(ICIS) -- US-based Westlake plans to increase ethylene capacity by nearly 226.8 KTa by expanding its two crackers in Louisiana, the polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer said on Tuesday.
The company is also considering plans to convert its cracker in Calvert City, Kentucky, to crack ethane instead of propane, said chief executive Albert Chao during the company's second quarter earnings call.
The first expansion will come in the second half of 2012 at one of the company's crackers in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The project will increase capacity by about 108.8 KTa. Then in 2014, Westlake plans to expand the second Lake Charles cracker by 113.3 KTa. Currently, both crackers have a combined ethylene capacity about 1.1m tonnes/year, according to ICIS plants and projects.