A bankrupt plastics plant that had been under construction in Corpus Christi now might be completed and put into operation. The go-ahead came March 28 from federal bankruptcy Judge Brendan L. Shannon in Delaware, who approved the sell of the plant to Corpus Christi Polymers.
Bankrupt company M&G USA Corp. agreed to sell the plant, its desalination/boiler plant, and certain intellectual property for $1.125 billion to the newly formed joint venture put together just to make this purchase. At 85 percent completion, the plastics plant ran over budget, causing M&G to file for bankruptcy in October 2017. The $1.1 billion plant still needed $500 million to be complete.
Corpus Christi Polymers is made up of Alpek S.A.B. de C.V., a Mexican chemical manufacturing company; Indorama Ventures Holdings LP, a subsidiary of Indorama Ventures Limited; and Far Eastern Investment Holding Limited of Taiwan.
The M&G plant is the biggest facility of its kind in the world. It is expected to produce about 1.1 million metric-tons of purified terephthalic acid and polyethylene terephthalate a year. PET and PTA are polymers used to make plastic and polyester products.
Construction on the facility began in April 2013. It was supposed to be  complete by December 2015.
Another major PET/PTA plant is planned for the Coastal Bend. ExxonMobil announced plans to construct an even bigger steam cracker plant in Gregory-Portland. Construction should begin and be completed sometime in the next five years. Currently, the company is working with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on air quality permits.