KARACHI: Engro Corporation has selected Honeywell UOP and W. R. Grace & Co. as technology partners to use their licensed process technology for the USD1.5 billion, 750,000 Propane Dehydrogenation (“PDH”) and Polypropylene (“PP”) production facility, that would make Pakistan a self-sufficient producer of polypropylene.

Polypropylene resin is used in the manufacturing of a variety of daily use consumer products including woven bags, food and non-food packaging, films, sheets, household containers, battery casings, kitchenware, electrical appliances, bottles, caps, pipes and fittings, medical equipment and a wide range of other products. To meet these needs, polypropylene has a local annual demand of 500,000 with an expected growth rate of 7% annually.

Honeywell will provide its C3 Oleflex technology and basic engineering design services, in addition to equipment, catalysts and adsorbents for the plant. Since 2011, most of the new dehydrogenation projects globally have been based on UOP C3 Oleflex technology.

However, this will mark the first use of C3 Oleflex in Pakistan. The technology is designed to have a lower cash cost of production and higher return on investment when compared with competing dehydrogenation technologies.

While announcing the new partnerships, Ghias Khan, president and CEO of Engro Corporation, said, “Engro continues on its journey towards solving the most pressing issues of our time by investing in projects which will serve to be catalysts of growth for Pakistan.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021