By Paul Morden, from www.theobserver.ca The Observer
Sarnia-Lambton residents will have to wait a little longer to learn if Nova Chemicals will build a new $1-billion polyethylene plant in Chemical Valley.
“We expect to finalize our path forward later this year,” CEO Randy Woelfel said Thursday during a conference call about Nova’s quarterly financial results.
Nova first announced in 2011 it was investigating building a new plant in Sarnia-Lambton where it already employs more than 800 workers at three sites.
If built in Chemical Valley, the new plant is likely to be on land the company owns just south of its Corunna site, but Nova has said it’s also considering building on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Sarnia-Lambton officials have said high electricity costs in Ontario is an issue for for Nova as it considers where to locate the plant expected to create 90 permanent jobs, and up to 1,500 construction jobs.
“We’re balancing many factors as we determine the optimal path forward,” Woelfel said. “Expansion costs, timing to market, incentives and execution risks, to name a few.”
If the project goes ahead in Sarnia-Lambton, it will also require an expansion of Nova’s Corunna facility.
That’s on top of $250 million in upgrades nearing competition at the facility that produces ethylene for Nova’s two existing polyethylene plants in Chemical Valley.
The recent work at the Corunna facility will allow it take advantage of ethane feedstocks piped in from the Marcellus shale basin of the eastern U.S.
“Our plan is to increase consumption of Marcellus ethane as we move into 2014,” Woelfel said.
Nova Chemicals recorded a profit of $120 million in the third quarter of this year, compared to $104 million during the same period last year.
“We continue to have one of our best years for polyethylene sales,” Woelfel said.