Sasol says new Louisiana LDPE unit to start up in September

Houston — Sasol expects to bring a low density polyethylene unit damaged by fire during commissioning in January online in September, the company said in a notice on its website.

The notice, posted June 23, said the 420,000 mt/year LDPE unit at the company's Louisiana petrochemical complex was on track to reach beneficial operation by the end of September. The company defines beneficial operation as 72 consecutive hours of on-spec production.

The company also said it had brought two alcohols units at the complex online in June, so the LDPE unit will be the last of the $12.8 billion project's units to begin production.

The company said 86% of nameplate capacity at the so-called Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP) was operational.

The alcohols units include a 173,000 mt/year Ziegler plant and a 30,000 mt/year Guerbet facility.

Sasol started up a 470,000 mt/year linear low density PE plant at the complex in February 2019, and a 1.5 million mt/year cracker in 2019 - first in August, and again in December after a shutdown for repairs.

Sasol is seeking partners to invest in the new cracker, the new LLDPE plant and a legacy 464,000 mt/year cracker at the complex as part of a plan to raise at least $6 billion by the end of 2021 to shore up its financial strength in light of impacts from lower oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.

On June 18, Sasol said the company would reduce oil investment activity and focus on chemical and energy to enable sustainability at lower oil prices.