Venezuela vows to build PVC homes in Cuba

15 October 2007 22:24  [Source: ICIS news]

CARACAS (ICIS news)--Venezuela seeks to extend its low-cost polyvinyl chloride (PVC) national housing programme to Cuba, Venezuela's Ministry of Popular Power for Energy and Petroleum said in a statement Monday.

The project will count on Cuba's abundant salt supplies, which is an important component of PVC production.

"We're analysing the possibility of creating a petrochemical [industry] here, there are plenty of resources to do so," Pequiven president Saul Ameliach said in a statement in Spanish.

Earlier this year, Chavez launched Petrocasa, a new state company that erects inexpensive homes for the poor from plastic in about eight days using local labour without any special construction skills.

Extending Petrocasa to Cuba is just one part of a broader initiative to develop the communist island’s petrochemical industries, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced from Cuba on Sunday.

He said Venezuela will invest $300m (€213m) to establish a petrochemical plant and fertilizer factory at the Cienfuegos refinery.

The goal, he said, is to transform Cuba into an exporter of beauty products, cleaning supplies, paints and other petrochemical products, according to official state media.

Chavez announced the plan in a broadcast address from the Cienfuegos refinery, which has been mothballed for 14 years. The refinery is currently being prepared for restart through a partnership between Venezuelan state-run PDVSA and Cuba’s state oil company Cupet. The refinery project has an estimated budget of $236m.

The Venezuelan leader was in Cuba to mark the 40th anniversary of the death of Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

($1.00 = €0.71)

By: Jasmina Kelemen
+1 713 525 2653

< previous article(VIDEO - ICIS news Asia Lunchtime Bulletin 2 November 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly