Braskem to build billion-lb PP production plant in Texas

Thermoplastic resin producer Braskem America has announced plans to build what it calls the largest polypropylene (PP) production line in the Americas.

Braskem will commit up to US$675 million in investment capital towards the design and construction of the new facility which will be named Delta and will be located next to Braskem’s existing production facilities in La Porte, Texas.

An artist’s rendering of Braskem’s new PP facility.

“Leveraging the success of shale gas energy production, North America has among the most attractive feedstock profiles worldwide in terms of access to low cost sources of feedstock and the depth of suppliers,” said Fernando Musa, Braskem’s CEO. “With no new polypropylene plants added since 2005, North America also transitioned to being a net importer of polypropylene in 2016. As such, our additional investment in the U.S. is a logical extension of our global growth strategy. By increasing our production capacity in close proximity to customer demand, attractive feedstock as well as established export channels, we believe Delta will serve our clients well and offer an attractive return on our investment for our shareholders.”

With the engineering design phase well underway, the new production line will have a manufacturing capacity of 450 kilotons (kt), or the equivalent of approximately 1 billion lbs per year. Construction will take place on part of the approximate 200 acres of land at Braskem’s current La Porte facility footprint which is located 26 miles from Houston. The new line will represent additional production capacity of homopolymers, random copolymers, impact copolymers, and reactor TPOs.

Construction is expected to begin mid-summer 2017, with the final phase of main construction targeted for the first quarter of 2020.

Braskem America is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Braskem S.A. headquartered in Philadelphia. The company has six production plants located in Texas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, and an Innovation and Technology Center in Pittsburgh.