Formosa Petrochemical Corp. plans to bring $9.4 billion worth of sunshine to Louisiana.
Company executive Keh-Yen Lin and state Gov. John Bel Edwards on April 23 announced that Taiwan-based FPC has chosen St. James Parish as the location for the Sunshine Project, a massive petrochemicals complex that would include plastic resin production.
FPC has purchased a 2,400-acre site along the west bank of the Mississippi River for the project, which carries a price tag of $9.4 billion. The site is downriver from the Sunshine Bridge and will be built in two phases over a 10-year period. Construction could begin next year. FPC plans to operate the project as FG LA LLC.
The project is expected to create 1,200 direct jobs and 8,000 indirect jobs in the River Parishes and surrounding regions of Louisiana, according to state officials.
"We will work to keep the community updated and informed at each stage of this project," FPC Executive Vice President Lin said in a news release. Company officials added that production at the Louisiana complex will support a host of plastic goods, ranging from sports equipment and food packaging to clothing and health care and technology products.
Louisiana is providing FPC with an incentive package that includes a $12 million grant to offset infrastructure costs. FPC also will work with LED FastStart, the state's workforce development program, and will tap into Louisiana's Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.
"As a major global manufacturer based in Taiwan, Formosa has operated in Louisiana for several decades, and we applaud the company's responsible and thorough approach to developing this project," Bel Edwards said in the release.
FPC already employs more than 400 at three sites in Louisiana. The firm employs 100,000 worldwide at sites in Asia and in the United States.
FPC officials first discussed the project in late 2015, saying that production could include polyethylene and polypropylene resins, as well as ethylene, propylene and related feedstocks. Formosa Petrochemical is a separate entity from Formosa Plastics Corp., although both are owned by Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Group.
Formosa Plastics already makes PE, PP, PVC and related products in the United States as Formosa Plastics Corp. USA. The firm operates a Louisiana production site in Baton Rouge.
