Basell USA Inc. and ConocoPhillips recently announced the signing of an agreement under which Basell will be the exclusive purchaser and marketer of the polypropylene resins produced at ConocoPhillips' new Bayway plant in Linden, N.J.

The 775 million lbs.-per-year plant is scheduled to start up early next year.

Basell, a 50/50 joint venture of BASF and Royal Dutch/Shell, is the world's largest producer and marketer of polypropylene. The addition of the Bayway plant capacity will increase the polypropylene capacity Basell sells in North America to more than 4 billion pounds per year.