Exxon starts S'pore plant

Exxon starts S'pore plant

SINGAPORE (Reuters): U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil said on Tuesday it has begun operations at a US$2 billion world-scale chemical complex on Jurong Island in Singapore, the company's single largest investment in the Asia-Pacific region.

Traders said the plant's commercial operation was likely to hammer regional chemical fundamentals, which are already in the doldrums because of weak demand and poor margins.

The complex comprises four plants and is integrated into ExxonMobil's 285,000 barrel per day refinery.

At the center of operations is an 800,000 ton per year (tpy) steam cracker, which is only topped in Asia by a 900,000 tpy unit operated by Formosa Petrochemical Corp in Taiwan.

The cracker produces among other chemicals ethylene and propylene, the basic building blocks of the petrochemical industry which are used for plastic packaging, containers and films, detergents, cosmetics and paints.

The Singapore plant also features a 480,000 tpy polyethylene plant, a 315,000 tpy polypropylene plant and a 150,000 tpy oxo alcohol plant.