Bataan Polyethylene Corporation (BPC) Summary Of Project Information (SPI)       Project Name    Philippines:  Bataan Polyethylene Corporation            Region    Asia        Sector       Project No007818   Projected Board DateMay 31, 1997   Company NameBataan Polyethylene Corporation   Technical Partner and/or Major Shareholders    	The shareholders of BPC are Bataan Polyethylene Holdings Corporation (BPH, 50%), BP International Holdings, B.V. (BP Holdings, 30%), Sumitomo Corporation (Sumitomo, 10%)and Petroleum Nasional Malaysia (Petronas, 10%).  BPH is a special-purpose company established for the Project; its shareholders include Profinda Holdings Corporation (PHC), owning 60% of BPH, Plastic City Corporation, owning 20%, and All Asia Capital and Trust Corporation, owning 20%.  PHC, owned by three local businessmen, is the majority stakeholder in Reynolds Philippine Corporation, the countrys only aluminium rolling mills.    Project Cost Including proposed IFC investment    	Total Project cost is estimated at US$337 million.  IFCs proposed investment includes an A Loan of US$40 million, of which a portion will have an income participating feature, and a B Loan of US$166 million.    Location of project and Description of site    	The Project will be located in the PNOC petrochemical park in Mariveles, Bataan Province.  The park, on the West side of the Manila Bay, is 140 km by road from Manila. The park also includes a polypropylene plant (currently under commissioning), and is expected to include  a naphtha cracker, a vinyl chloride monomer plant, a polyvinyl chloride plant and a styrene monomer plant.  The Project site itself is 19 ha, and is adjacent to the polypropylene plant.      Description of Company and Purpose of Project    	The Project consists of the construction and operation of a greenfield polyethylene plant with a capacity of 250,000 tpy, to produce a wide range of linear low-density (LLDPE) and high-density (HDPE) products.  The Philippines currently has no domestic polyethylene production capacity, and domestic demand is met by imports.  Pending the construction of a naphtha cracker in the Philippines, which is currently under consideration, the Project will rely initially on imported ethylene.  The Project is scheduled to be commissioned in the third quarter of 1999. The petrochemical sector in the Philippines is still at a formative stage.  Despite a reasonably strong level of demand, the industry has not expanded historically due to (i) non-availability of feedstock; (ii) a limited availability of equity financing; and (iii) until recently, slow or stagnant economic growth.  Since 1992, with the overall improvement in the countrys economic conditions resulting from macroeconomics stabilization and structural reform policy measures undertaken by the Ramos Government, private investment and exports have boomed.  The Government has earmarked the petrochemical sector as a priority industry.  The Project forms part of a larger initiative to create the countrys first integrated petrochemical complex consisting of second generation polymer producers and eventually an olefins cracker.        Environmental Category and Issues    	The Project has been rated Category A according to the World Banks environmental guidelines.   The Philippine Petrochemical Development Corporation (PPDC) has completed an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study for the entire petrochemical park, which has been reviewed by IFCs Environmental Unit.  The Environment Monitoring Board (EMB) of the Philippines has approved PPDCs submission, and has cleared the Project.  In addition, a Project-specific EIA, a plant monitoring program including occupational health and safety, and compliance statements establishing compliance with the World Bank and local guidelines were completed by BPC and reviewed by IFCs Environment unit.  The site visit by IFCs Environmental Specialist is planned for mid-March.  BPC will carry out hazard and operability (HAZOP) studies for the Project on a continual basis throughout implementation, and  will ensure that all HAZOP recommendations as applicable are complied with before commissioning.    	Prior to the establishment of the park, the 550 ha of land owned by PPDC was occupied by about 380 informal dwellers who are in the process of being compensated and resettled in a new housing development adjacent to the site.  However, all 7 of the irregular settlers on BPCs site have been compensated and resettled.  The resettlement was undertaken by the PPDC, a government agency, after comprehensive public consultations and the compensation plan was successfully implemented.  The Project site was handed over to BPC by PPDC after the completion of the resettlement program.  BPC has agreed to undertake additional public consultation during the implementation and operation of the Project.  A separate monitoring plan has been developed by BPC and reviewed by IFCs environmental unit.     The  are  March 3, 1997 from the Public Information Center.       Host country location of environmental documents    Bataan Polyethylene Corporation   11/F All Asia Capital Center   105 Paseo de Roxas Avenue   Makati City, Philippines      V.P. Roque Construction   #5 PPI Subdivision   Hillview, Alangan   Limay, Bataan      Date SPI sent to PIC February 28, 1997   For Additional Information contact:  Corporate Relations Unit -   telephone: (202) 473-7711   facsimile: (202) 676-0365  Environmental documents for this project are available at http://www.ifc.org and from the World Bank InfoShop (http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/aboutinfo.html).