Chemicals giant Ineos has unveiled plans to expand its Grangemouth facility in east Stirlingshire.

The company is proposing to increase the ethylene capacity of its cracker facilities at the site to over one million tonnes, as well as at its Rafnes site in Norway.

The scheme is part of a major European expansion programme by Ineos, which is aiming to build a world-scale Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Europe. The plant will produce 750,000 tonnes per annum of propylene for Ineos units across the continent.

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A number of locations are being considered for the facility, including Ineos sites at Antwerp in Belgium.

Gerd Franken, Chief Executive Officer of Ineos Olefins & Polymers North said: "These are exciting times for INEOS as we plan to further increase the capacity of our crackers in Europe and at the same time to build an entirely new PDH plant.

"These expansions and new builds will increase our self-sufficiency in all key olefin products and give further support to our derivative businesses and polymer plants in Europe. All our assets will benefit from our capability to import competitive raw materials from the US and the rest of the world."

Found and Chairman Jim Ratcliffe added: "These projects represent the first substantial investments in the European chemicals industry for many years. It has only been made possible because of Ineos' massive $2 billion investment in our Dragon Ships programme which allows us to import ethane and LPG from the US in huge quantities."

(LM/MH)