HOUSTON, Dec. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE: WLK) announced today that it has started-up its new chlor-alkali plant located at its vinyls manufacturing complex in Geismar, Louisiana.
This new chlor-alkali plant has the capacity to produce 350,000 electrochemical units (ECU's) annually and utilizes state of the art membrane technology. The plant is adjacent to the existing vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) facilities at the Geismar complex and has added approximately 70 full-time positions at the site. At its peak over 2000 constructions personnel were utilized in building the new plant.
When combined with the existing membrane chlor-alkali capacity at the Calvert City, Kentucky vinyls complex, the company will have the ability to produce up to 650,000 ECU's annually at these two sites to meet ongoing customer needs. The addition of this new plant is consistent with Westlake's vertical integration strategy for its vinyls business and will allow the company to continue to expand and optimize the vinyls chain, including the anticipated addition of 200mm pounds per year of PVC at the company's Calvert City PVC plant during the second quarter of 2014.
Westlake Chemical Corporation (WLK)
Westlake Chemical Corporation is a manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, caustic, VCM, PVC resin and PVC building products including pipe and specialty components, windows and fence. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.westlake.com.
The statements in this release relating to the new plant and construction, as well as any other matters that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially. For more detailed information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, please refer to Westlake's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, which was filed in February 2013.
SOURCE Westlake Chemical Corporation
