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Over 900 million dollars to establish a petrochemical chain in the east of Montreal.
Creation of close to 2000 direct and indirect jobs
Madrid, February 1, 2001 – In the presence of the Premier of Quebec, Mr. Lucien Bouchard, the President of CEPSA, Mr. Carlos Pérez de Bricio, the Chairman, President and CEO of SGF, Mr. Claude Blanchet, and the CEO of Investissement Québec, Mr. Louis L. Roquet, have announced an investment of 700 million dollars for the construction of a plant to produce purified terephtalic acid (PTA) in the industrial sector of east Montreal. The creation of the company Interquisa Canada by CEPSA and SGF will create 140 direct jobs.
Also, Mr. John Johnson, Vice-President, Marketing of the Texan firm Coastal Corporation, has announced the creation, again in east Montreal, of another partnership of over 200 million dollars with SGF Chimie for the start-up of Coastal’s paraxylene plant. The plant will hire 79 persons.
"These two projects will not only strengthen Quebec’s position in the petrochemical industry and re‑stimulate a sector that is dedicated to industrial development, but it will also create 219 direct jobs. The reopening of the Coastal Inc. plant, which has been closed since 1998, is directly linked to this investment. The Interquisa project alone, will create 1650 indirect jobs during the operating phase and more than 5,000 jobs (person‑years) during construction," declared Mr. Bouchard.
CEPSA-INTERQUISA
"The development plan drawn up by our subsidiary, SGF Chimie, aims at creating large‑scale companies in order to maximise the synergy of chemical and petrochemical activities in Quebec. The partnership announced today with CEPSA is a direct result of this strategy. Obviously," said Claude Blanchet, "our intention is to continue working actively to identify other opportunities for development linked with this strategic asset of the Quebec petrochemical industry.
The new plant will have a production capacity of 500,000 metric tonnes of PTA per year. PTA, which is easily recycled, is a resin used in the production of plastics (polyester fibres and polyethylene terephtalate resins) for the manufacture of textile fibres, plastic bottles, wires, etc.
Underlining the participation of Investissement Québec which, using its regular programs, has agreed to commit more than 50 million dollars to the financial structuring of the project, Mr. Roquet stressed that "the establishment of Interquisa Canada in Montreal was an opportunity to re‑launch paraxylene production activities in Quebec and to penetrate the North‑American market. Not only does this new plan integrate perfectly into the development of the Quebec petrochemical industry, but it will also most certainly prove to be a magnet for new investments in this sector of activities in Quebec."
COASTAL
SGF Chimie and Coastal have formed a partnership of over 200 million dollars which, using their shared assets, will allow the restarting of the paraxylene plant, the potential expansion of existing productions and the development of other sectors of the Quebec petrochemical industry. SGF Chimie will hold 49% of the new firm, and the supply of paraxylene, raw material for PTA, will be ensured by Pétrochimie Coastal Inc. The plant has an annual production capacity of 350,000 metric tonnes, and the supply agreement between Coastal and Interquisa Canada has already been signed.
THE PARTNERS
The investment announced today is the result of a firm relationship between CEPSA and SGF. In 1993, Petresa, another 100% subsidiary of CEPSA, went into partnership with SGF for the start-up of Petresa Canada Inc., a firm located in the Bécancour Industrial Park, which, since 1995, has been producing linear alkylbenzene used in the manufacture of biodegradable detergents.
Interquisa, founded in 1972 and a 100% subsidiary of CEPSA, is the only PTA producer in Spain. Its company-owned process uses state‑of‑the‑art technology. Thanks to this new project, Interquisa will set up its first production plant outside Europe in order to service the plastics market of the north-east of North America.
The mission of the Société générale de financement du Québec is, in co‑operation with partners and under conditions of normal profitability, to carry out economic development projects. Since its restructuring in 1998, SGF has generated investments of close to 4.4 billion dollars and created over 19,400 direct and indirect jobs in projects that have reached the operating stage, without counting the thousands of jobs created during the construction stage. As at September 30, 2000, the consolidated assets of SGF ran at over 2.2 million dollars. SGF has 52 international partners carrying out operations in Quebec.
Investissement Québec is a provincial government corporation which has available all the instruments needed to attract foreign investment and to help develop national firms of all sizes, in order to create jobs. It has access to major financial levers that target the promotion of those investment projects in Quebec whose implementation meets government priorities in the field of economic development.
In conclusion, the Premier of Quebec declared that "the creation of these 2000 jobs is the result of the excellent co-operation between SGF, Investissement Québec and the ministère de l’Industrie et du Commerce (Department of Industry and Commerce) and can be considered to be the successful result of one of the most successful cornerstone investments for the economic development of Quebec, in particular for the sector of the Quebec petrochemical industry."
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SOURCES :
Christiane Miville-Deschênes
Press attaché
Office of the Premier
Jean-Yves Duthel
Société générale de financement du Québec
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