Asian Firms Target U.S. Ethylene

Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical and Japan’s Marubeni have selected a site in Belmont County, Ohio, where they might build an ethylene cracker, according to Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich. Under contemplation for the past two years, the cracker would take advantage of cheap natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus Shale formations. PTT and Marubeni intend to make a final decision in 2016. In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced that Japan’s Shin-Etsu Chemical is moving ahead with plans to build an ethylene cracker in that state by 2018. Shin-Etsu says the plant will cost about $1.4 billion and have capacity for 500,000 metric tons per year.