Polyethylene Projects Progress in Texas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Progress continues at Sasol Limited's (NYSE:SSL) (Johannesburg, South Africa) $11 billion-plus Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP) in Westlake, Louisiana.

Engineering firm Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) (Irving, Texas) said this week that its joint venture with TechnipFMC (NYSE:FTI) (London, England) reached a milestone by completing its engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) work on the world-scale petrochemical complex. The project achieved first steam in August 2018. The engineering joint venture began incremental transitions in November of assets from the joint venture to Sasol upon completion of each unit or system, Fluor said. The only unit left to hand over to Sasol is the complex's 420,000 metric-ton-per-year low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit, which will take place by the end of March, Fluor said. For more information on the LDPE unit, see Industrial Info's project report.

In February, Sasol announced it had achieved "beneficial operation" at the complex's 470,000-ton-per-year linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit, the first of seven LCCP production units to come online. The remaining LCCP units are expected to reach beneficial operations through early 2020. For more information on the LCCP, see Industrial Info's project report.

Polyethylene plant projects have been popping up in Texas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Industrial Info is tracking polyethylene-related project activity worth more than $11 billion that has a high or medium probability of moving forward as planned. This includes more than $2 billion worth of projects that are planned to start construction this year, and nearly $3.5 billion worth that are expected to be completed.

Click on the image at right for a graph showing U.S. polyethylene project activity by state.

Polyethylene production capacity is growing as a consequence of record amounts of ethane-based ethylene production in North America. U.S. producers are striving to convert more ethylene into easier-to-export chemical polymers such as polyethylene, which is used for plastic bags, films, bottles and other products.

In Beaumont, Texas, Exxon Mobil Corporation's (ExxonMobil) (NYSE:XOM) (Irving, Texas) 1.4 billion-pound-per-year polyethylene unit addition (BPEX) is nearing the finish line. Located next to an existing polyethylene plant, the unit addition will produce LDPE. Now in commissioning, the project is planned for completion in May. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

In late February, Bayport Polymers LLC (Pasadena, Texas) held a groundbreaking ceremony for construction of a polyethylene unit located at its Pasadena site. The 1.38 billion-pound-per-year unit is anticipated to start production in late 2021. WorleyParsons Limited (North Sydney, Australia) is the project manager. Jacobs Engineering Group Incorporated (NYSE:JEC) (Dallas, Texas) is providing design engineering and front end engineering design (FEED) studies. McDermott International Incorporated (NYSE:MDR) (Houston, Texas) is providing engineering/fabrication/procurement/construction (EFPC) services. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

In Monaca, Pennsylvania, Royal Dutch Shell plc's (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands) 1.2 billion-pound-per-year, gas-phased high-density polyethylene (HDPE), 1.2 billion-pound-per-year LLDPE and 1 billion-pound-per-year slurry HDPE units are under construction, with planned completions in late 2020. See Industrial Info's project reports on the gas-phased HDPE unit, the LLDPE unit and the slurry HDPE unit.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.