Westlake Chemical Corporation (WLK) will expand capacities for the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) at three of its chemical facilities. Two of the plants are located in Germany (Burghausen, Gendorf) and one is located in Geismar, Louisiana. The expansions in Burghausen and Geismar are expected to be completed in 2019. The Gendorf expansions are expected to be completed in 2020 and 2021.
The expansion projects are expected to add approximately 750M pounds annually of additional PVC and approximately 200M pounds annually of additional VCM to the company’s production. Specialty PVC will be expanded at Burghausen and suspension PVC will be expanded at Geismar. VCM production will be expanded at Geismar and Gendorf. In addition, chlor-alkali production will be expanded at the Gendorf facility, adding approximately 55 million pounds annually of chlorine capacity and the associated 60 million pounds annually of membrane caustic soda capacity.
