Petrochemicals

Petrochemicals
In 2007, PKN ORLEN increased its production of petrochemicals to a level of 1.7 million tonnes, that is, by 3.4 percent in comparison to 2006. The production plant in Płock produced 624 thousand tonnes of ethylene and 409 thousand tonnes of propylene, of which approximately 10 percent in both cases was used in its own installations for the production of ethylene oxide, glycols and phenol. The key customers for the remaining volume of monomers were Basell Orlen Polyolefins and ANWIL Włocławek.

 

 

 

 

 

Production volume of selected petrochemicals in PKN ORLEN in 2006–2007 (tonnes)

	2006	2007	Dynamics
Ethylene	592 780	623 698	5,20%
Propylene	402 741	408 522	1,40%
Butadiene	61 296	59 265	-3,30%
Benzene	113 645	113 411	-0,20%
Toluene	116 675	122 458	5,00%
Paraxylene	30 623	31 061	1,40%
Phenol	44 538	49 725	11,60%
Acetone	28 252	31 706	12,20%
Glycols	111 015	103 830	-6,50%
Cooling fluids	15 619	14 780	-5,40%
Solvents	19 203	11 215	-41,60%
Aromatics	315 117	333 029	5,70%
Sulphur	123 624	127 274	3,00%
Ethylene oxide	15 882	16 988	7,00%

Plastic Materials
In 2007, Basell Orlen Polyolefins produced over 770 thousand tonnes of polyolefi ns in Płock, that is, approximately 12.4 percent more than in the preceding year. The total production of all types of polyethylene was 392 thousand tonnes, i.e. 27 thousand tonnes more than in the previous year. The production of  polypropylene in 2007 reached 379 thousand tonnes, that is 58 thousand tonnes more than in 2006.

The products of Basell Orlen Polyolefins were distributed in the framework of the BOP Logistics Platform, one of the largest facilities of its kind in Europe. Products from Płock were widely applied to both the customer market and the industrial market for production of packaging, film, textile products as well as automobile parts and pipes.

Production volume of polyolefins in Basell Orlen Polyolefi ns in 2006–2007 (’000 tonnes)

	2006	2007	Dynamics
LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene)	120	117	-2,50%
HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)	245	275	12,20%
PP (Polypropylene)	321,1	379	18,00%

Investments

In January 2007, the Company signed a contract with Technip for construction of a new paraxylene installation with annual production capacity of 400 thousand tonnes in Płock. The start-up of the installation providing raw material for production of terephthalic acid is planned in 2010.

In August 2007, PKN ORLEN signed a contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for a technological project and supply of materials, equipment, and provision of technical services related to the construction of a purified tetraphthalic acid (PTA) installation. The installation, with an annual production capacity of 600 thousand tonnes of acid, will be started up in 2010on the premises of ANWIL Włocławek. The investment will strengthen the position of PKN ORLEN in the petrochemical segment, characterised by a high growth potential, enabling increased use of the processing capacities at the Production Plant in Płock and expansion of the Group’s portfolio of highly-processed products.