By Cristina Roca 
 

Total SA (FP.FR) said Tuesday that Bayport Polymers LLC, its joint venture with Novealis Holdings LLC, will build a new polyethylene unit at its production site in Bayport, Texas, that will more than double the site's annual capacity.

The French energy company said the new unit will handle 625,000 metric tons of polyethylene a year, bringing the Bayport site's capacity up to 1.1 million tons a year in 2021. McDermott International Inc. (MDR) was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the new unit, Total said.

The joint venture between Total and Novealis aims to leverage competitively-priced feedstocks--namely ethane--and strengthen the company's position in the U.S., the company said.

Bayport Polymers is a 50-50 venture between Total and Novealis, which is itself a joint venture between Austrian company Borealis AG and the Canadian Nova Chemicals Inc.

Write to Cristina Roca at cristina.roca@dowjones.com; @_cristinaroca

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 25, 2018 11:35 ET (15:35 GMT)