ExxonMobil plans to build an ethylene cracker with 1.5 million metric tons of annual capacity at its complex in Baytown, Texas, and two new polyethylene units, each with 650,000 metric tons of capacity, at its Mont Belvieu, Texas, facility. Construction is planned to begin next March and be completed in the second quarter of 2016.

With this multi-billion-dollar ethylene and polyethylene expansion project for the U.S. Gulf Coast, Exxon Mobil is the sixth US company to unveil cracker plans in little more than a year. The company has already filed applications for environmental permits with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

• Exxon Mobil, Houston, TX, USA