Occidental Chemical Corp. (OxyChem) and Mexichem SAB de CV (Mexichem) remain on schedule to commission their 50-50 joint venture Ingleside Ethylene LLC’s 1.2 billion-lb/year (550,000-tonne/year) ethane cracker at Ingleside, Tex., in early 2017.
The cracker is due to enter operation and reach full rates of production during first-quarter 2017, as originally planned (OGJ Online, Nov. 1, 2013), Mexichem said in its latest earnings report.
Currently under construction at OxyChem’s existing plant in Ingleside, the $1.5-billion cracker will process ethane feedstocks from US shale gas supplies to supply OxyChem with an ongoing source of ethylene for manufacturing vinyl chloride monomer, which Mexichem will use to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin and PVC piping systems (OGJ Online, Dec. 17, 2014).
The JV most recently let a contract to CB&I, Houston, to provide engineering, procurement, and construction for an ethylene storage complex in nearby Markham as part of the cracker project (OGJ Online, June 30, 2015).
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
