Mexichem Cancels Mexican Project

Polyvinyl chloride producer Mexichem has shelved a joint venture with Mexican state oil company Pemex to build a 400,000-metric-ton-per-year vinyl chloride plant in Mexico. Instead, the company says it will pursue expansion outside the country. In August, Mexichem and Occidental Chemical proposed building a 500,000-metric-ton-per-year ethylene cracker in the U.S. Oxy will convert the ethylene into as much as 1 million metric tons of vinyl chloride, which it will sell to Mexichem. In a disclosure to the Mexican stock exchange, Mexichem blamed the cancellation on Pemex’ “constant postponements.” It added that the project would have achieved “modernization of the petrochemical industry in our country and enabled real growth in this key sector for the economy of Mexico.”