LyondellBasell (LYB), the world’s leading licensor of polyolefin technologies, has been selected by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) to provide its Hostalen Advanced Cascade Process (Hostalen ACP) technology for a new 500 kiloton per year (kta) high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in Paradip, India. This advanced facility will be integrated into IOCL’s Paradip complex, one of India’s largest refinery-petrochemical hubs, strategically located in Odisha to support the growing polymer market in the Indian subcontinent. The Paradip complex, which houses a 15 million tonnes per year refinery, will enhance its petrochemical capabilities with the addition of this cutting-edge HDPE unit.

Patrik Schneider, Director of Global Licensing at LYB, emphasized the significance of this collaboration, stating, “This partnership demonstrates our commitment to delivering tailored solutions that address our customers' needs while contributing to global advancements. The low-pressure slurry HDPE process is already well established in the Indian market, with its resins widely recognized for their superior performance across multiple sectors.”

This latest agreement marks the eighth licensing collaboration between LYB and IOCL, reinforcing their long-standing relationship. To date, over 2,500 kta of polyolefin capacity has been licensed by LYB for IOCL, including installations at both the Paradip and Panipat sites. In addition to Hostalen ACP technology, IOCL also operates LYB’s Spheripol polypropylene (PP) process technology, further diversifying its portfolio of high-performance polymer solutions.

The new HDPE plant will employ LYB’s Avant Z501 and Avant Z509-1 catalysts to manufacture a wide range of multi-modal HDPE products. The Hostalen ACP process leverages a single catalyst family based on Ziegler chemistry, ensuring the efficient production of high-value resins while minimizing lower-value transition products. This process technology is renowned for producing HDPE resins with superior stiffness-to-toughness balance, exceptional impact resistance, and high resistance to stress cracking. These attributes make the materials ideal for applications such as infrastructure pipes, films, blow molding, and caps and closures, providing significant processing advantages for end users.

New licensees of Hostalen ACP technology benefit from LYB’s extensive expertise in continuous production optimization, sustainable product development, and advanced catalyst systems. Additionally, LYB offers an optional Technical Service program, providing ongoing support for production improvements.

Beyond Hostalen ACP, LyondellBasell’s diverse portfolio of licensed polyolefin technologies includes Spheripol, the world’s leading PP process; Spherizone, an innovative multi-zone circulating reactor for advanced polypropylene; Metocene PP, an add-on technology for specialty polypropylene production; Lupotech, the market leader in high-pressure LDPE and EVA copolymer production; and Avant, a range of advanced Ziegler-Natta, metallocene, and chromium catalysts for polyolefin manufacturing. Through these technologies, LYB continues to drive innovation and efficiency in the global polyolefins industry.