Formosa Plastics Corp (Livingston, New Jersey / USA; www.fpcusa.com) has announced plans to build an integrated cracker and LDPE complex at its site in Point Comfort, Texas / USA. The USD 1.7 bn (EUR 1.3 bn) project will comprise an 800,000 t/y cracker, an associated 600,000 t/y propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit and a 300,000 t/y LDPE plant. Randy Smith, vice president and general manager of the US arm of Taiwanese group Formosa Plastics (Taipei; www.fpc.com.tw), said the project is expected to start up in 2016. Details of the process technologies were not disclosed.

The cracker will take advantage of low-cost domestic natural gas and will supply feedstock both to existing production units and the new LDPE unit, Formosa said. The additional propylene output from the PDH unit will increase operational flexibility, it added. The company expects the project to result in the creation of about 1800 construction jobs and, once completed, an additional 225 long-term operating and maintenance jobs. Several producers have announced cracker projects in the USA, based on shale gas developments in the country – see Plasteurope.com of 11.07.2011.