Shintech Louisiana LLC announced the company will invest $1.3 billion to expand its manufacturing and packaging facilities in Iberville and West Baton Rouge, Louisiana parishes.
Shintech is the world’s leading manufacturer of polyvinyl chloride resins, or PVC. The company will make a $1.25 billion investment to increase PVC manufacturing capacity and expand chlor-alkali and vinyl chloride monomer capacity at its manufacturing facility in Plaquemine, which was announced in 2018 and is expected to be completed this year.
The company also is expanding its PVC packaging and warehouse operation in Addis.
In Plaquemine, Shintech’s manufacturing expansion will create 30 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $86,000, plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 129 new indirect jobs, for a total of 159 new jobs for Iberville Parish and the Capital Region.
Shintech will retain 530 existing jobs at the Iberville and West Baton Rouge facilities where the company has operated since 1999. The company expects the expansion project to create up to 2,400 constructions jobs. Construction is expected to be completed toward the end of 2023.
The company is expanding its facilities to keep pace with the demand for PVC, a versatile, durable product used in a variety of applications in the building and construction industries as well as health care, electronics, automobile and other sectors. Shintech is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan-based Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd.
LED began discussions with Shintech about the potential expansions in 2020. To secure the project, the State of Louisiana offered a competitive incentive package that includes the comprehensive solutions of LED FastStart – the nation’s No. 1 state workforce development program for the past 11 years.
The state has offered Shintech a performance-based grant of up to $6.6 million for the construction, procurement and installation of infrastructure to support the expansion project. The grant is payable in four installments, contingent upon the company reaching investment and production benchmarks. The company also is expected to utilize Louisiana’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.
Shintech has invested more than $7 billion in its Louisiana operations in Iberville and West Baton Rouge parishes. ■
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