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Formosa’s Louisiana Petrochemical Complex Project

Wrong Products, Wrong Time, Wrong Place, Wrong Finances


Plastics market oversupply and legal challenges loom

Plans for a major petrochemicals complex by plastics group Formosa to be situated in St. James Parish, Louisiana are being called into question by IEEFA.

The project makes very little economic sense at a time of market oversupply, lower petrochemical prices, strong competition for market share, and restrictive trade policies. Rising construction costs and a weakened bond rating are other indicators that the project is risky for investors.

In addition, the Formosa project faces environmental and regulatory challenges, including judicial findings of historic racial discrimination, and it continues to be strongly opposed by local community groups. IEEFA’s analysis urges the cancellation of “this ill-advised project, which should be abandoned in light of its weak fundamentals.”

Read the full report to learn why the project would cause Formosa to make the wrong products, at the wrong time, at the wrong price, in the wrong place, and with the wrong financial calculus.

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