Chem Industry Leads Louisiana in Projects Under Construction

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info is tracking $13 billion in industrial projects under construction in Louisiana; leading the pack in terms of project value is the Chemical Processing Industry, with a little less than $5 billion of projects under construction in the state. The chemical projects cover a range of products, including methanol, polyolefins and green ammonia.

Click on the image at right for a breakdown by industry of projects under construction in Louisiana.

Accounting for a substantial portion of the $5 billion in chemical projects is Methanex Corporation's (NASDAQ:MEOH) (Vancouver, Canada) addition of a third methanol unit at its facility in Geismar. Construction on the 1.8 million-metric-ton-per-year unit hit a major roadblock in the summer of 2020, following the COVID-19 outbreak. The project was placed in temporary "care and maintenance," with about one-third of its estimated $1.4 billion price tag deferred for nearly 18 months. However, construction is underway once again, and the unit is expected to be completed in early 2024. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Chemical Processing Project Database can click here for more details.

A few years ago, global oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) (Irving, Texas) launched its "Growing the Gulf" initiative, which included more than $20 billion spent over a 10-year period to build and expand 11 manufacturing facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Among the projects is the addition of a second polypropylene unit at the company's complex in Baton Rouge. The second unit will produce approximately 900 million pounds per year of polypropylene, in addition to the 1.05 billion pounds per year produced from the existing unit. Construction on the second unit kicked off in 2019 and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Subscribers can click here for the full report.

Many chemical producers are pursuing environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and are looking to make their products greener. CF Industries Holdings Incorporated (NYSE:CF) (Deerfield, Illinois) is providing an example of this with the construction of a green hydrogen unit that will produce feedstock for a green ammonia unit in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The hydrogen unit will use 20 megawatts of renewable energy from the grid to produce more than 2,900 metric tons per year of green hydrogen, which in turn will be used as feedstock for a 20,000-ton-per-year green ammonia unit. Construction on both units kicked off earlier this year, and they are expected to be completed in 2023. Subscribers can click here for the report on the hydrogen unit and here for the report on the ammonia unit.

Ranking after Chemical Processing in terms of project value is the Oil & Gas Production Industry, thanks largely to a single liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. Venture Global LNG LLC (Arlington, Virginia) kicked off construction of a second LNG production train at its Calcasieu Pass plant last year. The train will include four modules, each producing 1.25 metric tons per year, for a total of 5 million metric tons of LNG per year. Kiewit Corporation (Omaha, Nebraska) is providing engineering, procurement and construction services on the project, which is expected to begin operating early next year. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Production Project Database can click here for more details.

Rounding out the state's top three industries by overall project value is the Pipelines Industry. Chief among the projects in this sector is Energy Transfer's (NYSE:ET) (Dallas, Texas) Gulf Run natural gas pipeline, running 135 miles from the Haynesville Shale to Starks, where it will interconnect with The Williams Companies Incorporated's (NYSE:WMB) (Tulsa, Oklahoma) Transco pipeline system. Some of the gas is contracted to feed the Golden Pass LNG facility, under construction in Sabine Pass, Texas, when the first train is completed in 2024. The Gulf Run Pipeline is expected to be in service later this year. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Pipeline Project Database can click here for the project report on the pipeline. Subscribers to the Production Project Database can click here for details on the Golden Pass plant.

Click here for a look at all of the projects discussed in this article, and here for the plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).