Nova Chemicals Surpasses 65% Completion of its Polyolefins Growth Projects in Ontario

Nova Chemicals (U.S. office in Pittsburgh) recently announced its second Advanced Sclairtech technology (AST) unit and the third phase of the Corunna Cracker Expansion Project in Ontario have each safely surpassed 65% completion. The first of eight electrical substations were safely energized in March, and the company estimates that both projects will commence full start-up activities in late 2022, after the Corunna Site turnaround which is targeted for spring 2022.

The new AST polyethylene unit, located at the new Rokeby Site in St. Clair Township, Ont., will have a capacity of approximately 1 billion lb/yr. The cracker expansion will provide ethylene feedstock to the new AST facility, expanding the existing unit’s current capacity by over 50%.  The new octene copolymer AST facility will increase the volume of differentiated high-performance resins, offer supply assurance to customers, and also result in the introduction of an expanded product slate designed to meet the increasing demand for easy to recycle products.

The combined investment of approximately $2.5 billion (CAD) brings cutting edge technology, high-paying jobs, and long-term viability to the region. Since the growth projects began in late 2017, Nova has added approximately $1.1 billion (CAD) to the provincial economy in labor and materials.  Currently, there are three manufacturing facilities and one corporate office in the Sarnia-Lambton region. The Corunna Site produces 1.8 billion pounds of ethylene and about 250 million pounds of coproducts annually. Corunna provides feedstock to the Moore Site and St. Clair River Sites, which convert the ethylene into 1.38 billion pounds of polyethylene. Ethane, a component of natural gas, is the primary feedstock for ethylene production at Corunna Site.

Said Luis Sierra, Nova Chemicals’ president and CEO, “We’re proud to bring Canadian ingenuity to the North American and global marketplace, especially as the plastics and chemicals landscape evolves around the world. Nova Chemicals will continue to be an innovator in developing a circular economy for plastics, which includes reducing plastic waste in our environment, by bringing new, premium-value plastics that support sustainable packaging solutions to the marketplace. The COVID-19 pandemic and the severe cold weather in February on the U.S. Gulf Coast have reminded us how Nova’s products and geographic locations can provide our customers with security of supply and more choices.”