BP plc recently inked a deal with Baota Petrochemical’s majority owned subsidiary Ningxia Baota Chemical Fibre Co. Ltd. to provide its latest generation purified terephthalic acid (PTA) technology. This represents the third deal of the same kind to be signed by BP.

The Chinese firm plans to install the technology at its planned 1.2 million tonnes per annum (tpa) PTA unit to be built at the Ningxia Ningdong Energy and Chemical Zone in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China. The unit will produce PTA, which is the main raw material required for polyesters used in the textile and packaging industry. Baota anticipates the PTA plant to start production in 2018.

Ningxia Baota Chemical Fibre chairman Gao Guozheng said that the investment is highly strategic for them, fulfilling the local requirements for PTA at the lowest possible cost and contributing to the economic development in Ningxia region. They appreciate the quality of BP PTA technology and look forward to a long term successful cooperation with BP.

BP global petrochemicals business chief operating officer Rita Griffin said that this is the first third-party PTA licence for BP in China since their recent decision to licence the use of their market-leading technology. Its PTA technology offers lower capital and operating costs compared to conventional PTA plants.

While being more energy efficient, the technology uses less water, and produces less solid waste, the company said.

BP’s Global Petrochemicals Business has a total (net to BP) capacity of 18.3 million tpa. This includes 6.7 million tpa of PTA at 18 locations in ten countries.

BP is one of the major energy companies in the world. The company provides its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemical products.

BP’s PTA technology was initially developed in the U.S. during the 1950s and through successive iterations has continued to develop in terms of its capital and operating costs.

BP has licensed its latest PTA technology in India, Oman and China three important growth markets. BP’s latest iteration of PTA technology has been licensed to JBF Industries in India with 1.25 million tpa capacity and to Oman International Petrochemical Industries Company in Oman with 1.1 million tpa capacity. The technology is also being used by the BP Zhuhai joint venture (JV) in China. The JV’s latest facility of 1.25 million tpa capacity was commissioned in the first quarter of 2015.

The supermajor also has its own world-scale plant functioning at Zhuhai in Guangdong, China. The company believes that the polyester supply chain will have great potential going forward.