According to Steven Bender, chief financial officer and treasurer for Westlake Chemical, while many large investments are currently being made in the global petrochemical industry, Westlake is “very focused” on the optimum return on their investment capital.
Dave Barron
Steven Bender
“The key is not only having a low operating cost and a low feedstock cost but also being able to invest in those assets at costs that make the returns acceptable long-term, over the cycle,” Bender said, addressing delegates at the World Petrochemical Conference by IHS Markit, held recently in Houston, Texas.
“When you think about the strategies we have employed, we’ve recognized that there will be ebbs and flows in those costs, whether here in North America or in some of our other markets,” he continued. “Certainly, you want to drive all of your costs low, and we’re all competing in a low-cost environment today in North America.”
Discussing strategies for profitable growth at WPC2017, Bender reiterated that he believes success depends on “making sure the investment today is also as low as possible for tomorrow.”
Answering a question posed by IHS Markit oil, mid-downstream and chemical consulting vice president, and the panel’s moderator, John Page about whether the chemical and plastic products manufacturer would expand into other areas of manufacturing, Bender expressed a “stick-with-what-you-know” attitude.
“I think that you’re going to find that we are going to stay close to our industry,” Bender replied. “Certainly, as you can see, the businesses that we’re in are doing well, and where we’ve been successful is in understanding what we do well and understanding what we do not do well.”
Founded in 1986 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Westlake Chemical is the largest producer of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in the Americas, and will continue to focus on manufacturing olefins and vinyl, Bender said.
“I think if you can stay close to what you know you can deliver value for, and stay close to that, you’ll be well positioned,” Bender concluded.
For more information, please visit www.wpc.markit.com and www.westlake.com.
