CB&I awarded contract for Louisiana cracker

OREANDA-NEWS. December 21, 2015. Axiall and Lotte Chemical will move forward with plans to build a 1mn t/yr ethylene cracker in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The companies awarded CB&I a \\$1.3bn contract to design and build the plant, which will consume what is now considered cheap Gulf coast ethane. Separately the companies announced they reached a final investment decision to go ahead with the project. Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2016, with the plant likely to begin operation in 2019.

The cracker will help Axiall lower feedstock costs in its chlor-alkali business and will supply a monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant Lotte will build adjacent to the new facility.