Update on Philippines's JG Summit petchem expansion project

According to media report, JG Summit Holdings has begun the construction work at its expansion project at its petrochemical facility in Batangas, the Philippines. The company conducted a feasibility study for the project last year.

The costs of the project has been elevated to about $650 million to boost output from the naphtha cracker to 480,000 tons/year of ethylene and 240,000 tons/year of propylene from the current production of 320,000 tons/year and 190,000 tons/year respectively.

Besides, the company is also expected to produce 70,000 tons/year of butadiene and 90,000 tons/year of raffinate. The other project would yield 126,000 tons/year of benzene, 76,000 tons/year of toluene and 46,000 tons/year of mixed xylene among other products.

Source close to the company added, “We will also expand the downstream PE unit to match the new ethylene output. For PP, expansion might not be necessary as our current plant can operate above the nameplate capacity.” Currently, JG’s nameplate capacity for PP is 190,000 tons /year and PE is 320,000 tons/year.

The cracker is expected to come online in 2019.