The Italian group Mossi & Ghisolfi has signed a one billion dollar EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contract with Sinopec Engineering for the construction of a new plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. The project got underway last September when M&G purchased the land where the plant will be built to produce one million tons of PET and 1.2 million tons of its precursor, PTA. Construction work is expected to take 36 months and M&G's engineering branches, Chemtex Global and M&G Finanziaria will provide critical equipment and services, while the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Banco Inbursa (a leading Mexican bank) are providing the necessary financial support. "This is the largest PET investment ever in the western world and probably one of the largest investments recently announced in the US in the private sector. It shows that good projects attract the very best even in the current economic downturn period," said Marco Ghisolfi, CEO of M&G's Polymers Business Unit.