News

INEOS Phenol and Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Company have signed a Letter of Intent to study and negotiate a joint venture to build and operate a phenol/acetone manufacturing site at the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park in Jiangsu Province, China. 

The expected annual capacity of the new facility will be 400,000 tons of phenol and 250,000 tons of acetone making it the largest plant of its kind in China. The facility will also include 550,000 ton/year of cumene capacity. The location of the plant in Nanjing places it at the center of China's strongest market for both phenol and acetone. It is currently expected that the project will be completed in 2013.

China is the world's fastest growing market for phenol and acetone and Sinopec is China's leading producer of phenol and acetone with two production sites in Shanghai and Beijing and a third under construction in Tianjin. INEOS Phenol currently has manufacturing sites in Germany, Belgium, and USA (Alabama). Following the completion of this project INEOS Phenol will further strengthen its leading position and will be the only company to have global manufacturing capability, with phenol and acetone production in Europe, the USA, and Asia. 

Leen Heemskerk, CEO of INEOS Phenol stated, "Building manufacturing capability in the world's fastest growing market is strategically important for INEOS Phenol. The partnership of Sinopec YPC, INEOS Phenol and the Nanjing Chemical Industry Park combines superior technology, full feedstock and supply chain integration, and strong operating cultures. We look forward to developing this investment which will provide competitive products and integration investment opportunities to our customers." 

INEOS Phenol is the world's largest phenol and acetone producer and Sinopec is China's largest refining and petrochemical company. 

For further information contact:
Richard Longden – INEOS - Tel: +44 (0) 7710 371998


INEOS Phenol, currently has a nameplate capacity of 1870 ktpa of phenol and 1150 ktpa of acetone a year. It has a turnover of around €2.7 billion and employs 600 people worldwide. The company is the world's largest producer of Phenol and Acetone and the only manufacturer with production facilities both in Europe and America.

It is expected that the production from a JV facility with Sinopec YPC will serve the growing market for phenol and acetone in China and will free capacity at the company’s European and US plants to meet growth in these regions. The completion of this new plant in China will increase INEOS Phenol’s overall annual capacity to over 2.3 million tonnes of phenol and 1.4 million tonnes of acetone.

Phenol and Acetone are used in the production of polycarbonate, plastics, phenolic resins, synthetic fibres (such as nylon) and solvents. These products are used in a diverse range of endmarkets, including the automotive, construction, electronics and fibre industries.

INEOS is the world’s third largest chemicals company; a leading manufacturer of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products. Comprising 17 businesses, with a production network spanning 64 manufacturing facilities in 14 countries, the company produces more than 30 million tonnes of petrochemicals, 20 million tons per annum of crude oil refined products (fuels). INEOS employs 15,500 people and has sales of around $47bn.