What’s keeping chemical company executives up at night? Labor shortages.
It’s great to plan billions of new chemical plants along the Gulf Coast — the latest American Chemistry Council study shows there is $72 billion of planned investment in the U.S. between 2010 and 2020, with 78 percent of that going to the Gulf Coast.
However, as HBJ has previously reported, there is a huge shortage of construction workers, and the lack of skilled manufacturers has long been an issue.
The lack of available workers could cause delays, which could be a major problem since chemical companies are looking to stand up new plants and expansions as soon as possible to take advantage of low natural gas prices.