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BW2023  NOV 26,2001       2:00 PACIFIC      05:00 EASTERN


( BW)(TX-INDUSTRIAL-INFO-RES) Construction of Mexico's First Privately
Owned Ethylene Complex Hinges On Availability of Feedstock, in an
Advisory by Industrialinfo.com

    Business/Energy Editors

	   HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 26, 2001--Researched by
Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Inc; Houston).
Corporacion Grupo Serbo (Mexico City) first announced its intent to
construct an estimated $3 billion ethylene and derivatives complex in
Altamira, Tamaulipas earlier this year. Serbo's owner, Sergio Bolanos
Quesada, seeking partners to round out his 20% interest in the
complex, made the announcement shortly after it was revealed that
Serbo was purchasing the beleaguered engineering and construction
firm, Bufete Industrial (Mexico City). From the start, Serbo
understood that Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the state run oil and gas
monopoly, would provide 71,000 barrels per day of naphtha feedstock
for the proposed 975,000 metric ton per year ethylene cracker.
	   Pemex has been slow to sign the 25-year contract sought by Serbo
for the complex it hopes to complete by late 2005. A need to insure
feedstock supply could possibly delay the anticipated early 2002
groundbreaking of the 10-unit complex, which will include propylene,
butadiene, polypropylene and other downstream products, as well as its
own cogeneration unit for electricity and steam. Serbo also has plans
to construct a "city" adjoining the complex, featuring homes, schools,
churches, and hospitals, among many other features over and above
those found in more traditional "company towns."
	   Serbo and its partners hope to sell 95% of the complex's output on
the domestic market, with an estimated 50% going to other
petrochemical companies in Altamira. The heavily industrialized
Altamira is home to plants owned by BASF, Shell, and other chemical
majors. Serbo would have to import its naphtha feedstock if Pemex
fails to comply with their preliminary agreement, as other naphtha
sources are simply not available domestically.
	   "With this stall, Pemex is hurting itself and quite possibly the
future of additional private petrochemical investment in Mexico,"
according to Annette Kreuger, chemical industry specialist with
Industrialinfo.com. "With Mexico's President Vicente Fox making recent
speeches that private investment is the hope for Mexico's
petrochemical future, it doesn't bode well when a state run company is
dragging its feet over its part in a $3 billion investment -- an
investment that not only increases Mexico's protection against an
anticipated surge in foreign petrochemical imports over the next few
years but also offers an increased quality of life for an estimated
2,700 future employees."
	   Industrialinfo.com provides daily news related to the industrial
market place including alerts and databases for the energy and
industrial markets. For more information on trends and upcoming
construction activities for the chemical markets, including
petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, send inquiries to
chemicalgroup@industrialinfo.com or visit us at www.industrialinfo.com
and www.iirenergy.com.

    --30--HM/ho*

    CONTACT: Industrialinfo.com, Houston
             Trey Hamblet, 713/783-5147

    KEYWORD: TEXAS MEXICO INTERNATIONAL LATIN AMERICA
    INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION CHEMICALS/PLASTICS
ENERGY GOVERNMENT
    SOURCE: Industrialinfo.com

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