investment

Mexico-based Orbia plans to build integrated chlor alkali PVC capacity in Texas as it anticipates tightening supply

Jul 22, 2023

Orbia, a Mexico City-based firm with global operations that makes goods including specialty PVC and plastic resins, will do its own research to understand the true supply outlook for this resin heavily used in home fixtures and water pipes, and mull the...

Shell completes Pennsylvania ethane cracker, polyethylene plant construction

Aug 9, 2022

Shell has fully completed as of early Aug. 2022 construction of an ethane cracker and polyethylene plant complex near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is different from other U.S. downstream investment in plastic resin capacity in that it will tap ethane from...

Canada works on new regulations after ban on single-use plastics; Dow to decide on Fort Saskatchewan net-zero cracker by year´s end; LyondellBasell begins commissioning activities for world´s biggest PO, oxyfuels plant

Aug 9, 2022

News Briefs

U.S. chemical producers project 2022 may be the best year in a decade

Jun 21, 2022

Chemical companies may enjoy in 2022 results unseen for many years due to strong demand for chemical products as manufacturers rebuild inventories, according to a June 6 report by the U.S. American Chemistry Council (ACC) that groups the biggest petrochemical...

Two Mexican plastic conglomerates tap windfall earnings to diversify from Mexico

May 9, 2022

Two Mexican plastic conglomerates, Alpek and Orbia, have used a windfall from operations that continued in the first quarter to fund investment involving plant acquisitions and market development far from Mexico, in moves that coincide with a private...

Braskem set to start construction of $420-million ethane import terminal in Mexico´s biggest private investment project

Mar 21, 2022

Brazil-based Braskem, which owns a cracker and polyethylene plant in Mexico that started up over five years ago but has yet to run at full capacity, plans to begin in the second half of 2022 works contemplated for the past four years to build a $420-million...

U.S. construction material prices and contractor bid proposals on the rise in 2022

Feb 7, 2022

Any new project decisions in 2022 will be evaluated in an environment of ongoing material price increases and supply disruption that has alredy pushed some contractors to propose higher bids with longer completion times.

U.S. Gulf Coast lost construction jobs as oil and gas investment slowed

Jan 24, 2022

U.S. construction investment in oil, gas fields and pipelines contracted 4% in January-November 2021 from a year earlier, according to data shared by the U.S. Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) in January.

Project delayed by pandemic retaken in 2021 at higher cost, while others see indefinite delays

Jan 12, 2021

Covid-19 challenged the biggest petrochemical projects in North America, as it added costs and extended the timeline to works reconsidered last year for resumption in 2021, as well as created conditions that compromised feasibility to the point of forcing...

Recycling industry challenged by pandemic, fragmentation, price opacity

Dec 1, 2020

Falling crude oil prices during to the pandemic drove down virgin plastic resins prices and made recycled plastic comparatively more expensive, adding to challenges the recycling industry has long faced such as industry fragmentation and a lack of price...

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