Taiwan-based Formosa Petrochemical has decided to construct its $9.4bn petrochemical complex in St. James Parish in the US state of in Louisiana.
Image: A petrochemical plant. Photo: courtesy of supakitmod/Freedigitalphotos.net.
Dubbed as the Sunshine Project, the petrochemical complex will be built on the 2,400 acres site acquired by the company along the west bank of the Mississippi River.
To be built, in two phases, just downriver from the Sunshine Bridge, the petrochemical manufacturing complex will produce ethylene, propylene, ethylene glycol and associated polymers.
The end products will be used for manufacturing products such as plastic bottles, grocery bags, car casings, drainage pipes, ropes, antifreeze, artificial turf, polyester clothing and playground equipment.
Formosa Petrochemical will operate the Sunshine Project under its Louisiana-based subsidiary FG LA, which is expected to break ground as soon as 2019 once it gets the approval of permits for the facility. The project is expected to take a total of 10 years for its completion.
The phase 1 development of the Sunshine petrochemical project will see construction of an ethylene plant, associated polymer plants and an ethylene glycol plant. It will also include construction of a propylene plant and associated polymer plant and ancillary support facilities for product loading and utilities like electricity and wastewater treatment.
In the second phase, an additional ethylene plant, associated polymer plants and ethylene glycol plant will be constructed in the Sunshine petrochemical complex.
The Formosa petrochemical project is anticipated to pave way for 1,200 new direct jobs.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said: “For more than 50 years, the Sunshine Bridge has connected the River Parishes in a strategic fashion that has enabled tremendous industrial growth and thousands of new jobs along both sides of the Mississippi River in Louisiana.
“The new Sunshine Project continues that bridge into a brighter economic future for Louisiana, one with an estimated 8,000 construction jobs at peak, even more permanent jobs upon completion, and a multibillion-dollar impact on earnings and business purchases for decades to come.”
Formosa Petrochemical is an affiliate of Formosa Plastics Group, which has three existing facilities in Louisiana, employing a total of more than 400 employees.