BP
Plans to exit polyolefins / IPO in second half of 2005 / Leading positions in PE and PP
“If we can´t be the best, we´ll leave the business to others,” Iain Conn, head of BP Petrochemicals (GB-London; www.bpchemicals.com) said at a press conference in late March to present the group´s new strategy for petrochemicals. The group planned to concentrate on “advantaged products” such as PTA, paraxylene, acetic acid and derivatives, he said. At the end of April, BP revealed that it intends to follow up on its plans rather quickly. Due to disappointing results recently, the group plans to quit the business with olefins and derivatives, in particular polyolefins.
Starting at the end of 2004, BP´s olefins segment is to be spun off into a stand-alone company and taken public in several stages, starting in the second half of 2005. The group will retain a majority interest in the new firm for at least two to three years, said Conn. The sale is expected to yield well over EUR 4 bn for the parent company, British Petroleum (www.bp.com). Activities to be split off – including ethylene, polyethylene (mainly HDPE), PP and acrylonitrile – represent an annual production volume of 20m t and fixed assets of around EUR 8 bn, about 60% of BP´s petrochemicals business.
In polypropylene, BP Petrochemicals has 3.6m t of annual capacity, for the most part in Europe and North America, and is world´s undisputed number two behind Basell. In Europe, the London-based group is third with capacity to produce 1.25m t/y. In the broader European PE market, BP also ranks third, with more than 2m t/y of installed capacity, but is one of the leaders in HDPE. On the world scale of PE players, BP is in the category of producers with 2.5-3m t/y of PE capacity. These rank third to eighth behind market leaders Dow and ExxonMobil.
• e-Service:
Comprehensive strategy presentation on BP Chemicals made by Iain Conn as PDF document (210 KB)
Starting at the end of 2004, BP´s olefins segment is to be spun off into a stand-alone company and taken public in several stages, starting in the second half of 2005. The group will retain a majority interest in the new firm for at least two to three years, said Conn. The sale is expected to yield well over EUR 4 bn for the parent company, British Petroleum (www.bp.com). Activities to be split off – including ethylene, polyethylene (mainly HDPE), PP and acrylonitrile – represent an annual production volume of 20m t and fixed assets of around EUR 8 bn, about 60% of BP´s petrochemicals business.
In polypropylene, BP Petrochemicals has 3.6m t of annual capacity, for the most part in Europe and North America, and is world´s undisputed number two behind Basell. In Europe, the London-based group is third with capacity to produce 1.25m t/y. In the broader European PE market, BP also ranks third, with more than 2m t/y of installed capacity, but is one of the leaders in HDPE. On the world scale of PE players, BP is in the category of producers with 2.5-3m t/y of PE capacity. These rank third to eighth behind market leaders Dow and ExxonMobil.
• e-Service:
Comprehensive strategy presentation on BP Chemicals made by Iain Conn as PDF document (210 KB)
13.05.2004 Plasteurope.com [200008]
Published on 13.05.2004