MOSCOW (MRC) -- Completion of Shintech's USD1.49 billion expansions across the PVC chain at its Louisiana complex has been pushed back to the first quarter of 2021 from late 2020 because of a slowdown in the work to ensure safety protocols on coronavirus pandemic concerns, said S&P Global.
n July 2018, Shintech began to construct a new integrated plant to PVC from salt. The new plant will be on industrial Isite developed by Shintech, located next to Shintech's existing plant in Plaquemine, Louisiana.
Shintech obtained permits to build a plant capable of producing 1.9 billion pounds (860 thousand tons) per year of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), the raw material of PVC, and 660 thousand tons per year of caustic soda, and has commenced construction of the first phase of the plan. The first phase will increase production capacity by 640 million pounds (290 thousand tons) of PVC per year and 270 thousand tons of caustic soda per year. The amount of this investment is expected to be $1.49 billion, which Shintech will fund by itself. Completion of the construction is targeted for the end of 2020. Annual production capacity after the completion of the first phase will be 7.14 billion pounds (3,240 thousand tons per year) of PVC and 1,570 thousand tons of caustic soda per year.
As MRC informed earlier, Shintech completed a turnaround at its 1.4 million mt/year polyvinyl chloride (PVC) complex, also in Texas in April of 2020.
As per MRC's DataScope report, last month"s SPVC imports into the Ukrainian market decreased to 2,800 tonnes from 3,700 tonnes in March, plastic products producers cut purchases amid the spread of coronavirus. Overall SPVC imports reached 14,300 tonnes in January-April 2020, compared to 15,500 tonnes a year earlier. Weaker demand for PVC in the domestic market made some producers to increase exports in April. The key suppliers of PVC to the Ukrainian market were producers from Europe, their share in total imports for the period under review amounted to about 80%. Producers from the USA with the share of about 19% were the second largest suppliers.
Shintech, the North American division of one of the largest Japanese companies - Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd. Shintech is a leading global manufacturer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and silicone and specialty chemicals.
MRC