China’s Wanhua Chemical has selected Convent in St. James Parish, Lousiana, USA, for its previously announced $1.12 billion isocyanates project.

The company has been evaluating potential site locations in the US for several years, finally announcing in April 2017 that it decided to locate the plant in Louisiana to benefit from a $4.3 million infrastructure grant and access to cheap shale-gas derived feedstock.

Construction is expected to start in 2019 with the 400,000 t/y MDI plant expected to go on stream in 2021. Wanhua set up a project team in 2013 for the facility’s design, permitting, construction and operation.

The company said it selected the Convent site because of its existing infrastructure advantages including access to competitive feedstock resources, distribution infrastructure and a skilled and well-trained workforce. Wanhua had also considered locating the plant in Texas.

According to Wanhua, the North American MDI-based polyurethane market has seen positive growth with opportunities especially in the construction, automotive, appliances and adhesives segments, and more MDI capacity will be needed over the next few years to keep up with demand.

The company, regarded as the world’s largest producer of MDI, already operates plants in Ningbo, Yantai and Zhuhai in China and Kazincbarcika, Hungary.

Other companies building major petrochemical projects in St. James Parish include Yuhuang Chemical Industries, which is installing a 1.7 million t/y methanol plant for completion in mid-2020.

Formosa Chemical also bought a site in St. James Parish earlier this year for its proposed $9.4 billion Sunshine Project, which will be built in two phases over a 10-year period.

The first phase consists of a 1.2 million t/y ethylene plant together with polymer plants, an ethylene glycol (EG) unit and a propane dehydrogenation facility, with start-up due in 2022.  The next phase will comprise another 1.2 million t/y ethylene plant, polymer plants and a second EG facility.