Formosa confirms new PP plant set for Texas, USA
Formosa Plastics announced that it will build a new polypropylene (PP) plant at Point Comfort, Texas, the first new unit in the US in decades
Confirming talk that began circulating earlier this year, Formosa’s announcement said preparatory work had begun but that no details about the plant’s size, cost or anticipated completion date are being released. PP sources said Formosa’s board approved the project this week. Sources have also speculated that the plant’s capacity would be around 350000 tonnes.
Another PP producer, Brazil-based Braskem, is considering building a new plant in the US. In April, Braskem America CEO Fernando Musa said the firm was studying construction of a new plant as well as debottlenecking options at its five existing US PP sites.
PP production in recent months has been running at full-out levels, largely because of the availability of cheap feedstock propylene, which is selling at record-low prices. The PP supply tightness has enabled producers to raise prices this year even with the steady drop of propylene. Producers managed a small 1 cents/lb hike in June, as assessed by ICIS, and are pushing for 4-5 cents/lb increases in July and August as well.