July 29, 2016 Updated 7/29/2016
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LyondellBasell Industries LyondellBasell Industries’ LaPorte, Texas, facility. The company has not said specifically where it will build a new high density polyethylene plant.
LyondellBasell Industries has confirmed that it will build a new high density polyethylene resin plant on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The plant will use the firm’s new, proprietary Hyperzone technology and will have annual production capacity of 1.1 billion pounds. It’s expected to create 1,000 construction jobs and up to 75 permanent jobs. Start-up is expected in 2019.
“Innovation is key to our future success,” CEO Bob Patel said in a July 29 news release. “This new proprietary technology will have the capability to produce a wide range of HDPE products with enhanced properties, many of which have the potential to exceed industry benchmarks.”
HDPE made at the new plant will be used in numerous applications such as pipe, bottles, containers, toys, film, health care articles, fuel tanks and industrial packaging. Enhanced PE properties from Hyperzone include improved stress crack resistance and enhanced balance between stiffness and impact strength.
The release did not specify which of LyondellBasell’s existing locations will host the new plant. The firm — with headquarters in Houston and London — currently makes PE in Victoria and Matagorda, Texas, and ethylene at three Texas sites: Channelview, LaPorte and Corpus Christi.
LyondellBasell is already one of the world’s largest producers of PE and polypropylene. Several North American PE firms have capacity expansions under way as a result of newfound supplies of natural gas in the region.
