Westlake Chemical

A joint venture between Lotte Chemical USA and Westlake Chemical Corp. opened a new chemical plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The 250-acre facility produces monoethylene glycol (MEG) with an annual capacity of 700,000 metric tons, making it the world's largest MEG plant. Development costs were $3.1 billion, and it is expected to generate 250 permanent jobs.

Lotte Chemical USA and Westlake Chemical Corporation held an official opening ceremony on May 9, 2019, for their joint-venture ethylene and ethylene glycol production facility near Lake Charles, Louisiana. The $3.1 billion project broke ground in June 2016 and includes an ethane-cracker plant and an ethylene glycol plant on approximately 250 acres.

Westlake Chemical Corporation will acquire Boral Ltd.'s North American building products businesses for $2.15 billion, nearly doubling Westlake's building products business.

Westlake Chemical Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Hexion Inc.'s global epoxy business for approximately $1.2 billion. The business is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and produces specialty resins, coatings and composites.

Westlake Chemical has completed the acquisition of Nakan, a PVC, TPE, and TPO compounder based in Reims, France, from OpenGate Capital for $265 million. The deal was announced in September 2018.

Westlake Chemical Corporation made a binding offer to acquire NAKAN (Ivy Group Holding SAS), a PVC compounding solutions business, from OpenGate Capital for approximately $270 million. The transaction is expected to close by early 2019.

Westlake Chemical is investing $140 million to add 110 million pounds per year of suspension polyvinyl chloride at its Geismar, Louisiana plant. The company is also pursuing a VCM and PVC expansion to boost combined annual volume to 1 billion pounds. Expansions in Geismar and Burghausen are expected to be completed in 2019.

Lotte Chemical USA is investing in a $1.9 billion joint venture with Westlake Chemical to build an ethane cracker complex in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The complex is under construction and expected to begin operating in 2019, producing 1 million tons per year of ethylene.