MEGlobal to build its new MEG manufacturing plant in US

MEGlobal, a subsidiary of Equate Petrochemical Company, plans to build a new monoethylene glycol (MEG) production plant at Dow Chemical’s (Dow) site in Oyster Creek in Freeport, Texas, US. The operations of which will begin by 2019.

The proposed facility will be the company’s first manufacturing plant in the US. During the construction phase, the project will add 1,400 jobs and upon completion MEGlobal expects to employ around 50 new workers.

MEGlobal International president Ramesh Ramachandran said that the Oyster Creek site provides MEGlobal with greater flexibility to satisfy their customers’ needs for consistent and reliable delivery of ethylene glycol products, especially in the growing US and Asian markets.

Under a long-term ethylene supply agreement with MEGlobal, Dow will provide feedstock from its under-construction ethylene cracker, which will become operational by next year, to the new MEG plant.

MEG is used in various market applications, such as polyester fibers, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and packaging, antifreeze and coolants, paints, resins, de-icing fluids, heat transfer fluids and construction materials.

Equate Petrochemical Company president and chief executive officer Mohammad Husain said that establishing MEG production in the US Gulf Coast is an important investment for them, as it greatly enhances their global footprint and is directly aligned to their growth strategy to maximise value as a leading ethylene glycol producer and supplier.

Dow also noted that the under-development ethylene cracker at its Texas site is a part of the company’s current infrastructure that expects to provide the location for the new MEG plant on the US Gulf Coast.

The company will also finish ethane feedstock flexibility for an ethylene cracker, which will come on-line by the second half of this year, at its site in Louisiana.

Equate is an international joint venture between Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Boubyan Petrochemical Company (BPC) and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC).