2015.04.23

Chairman and Founder of Shintech Inc., Chihiro Kanagawa, announced plans for the construction of an ethylene production plant to be built on land owned by the company in Plaquemine, Louisiana. This will be the first ethylene plant built in the U.S. by a Japanese chemical company.


Chairman Kanagawa said the capacity of the plant will be 500,000 tons per year and the cost of the construction is estimated to be approximately $1.4 billion. Shintech plans to finance this investment with its own funds. The company¬ anticipates completion of the construction in the first half of 2018. The construction work has been contracted mainly to Toyo Engineering Corporation. Lummus Technology U.S. Inc. will provide the ethylene process technologies.


Shintech Inc. is a Shin-Etsu Chemical U.S. Group company with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plants in Texas and Louisiana. Shintech is the world's largest producer of PVC, along with ShinEtsu's other PVC operations. Ethylene is one of the primary raw materials required for the production of PVC.


Shintech is currently expanding its production capacities of PVC, vinyl chloride monomer and electrolysis in Louisiana.


Chairman Kanagawa noted that the decision to construct an ethylene plant at this time is one step in the implementation of Shintech's strategy to assure a reliable supply of ethylene and to further strengthen its integrated production processes for PVC. With this, the company will further strengthen its position as the world's largest PVC maker.


Louisiana Governor Jindal has said, "This is the third major industrial expansion announced by Shintech in our state since we took office in 2008, and our partnership with this global chemical leader continues to strengthen".


Going forward, Shintech will continue to make good use of the fundamental advantages the U.S. offers, and will continue investing to better meet PVC demands.

For inquires about this matter, please contact:
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
Public Relations Dept.
Tetsuya Koishikawa
Tel: 03-3246-5091, or from outside Japan: 81-3-3246-5091
Fax: 03-3246-5096, or from outside Japan: 81-3-3246-5096
e-mail: sec-pr@shinetsu.jp
www.shinetsu.co.jp
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