Nova details PE capacity expansion plans at K 2013

Canadian chemical supplier Nova Chemicals gave some specifics about new polyethylene (PE) capacity at a press conference at the K 2013 trade show.

By the end of 2015, according to senior vice president Chris Bezaire, Calgary-based Nova will open a major new large-scale gas phase linear low density PE line at its Joffre, Alberta manufacturing hub in Canada. The new line is expected to have a capacity of about 450 kilotonnes per year.

Nova is also revamping its Corunna, Ont. cracker, in a move to leverage the company’s access to new feedstock by converting the facility to utilize up to 100 per cent natural gas liquids, and be the first in the industry to consume ethane from the Marcellus Shale Basin to make PE by late 2013. Project completion is targeted for early 2014, Bezaire said.