Leveraging ethylene produced by cheap shale gas-derived feedstocks, Dow Chemical (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com) plans to build at least four plants for plastics-related specialty products on the US Gulf coast up to 2017. Projects include a previously announced plant for the group’s “Nordel” brand EPDM rubber, as well as a plant for its “Affinity” hot-melt adhesives, a plant for its “Elite” enhanced PE and a facility for specialty LDPE earmarked for applications in packaging and E&E. The new units will be fed by a new world-scale ethylene cracker to be built in Texas by 2017.

Dow said the plants now in the front end engineering and design (FEED) phase, which is expected to be completed by 2014, will use a wide range of technologies to produce differentiated, high performance materials for the fastest-growing segments of the company’s existing markets, while providing access to new markets and applications. They will supply businesses in North and South America that have consistently delivered a higher return on capital, said executive vice president Jim Fitterling, adding that this is “clearly aligned” with the US chemical giant’s long-term strategy to deliver faster growth with lower earnings volatility. Other projects on the Gulf are planned to follow.

Dow said actions to improve ethane feedstock flexibility and increase ethylene supply at the Plaquemine, Louisiana, site up to 2015 are also in progress, as well as a new propylene plant to provide building blocks for the group’s epoxies and polyurethanes franchises, also due on stream in 2015. Also, thanks to the shale gas boom, Dow in December restarted an ethylene production unit at St. Charles, Louisiana.

In a separate project to be pursued with Japanese partners Idemitsu Kosan (Tokyo; www.idemitsu.com) and Mitsui (Tokyo; www.mitsuichem.com), the chemical giant will build a US plant for 300,000 t/y of linear alpha olefins up to 2016. The comonomer will be used throughout the group’s Performance Plastics business. A location will be announced when plans are finalised in 2014. Dow said the jv will be fed by an integrated supply of ethylene from its Gulf Coast grid.