Louisiana's Ascension Parish Petrochemical Infrastructure Attracts $1.5 Billion of Industrial Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Ascension Parish, located south of Baton Rouge is one of the fastest growing parishes in Louisiana according to the most recent census. This is mainly due to the area's primary and secondary school district, which is attracting families who work in the Greater Baton Rouge area. Ascension Parish is also home to a large number of petrochemical plants, which do business at locations along the Mississippi River, taking advantage of the river's access to large ocean-going shipping vessels. According to Industrial Info's North America Industrial Project Database, there are 52 active industrial projects totaling $1.5 billion in Ascension Parish. This places Ascension Parish in the top 10 counties/parishes for industrial project spending in the Southwest region, which in addition to Louisiana includes Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

All of the 52 active projects in Ascension, with the exception of two, are in the Chemical Processing Industry. The area has a large population of Chemical plants that service the petrochemical industry in the South. The majority of the projects in Ascension are capital projects. One of the larger projects in Ascension Parish is a study by Williams Companies Incorporated (NYSE:WMB) (Tulsa, Oklahoma) to expand ethylene production at its plant in Geismar, Louisiana. The $400 million project could begin construction late next year if approved.

About 10% of the projects by value are major maintenance shutdown and turnaround projects. BASF Corporation (Florham Park, New Jersey) is scheduled to begin a 35- to 40-day turnaround of its Geismar plant in February 2012.

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