INEOS Olefins & Polymers and Sasol broke ground today on their much anticipated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) manufacturing joint venture at the INEOS Battleground complex in La Porte, Texas.

“This important step, among many, is a celebration of the efforts of INEOS and Sasol, and their respective teams, to realize the vision of a world-scale asset, facilitated by leading bimodal technology, for integrationinto both partners’ upstream and downstream business platforms," said Dennis Seith, CEO of INEOS.

"This project represents not only a commitment to the bimodal HDPE market, but also a significant investment in the community in which the facility will operate,” he added.

The facility will produce 470,000 tpy of bimodal HDPE using Innovene S process technology licensed from INEOS Technologies. The intention is to produce a limited number of grades allowing high-grade efficiencies.

INEOS will operate the 50/50 joint venture. Start-up of the plant is expected in 2016.

“We are delighted to be moving ahead on this important project which supports our North American growth strategy,” said Fleetwood Grobler, executive vice president of Sasol’s global chemicals business. “This state-of-the-art facility will be ideally located close to our existing and future ethane cracker and derivatives complex in Southwest Louisiana.”