By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - A massive Pennsylvania
plastics project that President Donald Trump touted during a
visit last year faces risks of oversupply and a low price
outlook for the materials, a report by an institute that
examines energy issues said on Thursday.
The Pennsylvania Petrochemical Complex plant in Beaver
County, owned by Shell, has been promoted by some as an
economic savior in a region still suffering from the demise of
steel industry in the 1980s.
But the $6 billion to $10 billion plant, expected to open in
2021 or 2022, faces competition from other major plants owned by
companies like Exxon Mobil, expected growth in recycled
plastics, and the sluggish global economy, according to the
report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial
Analysis, which supports the transition to green energy.
"A lot of people think it's the second coming of the steel
industry ... but this is way too weak of a proposition and a
questionable economic development choice," Tom Sanzillo, IEEFA
director of finance and former first deputy comptroller of New
York state, said. Sanzillo hopes local officials and investors
will ask questions about the plant.
Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said the short-term outlook for
the chemicals business is challenging, but long-term demand for
petrochemical products will grow. The project is advantaged
given its proximity to abundant, inexpensive feedstock, Smith
said, referring to the region's natural gas and ethane.
Trump won Pennsylvania in the 2016 election by less than 1
percentage point and has visited the state often ahead of the
November vote.
"This is just the beginning," Trump told thousands of
building workers wearing yellow vests at the plant last August.
"My administration is clearing the way for other
massive, multibillion-dollar investments." He said the project
would have never happened without him, although its final
permits were issued before he was elected.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Leslie Adler)
