LyondellBasell is planning to stop making LDPE at its Fos-sur-Mer site in France. The plant has been idle since March and now the company is planning to make this permanent. Vice president for polyethylene in Europe, Richard Roudeix, said: “Taking into account the current market environment and our future projections our conclusion is that this plant is no longer economically viable. We are able to meet projected customer demand for LDPE with product supplied from our other LDPE facilities.”
LyondellBasell has another French plant, Berre, with more than 300,000 tonnes of LDPE capacity, while the Fos plant is only 110,000 tonnes – the company’s smallest LDPE plant. Berre’s higher capacity gives it better economies of scale.
Source: britishplastics.co.uk
