Shintech plans $3.4 billion feedstock expansion in Plaquemine

Shintech proposes new feedstock and chlor-alkali units in Louisiana, with the first phase targeted for 2030.

Proposed feedstock units at Plaquemine

PLAQUEMINE, Louisiana — Shintech plans a $3.4 billion expansion at its existing Iberville Parish facility. The project would strengthen its integrated supply of raw materials for polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. The proposed units comprise:

A second ethylene production unit.
A fourth chlor-alkali and vinyl chloride monomer production unit.

The expansion would add annual capacity of 625,000 tons of ethylene, 500,000 tons of vinyl chloride monomer and 310,000 tons of caustic soda. Construction would proceed in phases, with the first phase targeted for completion toward the end of 2030. The project is expected to create 163 direct jobs and retain 725 positions. Louisiana offered a $23.5 million performance-based grant tied to equipment and infrastructure investment.

Shintech

Earlier ethylene investment announced in 2015

Shintech announced its earlier Plaquemine ethylene project on April 23, 2015. Chairman and founder Chihiro Kanagawa identified company-owned land as the location for the proposed plant. Its planned annual capacity was 500,000 tons, with construction estimated at approximately $1.4 billion. Shintech intended to finance the investment from its own funds. At that announcement, construction was expected to finish in the first half of 2018. Toyo Engineering Corporation held the main construction contract, while Lummus Technology U.S. Inc. was to provide the ethylene process technology.

Shintech’s PVC manufacturing operations included plants in Texas and Louisiana. Ethylene is one of the primary raw materials used in PVC production. Kanagawa linked the investment to securing a reliable ethylene supply and strengthening integrated PVC production. Alongside the ethylene project, the company was expanding Louisiana capacity for PVC, vinyl chloride monomer and electrolysis. The 2015 construction schedule was the company’s forecast at the time; it is separate from the new second-unit proposal announced in 2026.

Integrated PVC expansion announced in 2021

On January 27, 2021, Shin-Etsu Chemical announced a separate $1.25 billion investment to expand Shintech’s integrated PVC business. That project followed groundbreaking at a greenfield Plaquemine site in July 2018. The earlier plant was then scheduled for completion in mid-2021 and formed the basis for the additional investment. The new programme called for annual capacity increases of 580,000 tons of vinyl chloride monomer, 380,000 tons of PVC and 390,000 tons of caustic soda. Construction of the additional programme was scheduled to finish by the end of 2023.

At completion, Shintech’s announced company-wide annual capacity targets were 3.62 million tons of PVC, 2.95 million tons of vinyl chloride monomer and 1.95 million tons of caustic soda. The targets were company-wide forecasts for that earlier programme. The company intended to assess worldwide PVC and caustic-soda supply and demand when starting the addition.