Uhde has been awarded a contract to engineer China's biggest single-line polypropylene plant. The plant will be built by Sinopec subsidiary Tianjin Petrochemical Company at their site in Tianjin, some 100km south-east of Beijing, and is to come on-stream in 2009. The contract includes engineering services as well as assistance in the commissioning activities.

The plant will use Basell's Spherizone® process to produce polypropylene (PP), i.e. a wide range of ultra-modern plastic chips with outstanding mechanical properties which can be processed into film, bottles and other containers. The Spherizone® technology is Basell's most advanced process for the production of PP and uses an innovative multi-zone circulating reactor system. The reaction conditions allow a full range of high-quality PP grades to be produced.

This new contract marks another milestone in Uhde's cooperation with Sinopec following the contract awarded by Sinopec International Company for a polyethylene plant in Maoming, Guangdong Province, and completion of the world's biggest vinyl chloride plant for Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical Corporation in Zibo, Shandong Province, in 2005.

Uhde has been represented in Beijing, China, for over 25 years and has in this time successfully executed over 80 plant contracts. Since the establishment of its subsidiary Uhde Engineering Consulting (Shanghai) in 2005 Uhde has been able to provide its customers with important services locally.