MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shin-Etsu Chemical's US subsidiary Shintech has applied to Louisiana's Department of Environment Quality for a permit to build a new plant that will produce ethylene, which is one of the main raw materials for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), said Hydrocarbonprocessing.
The permit application states that the ethylene production capacity of this new plant will be 500,000 tpy. With regard to the location of the plant, land for industrial use that Shintech already owns in Plaquemine, Louisiana, will be a leading candidate for the site.
Concurrently with carrying out the required processes to secure a building permit, Shintech says it will continue its feasibility study on the project. After all of these matters are fully considered, a final decision will be made.
This plant construction permit application is one step in the implementation of Shintech’s strategy to assure stable supply of ethylene for the manufacture of PVC.
Shintech says it has been implementing its strategy of setting up an integrated PVC production system starting from its raw materials.
Following its implementation of an in-house production system for chlorine, Shintech has been giving serious consideration to in-house production of ethylene to further strengthen its integrated PVC production system.
As MRC informed earlier, Shintech, one of the major polyvinyl chlorice (PVC) producer in the US, will spend USD500 mln to expand plant capacity by 10% in Plaquemine and Addis. Shin-Etsu said its Plaquemine plant is running at capacity and expansion is needed to meet growing worldwide demand for PVC. The expansion will eliminate production bottlenecks. Shin-Etsu will pay for the project using its own money, planning completion in 2015.
Shintech was founded in 1974 to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin. The catalyst for its current success came in 1976 when it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. Since then Shintech has completed a series of production capacity expansions that combined aggressive domestic and export business plans with careful analysis of market conditions and customer needs. Currently, Shintech Inc. is the largest producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in the United States.
MRC