[ Chemical / Petrochemical ]
[ Chemical / Petrochemical ]
To focus on the positives, new projects for chemical and petrochemical plants continue to make headlines. The following bulletins were announced in March and April 2026. South East Asia remains a hotbed of activity, although many petrochemicals manufacturers in China are reportedly struggling. One prominent Chinese player has engaged Nextchem( MAIRE) to assist with a new-build trimellitic anhydride( TMA) plant. Scope includes licensing, process design package and technical services. TMA is a key intermediate for the production of highperformance and safe plasticizers for polyvinyl chloride used in electrical, automotive and medical applications. Also in China, Borouge has signed a 50:50 joint venture with Wanrong New Materials to develop a greenfield cracker and polyethylene complex. The Dalian Petrochemical Refining and Chemical Integration Project continues to move forwards. This will be China’ s first major large-scale refining and chemical relocation and reconstruction project. Main elements include a 10 MM TPA refining unit and a 1.2 MM TPA ethylene plant, as well as units for polypropylene, polyethylene, polyolefin elastomers and CHPPO. In Vietnam, Technip Energies has been engaged for the Long Son Petrochemicals Enhancement( LSPE) project which will convert the existing steam cracker from naphtha to ethane feedstock. This conversion should optimize feedstock efficiency, achieve substantial cost reduction, significantly reduce carbon footprint intensity, and strengthen longterm strategic resilience amidst global market volatility. Brunei Fertilizer Industries has selected thyssenkrupp Uhde to execute the front-end engineering design for the expansion of an ammonia handling and export infrastructure. Project comprises the design of a new cryogenic ammonia storage tank and the development of a dedicated ammonia export facility.
Africa & Middle East In Africa, Aliko Dangote recently outlined a major growth strategy to push Dangote Industries Limited’ s annual revenue to USD $ 100 billion by 2030. Initiatives include expanding the Dangote Petroleum Refinery from 650,000 to 1.4 million barrels per day, and quadrupling fertilizer output from 3 to 12 million TPA. Note: an increase of this magnitude would position Dangote as the world’ s largest urea fertilizer producer.
With global production exceeding 260 million metric TPA, sulphuric acid is an important chemical for fertilizer production, ore extraction, semiconductor manufacturing, oil refining and more.
Egypt is also seeing plenty of investment. Indorama Corporation announced a USD $ 525 million contract for a major phosphate fertilizers and chemicals complex. Located within the Suez Canal Economic Zone, the first phase of the project will have a production capacity of up to 600,000 TPA, focusing on phosphate fertilizers plus related inputs and chemical products. Polyserve Group is also to invest in Egypt, spending USD $ 215 million on a phosphate chemicals project. Similarly located in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, the project involves extracting, processing and utilising phosphate for the production of phosphate fertilisers and phosphoric acid. In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Investment signed an agreement with SATORP to develop the Amiral project, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Totalenergies. Goals include supporting the localization of value chains in the petrochemicals sector. Meanwhile, reports suggest that Tecnimont has been awarded a USD $ 1.3 billion EPC contract covering the implementation of a petrochemical project in Ras Laffan, Qatar.
India On to India, where Bhagiradha Chemicals & Industries Ltd plans to spend USD $ 100 million on a mega-plant in Kadechur. Focus will be to produce high-value chemical intermediates for sectors such as agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and performance materials. And in Gujarat, Technichem Organics has received prior environmental clearance for a chemical plant designed to manufacture 29 different specialty chemical products. Total capacity is 6000 metric TPA. In other news from India, the cabinet has approved an 84 % increase in the project costs of HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd( HRRL) to USD $ 8.60 billion. Set to start commercial operations this summer, HRRL will produce petrol, diesel and other chemicals such as polypropylene, polyethylene, benzene, toluene and butadiene. Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid the foundation stone for the USD $ 650 million polypropylene plant at BPCL Kochi Refinery. The 400 KTPA unit will be capable of producing six grades of homopolymer polypropylene for diverse applications.
Other regions Looking elsewhere, Atome has reached a final investment decision on a 145MW green hydrogen-based fertiliser plant in Paraguay. Slated to come online in late 2029, it will deliver 260,000 TPA of calcium ammonium nitrate. Interesting aside: this green facility will rely on hydroelectric power to generate green hydrogen. In Turkey, KÖKSAN plans a low-emission polyester plant capable of producing up to 324,000 TPA of polyester resin. Completion and commissioning are planned for 2028. Following previous successes in reducing N2O emissions, thyssenkrupp Uhde will deliver its patented EnviNOx ® technology to two more nitric acid plants at CSBP’ s Kwinana site in Western Australia. Note that N2O is a highly
16 Stainless Steel World June 2026 www. stainless-steel-world. net