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Released May 04, 2022 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Westlake Chemical (NYSE:WLK) (Houston, Texas) lauded U.S. economic growth and "the diminishing impact of COVID-19" as the drivers behind higher sales prices and margins across most of its businesses, which led to record profits in first-quarter 2022. The company is building out its capacity for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin, vinyl chloride monomers (VCM) and other substances used in a variety of everyday products. Industrial Info is tracking more than $1.2 billion worth of active projects involving Westlake, more than half of which is attributed to plant expansions.
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Westlake's active projects, by type.
"We continued to see robust residential construction and remodeling activity drive demand for PVC resin, as well as for products in our Housing and Infrastructure Products segment," said Albert Chao, the chief executive officer of Westlake, in a quarterly earnings-related press release. Average North American contract prices for pipe-grade PVC stood at $1.13 per pound in the first quarter, compared with 93 cents in the same period last year.
Westlake is considering a proposed unit addition at its PVC resins plant in Calvert City, Kentucky, which currently produces 1.1 million pounds per year, as well as a series of debottlenecks and upgrades that would increase capacity. The company also is considering upgrades to its VCM unit at Calvert City, which currently produces 1.3 billion pounds per year, along with a new ethylene unit furnace.
These projects are in their earliest planning phases, where plenty of factors could delay or alter any eventual investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Chemical Processing Project Database can read detailed reports on the proposed PVC addition, debottlenecks and upgrades, VCM upgrades and ethylene unit furnace.
Westlake is further along in its development of a PVC and VCM expansion at its vinyl complex in Geismar, Louisiana, which currently produces 550 million pounds per year. It is not yet known how much capacity would be added, but the company believes a final investment decision could be made by the end of the year. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.
Westlake significantly expanded its resin business during the quarter with its acquisition of Hexion Incorporated's (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) global epoxy business for roughly $1.2 billion in cash. Now called Westlake Epoxy, the subsidiary develops specialty resins, modifiers and curing agents for high-performance materials, coatings and composites used in products such as wind-turbine blades and lightweight auto parts. Fortune Business Insights recently estimated the value of the global epoxy resin market will grow from $8.7 billion in 2020 to $17.1 billion by 2028.
Chao said U.S. economic growth led to stronger consumer and industrial demand during the first quarter, "with improvements in manufacturing and packaging benefiting caustic soda and polyethylene usage."
Westlake's net income totaled $756 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared with $242 million in first-quarter 2021, while net sales were reported to be $4.1 billion, compared with $2.36 billion in the same period last year.
"[Westlake's] performance in the first quarter of 2022 reflects strong production volumes following the turnaround of our Petro 2 ethylene facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the second half of 2021," Chao said in the press release. The 1.6 billion-pound-per-year ethylene unit also benefited from equipment additions, including condensers, pumps and piping, and is being considered for a possible expansion of its styrene unit, which would bolster capacity from 570 million to 695 million pounds per year. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's reports on the turnaround, equipment additions and styrene expansion.
In addition to these capital-spending projects, Industrial Info is tracking about 80 maintenance-related projects from Westlake that are set to kick off through 2025. Subscribers can click here for a list.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Westlake's active projects, by type."We continued to see robust residential construction and remodeling activity drive demand for PVC resin, as well as for products in our Housing and Infrastructure Products segment," said Albert Chao, the chief executive officer of Westlake, in a quarterly earnings-related press release. Average North American contract prices for pipe-grade PVC stood at $1.13 per pound in the first quarter, compared with 93 cents in the same period last year.
Westlake is considering a proposed unit addition at its PVC resins plant in Calvert City, Kentucky, which currently produces 1.1 million pounds per year, as well as a series of debottlenecks and upgrades that would increase capacity. The company also is considering upgrades to its VCM unit at Calvert City, which currently produces 1.3 billion pounds per year, along with a new ethylene unit furnace.
These projects are in their earliest planning phases, where plenty of factors could delay or alter any eventual investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Chemical Processing Project Database can read detailed reports on the proposed PVC addition, debottlenecks and upgrades, VCM upgrades and ethylene unit furnace.
Westlake is further along in its development of a PVC and VCM expansion at its vinyl complex in Geismar, Louisiana, which currently produces 550 million pounds per year. It is not yet known how much capacity would be added, but the company believes a final investment decision could be made by the end of the year. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.
Westlake significantly expanded its resin business during the quarter with its acquisition of Hexion Incorporated's (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) global epoxy business for roughly $1.2 billion in cash. Now called Westlake Epoxy, the subsidiary develops specialty resins, modifiers and curing agents for high-performance materials, coatings and composites used in products such as wind-turbine blades and lightweight auto parts. Fortune Business Insights recently estimated the value of the global epoxy resin market will grow from $8.7 billion in 2020 to $17.1 billion by 2028.
Chao said U.S. economic growth led to stronger consumer and industrial demand during the first quarter, "with improvements in manufacturing and packaging benefiting caustic soda and polyethylene usage."
Westlake's net income totaled $756 million in the first quarter of 2022, compared with $242 million in first-quarter 2021, while net sales were reported to be $4.1 billion, compared with $2.36 billion in the same period last year.
"[Westlake's] performance in the first quarter of 2022 reflects strong production volumes following the turnaround of our Petro 2 ethylene facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the second half of 2021," Chao said in the press release. The 1.6 billion-pound-per-year ethylene unit also benefited from equipment additions, including condensers, pumps and piping, and is being considered for a possible expansion of its styrene unit, which would bolster capacity from 570 million to 695 million pounds per year. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's reports on the turnaround, equipment additions and styrene expansion.
In addition to these capital-spending projects, Industrial Info is tracking about 80 maintenance-related projects from Westlake that are set to kick off through 2025. Subscribers can click here for a list.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
