Chevron Phillips Chemical on Wednesday began restarting a polyethylene unit at its Cedar Bayou complex in Baytown, Texas, that has been offline since Hurricane Harvey made landfall, according to a filing with state regulators.
The startup of Polyethylene Unit 1799 began Wednesday, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and those procedures could run through November 14.
The startup is in line with recent market expectations for the complex, which sustained significant flooding due to Harvey in late August. The Cedar Bayou complex has an existing steam cracker that can produce 835,000 mt/year of ethylene and three polyethylene plants that can produce a combined 791,000 mt/year.
During an earnings call last week, Phillips 66 CEO Greg Garland said the startup of operations was underway, with most units likely to be online by the end of November. Phillips 66 is a partner with Chevron Corp. on the chemical joint venture.
In recent weeks, CP Chem restarted the 1-Hexene Unit at the site, which produces co-monomers used in polyethylene production. An October 23 filing with the TCEQ showed it had begun restarting boilers A, B and C, which market sources have said would be needed for the polymer production.
