Dive Brief:
- Last week, ExxonMobil and Louisiana state officials celebrated the start of operations at the company’s new, $500 million plastics production plant in Baton Rouge, according to a Louisiana Economic Development news release.
- After four years of construction, the plant will double Exxon’s polypropylene production capacity, an increase of 450,000 metric tons per year, the release said.
- The project is part of the company’s Growing the Gulf initiative, a 10-year plan to invest over $20 billion to expand manufacturing facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Dive Insight:
The new polypropylene plant aims to meet rising demand for lightweight, durable plastics.
“With the startup of this new production unit, we are well positioned to responsibly meet the growing global demand for these high-performance polymers,” President of Product Solutions Karen McKee said in a statement when production commenced.
Polypropylene has several applications from use in lightweight automotive parts that improve fuel efficiency to medical masks and food packaging, according to the release.
The new facility, dubbed the “Polypropylene Growth Project,” broke ground in 2019 as part of an initiative Exxon launched in 2013 to expand over a dozen refining and chemical manufacturing projects along the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to a company blog post.
The initiative, the post said, will “drastically increase ExxonMobil’s export capacity.”
Another industry player growing its chemicals portfolio is Shell, which recently began manufacturing another common plastic, polyethylene, at its plant near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
