September 14, 2006 – Basell has successfully completed an expansion of its catalyst manufacturing facility located in Ferrara, Italy.
The capacity of the plant, which produces Ziegler polyethylene and Ziegler-Natta polypropylene catalysts, has been expanded by 40%. The plant can now supply catalysts for the production of 30 million tons of polyolefins.
According to Just Jansz, president of Basell’s Technology Business, “The new catalyst capacity was added to support the many new polypropylene and polyethylene licensees to whom Basell has granted polyolefin process licenses in recent years. The new capacity will also be used to supply our catalyst customers who produce polyolefins with non-Basell processes, especially gas phase polypropylene technologies. This will further strengthen our catalyst supply chain and enhance supply security for our customers.”
The Ferrara plant can produce 3rd, 4th and 5th generation Ziegler-Natta catalyst systems. These catalysts are sold under the Avant trade name:
• Avant ZN - Ziegler-Natta catalysts for polypropylene
• Avant Z - Ziegler catalysts for polyethylene
• Avant C - Chromium catalysts for polyethylene
• Avant M - Metallocene catalysts for polypropylene
Jansz added, “Basell’s Ferrara plant is the largest polyolefin catalyst manufacturing facility in the world. When combined with our Edison, NJ, catalyst plant, which we acquired earlier this year from Akzo Nobel, and our other catalyst manufacturing facilities in Ludwigshafen and Frankfurt, Germany, Basell is uniquely positioned to serve the global polyolefins catalyst market.”
Basell is a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. It has granted more than 200 polyolefin process licenses worldwide.
Basell’s complete portfolio of licensed technologies is comprised of:
• Spheripol – polypropylene technology for the production of homopolymer, random and heterophasic copolymers
• Spherizone – latest generation polypropylene process for the production of homopolymers, random and heterophasic copolymers based on new multi-zone reactor technology
• Spherilene – swing gas phase process, for the production of the entire range of LLDPE, MDPE and HDPE including bimodal grades
• Hostalen - low-pressure slurry process for the production of bi-modal HDPE
• Lupotech T – high pressure tubular reactor process for the production of LDPE and EVA copolymers
• Metocene - technology for production of specialty polypropylene products based on proprietary single-site catalyst systems
Basell is the world's largest producer of polypropylene and advanced polyolefin products, a leading supplier of polyethylene and catalysts, and a global leader in the development and licensing of polypropylene and polyethylene processes. Basell, together with its joint ventures, has manufacturing facilities around the world and sells products in more than 120 countries. Additional information about Basell is available at www.basell.com.
For more information contact Michelle Harrell, Basell Corporate Communications, at
+1 302 438 6574 or michelle.harrell@basell.com
