Alpek

Material

Alpek
Headquarters	Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Website	Alpek

Company Profile

Alpek is a leading petrochemical company in the Americas and operates two business segments: Polyester (PTA, PET and polyester fibers) and Plastics & Chemicals (polypropylene, EPS, caprolactam, and other specialty and industrial chemicals).

The company is a leading producer of PTA and PET worldwide and the largest expandable polystyrene manufacturer in America. In addition Alpek is the only producer of caprolactam in Mexico. Alpek operates one of the largest polypropylene facilities in North America.

Alpek is a publicly traded company listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol ALPEK.

Products / Technology

• Polyester
  • Purified terephthalic acid (PTA)
  • Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
  • Polyester Fibers
  • Technologies (IntegRex®)
• Plastics and Chemicals
  • Polypropylene (PP)
  • Expandable Polystyrene (EPS)
  • Caprolactam (CPL)
  • Specialty & Industrial Chemicals

History

• 1975 – Incoursion in the petrochemical industry with the acquisition of Polioles and Nylon de México. Initial products included glycols, polyurethanes and fibers.
• 1977 - Expanded into the polyester fiber business with the acquisition of Fibras Quimicas, now Akra Polyester
• 1978 - First backward integration into dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) with the acquisition of Petrocel
  • Strategic alliance with BASF to boost Polioles’ expandable polystyrene (EPS), polyurethane and specialty chemical businesses
• 1988 - Acquired first PTA plant in Tereftalatos Mexicanos
• 1991 – Started operations of the first polypropylene plant in Mexico under a strategic alliance with LyondellBassell
• 1994 - Alpek was created as a holding company to manage Alfa’s petrochemical businesses
• 1995 - Alpek integrated nylon fiber business by acquiring Univex, a caprolactam plant in Salamanca, Mexico
• 1996 - Alpek and BASF expanded Polioles’ EPS capacity with the construction of a new EPS facility in Altamira, Mexico
• 1997 - Alpek expanded its polyester business by building a new PTA plant in Altamira, Mexico
• 1999 - Alpek and LyondellBassell built a propylene splitter in Altamira, Mexico to enhance Indelpro’s production capabilities
• 2001 - Alpek acquired its first polyester assets in the United States. This acquisition also marked Alpek’s incursion into PET.
• 2003 - Alpek increased its PET capacity by expanding the Cooper River site in South Carolina
• 2005 - Expansion of Altamira’s EPS capacity, making it the largest EPS site in the Americas
• 2007 - Alpek acquired its first PET manufacturing facilities in Mexico and Argentina
• 2008 - Alpek and LyondellBassell expanded Indelpro’s capacity with a second production line at their Altamira site
• 2010 - Alpek entered into a strategic alliance with Shaw Industries to build one of the largest post-consumer PET recycling facilities in North America
• 2011 - Alpek expanded its polyester business with the acquisition of Wellman’s PET plant in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and Eastman’s integrated PTA-PET site in Columbia, South Carolina. ​Alpek also acquired all intellectual property rights of the IntegRex® technology
• 2012 - Alpek was listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange, and issued its first bond through international debt markets. The bond received “Investment Grade” ratings from Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poors.
• 2013 - Alpek signed IntegRex® licensing and product supply agreements with Gruppo M&G for the construction of a new, state-of-the-art PTA/PET site in Corpus Christi, Texas.
• 2014 - Alpek’s began operations of its power cogeneration plant in Cosoleacaque, Mexico.
  • Alpek signed an agreement with BASF to acquire its EPS business activities in North and South America, including production sites in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
• 2015 - Alpek successfully integrated EPS facilities acquired from BASF in Brazil, Argentina and Chile with an aggregate capacity of 65 thousand tons per year.
• 2016 - Alpek acquired a 20 thousand ton per year EPS plant in Concon, Chile and a controlling interest in Selenis Canada Inc., Canada’s only PET producer, which operates a plant in Québec with an annual capacity of 144 thousand tons.

References

PETplanet Insider Articles

Issue 06 / 2021: Alpek acquires CarbonLite’s rPET facility
Issue 04 / 2021: Alpek & ContourGlobal create JV to develop a CO2 recovery facility
Issue 10 / 2020: Alpek announces M&G Mexico‘s restructuring plan has been approved

External links

Alpek Website
Alpek Polyester Website