to reach unprecedented targets," the CEO said.

The facility is currently under construction, and the opening is scheduled for the second half of 2016. 

The PET part of the facility is on schedule, while a couple of suppliers of critical equipment to the PTA plant are indicating some delays, which are currently being analyzed. M&G says it is working on back-up plans to ensure there is no impact on the PET start-up.