Shin-Etsu outlines delayed US PVC expansion timeline

Shintec, the US subsidiary of Japanese polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer Shin-Etsu, has postponed the start-up of its expanded Plaquemine plant in Louisiana to the end of this year.

Shintec originally aimed to begin commercial operations of the second phase of the expansion project by the end of 2023. But it now expects to complete construction this autumn and launch the plant later this year.

It was forced to postpone the schedule because of multiple bad weather events during the construction period, labor shortages in the US and delays in deliveries of equipment for construction following competition with renewable power projects for electrical equipment and machinery. But its planned investment is unchanged from the original $1.25bn, Shin-Etsu said.

The Plaquemine plant will add production capacity of 380,000 t/yr for PVC, 580,000 t/yr for vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and 390,000 t/yr for caustic soda. This will boost Shintec's total PVC capacity in the US to 3.62mn t/yr, 2.95mn t/yr for VCM and 1.95mn t/yr for caustic soda. Shintech also has plants in Freeport, Texas with 1.45mn t/yr of PVC capacity and in Addis, Louisiana with 900,000 t/yr of PVC capacity.

Shintech previously added 290,000 t/yr of PVC and 270,000 t/yr of caustic soda capacity in the first phase of the expansion project at Plaquemine at the end of 2021. The company originally targeted to begin operation of the first phase in early 2021 but bad weather and the Covid-19 pandemic caused delays.

Japan's PVC exports totalled 272,012t during January-June, down by 4pc from the same period a year earlier, according to its Vinyl Environmental Council. VCM exports rose by 11.4pc to 461,498t for the same period.

By Nanami Oki