Original news was published on 21 June, 2017

Growth in U.S. chemical manufacturing may drive an increase in exports and breakbulk demand from the sector, reports from the American Chemistry Council in Petrochemical Update suggest.

The recent surge in hydraulic fracturing and natural gas has driven a wave of new investments, with ACC estimating there are 310 projects under construction or planned. This equates to US$185 billion in potential capital investment as of June 2017, and the majority of these projects have significant breakbulk requirements.

“I have heard people say that we should not be talking about a second wave of investment, because it is not just going to be a second wave. It is going to be a continuous flow of investment in chemical manufacturing in the U.S. for a significant period of time,” said Cal Dooley, ACC president.

One of the largest proposed projects at present is a storage hub for the Appalachian Basin with facilities to convert the regions natural gas assets into a petrochemical production center. The hub would handle 100 million barrels of natural gas products and include about 3,000 miles of underground pipelines at an estimated cost of US$10 billion.

*NEWS SOURCE