Westlake raises capacity at planned US chlor-alkali project by 40%

21 December 2011 13:33  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Westlake Chemical is increasing the capacity of its planned chlor-alkali facility at Geismar, Louisiana, to 350,000 electrochemical units (ECU)/year, up by 40% from the originally announced 250,000 ECU/year, the US-based producer said on Wednesday.

Site work for the new facility is currently underway and the project is targeted for start-up in the second half of 2013, the company said.

Westlake estimates the project's construction costs at $370m to $420m (€281m to €319m). In 2008, when Westlake announced the original project, it estimated costs at $250m to $300m.

“This new plant is consistent with Westlake's vertical integration strategy for its vinyls business and will allow the company to expand and optimise the vinyls chain over time,” the company said in a statement.

Westlake is building the unit adjacent to its existing vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) facilities at Geismar.

($1 = €0.76)

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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