Yuhuang Will Build $1.85B LA Industrial

VACHERIE, LA—Chinese-based Yuhuang Chemical will make a $1.85-billion capital investment in a methanol manufacturing complex on the Mississippi River in St. James Parish. The project by Yuhuang Chemical Inc., a subsidiary of Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co. Ltd., represents the first major foreign direct investment by a Chinese company in Louisiana.

Yuhuang Chemical will create 400 new direct jobs, with an average annual salary of $85,000 plus benefits. In addition, Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 2,365 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 2,700 new jobs in the state's southeast region.

“Foreign direct investment projects add great value to our state by creating high-paying jobs, increased levels of international trade and extraordinary career opportunities for the families of Louisiana,” says Gov. Bobby Jindal. “It's no accident that we now have a record-high number of people working in Louisiana, and companies from around the world continue to make huge investments in our state. Our efforts reforming government, lowering taxes and improving our state's business climate are paying off.”

Yuhuang Chemical has secured an option to purchase more than 1,100 acres for a three-phase project next to the Plains All-American Pipeline terminal. After the first methanol plant is completed in 2018, the company will build a second methanol plant and reach an annual capacity of three million metric tons per annum of methanol. A third phase will include a methanol derivatives plant that will produce intermediate chemicals.

Most of the project's methanol will be exported by oceangoing vessels for use in the parent company's production of downstream chemicals in China. Approximately 20% to 30% of the methanol will be shipped by barge and rail and sold to North American customers.