Largest investment by Borealis in Europe

1 billion euro facility to secure supply of propylene for European PP and customers

Borealis held the groundbreaking ceremony on 9 September for its new, world-scale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant. Located at the existing Borealis production site in Kallo, Belgium, the new facility will have a targeted production capacity of 750,000 metric tonnes per year of propylene (PP), making it one of the largest and most efficient plants of its kind in the world. With a total of around EUR 1 billion invested in the course of the project, the investment is the largest ever made by Borealis in Europe. It underscores the company’s commitment to its operations on the Continent, and to being the supplier of choice to its European customers.

PDH is a vital process step in the production of propylene from propane. As one of the most important building blocks for the entire chemical industry, propylene is the raw material used to produce polypropylene (PP), which in turn is one of the most widely used plastics. PP forms the base of countless industrial applications used in any number of sectors, including automotive, consumer goods, energy, food packaging, healthcare, and many others.

European demand for propylene is growing, yet presently, supply is decreasing due to a confluence of global market developments. The start-up of the new Kallo plant, scheduled for the middle of 2022, means that European customers will soon be able to rely on the secure supply of competitively priced propylene and its derivatives.