GAIL: New HD/LLDPE swing plant in India starts up
The Gas Authority of India (GAIL, New Delhi; www.gailonline.com) in mid-September started up a 400,000 t/y HD/LLDPE swing line at its site in Pata, Uttar Pradesh. Plans for the facility, which is operated with a “Unipol” license, were first announced in 2008 (see Plasteurope.com of03.10.2008). The site is also home to an ethylene cracker.
PIE’s Polyglobe capacity database (www.polyglobe.net) shows that India’s total low-pressure PE capacities come to slightly more than 3.2m t/y, making it the world’s seventh largest producer, on a par with South Korea, Iran and Canada. The world’s top three production countries are the US, China and Saudi Arabia, which together make up about 25% of total global HD/LLDPE capacities.
