Westlake Corporation operates as a vertically integrated global manufacturer and marketer of performance and essential materials and housing and infrastructure products that enhance the lives of people every day.
The company’s products include some of the most widely used materials in the world, which are fundamental to many diverse consumer and industrial markets, including residential construction, flexible and rigid packaging, automotive products, healthcare products, water treatment, wind t...
Westlake Corporation operates as a vertically integrated global manufacturer and marketer of performance and essential materials and housing and infrastructure products that enhance the lives of people every day.
The company’s products include some of the most widely used materials in the world, which are fundamental to many diverse consumer and industrial markets, including residential construction, flexible and rigid packaging, automotive products, healthcare products, water treatment, wind turbines, coatings, as well as other durable and non-durable goods.
Segments
The company operates in two principal segments, Performance and Essential Materials; and Housing and Infrastructure Products.
Performance and Essential Materials includes Westlake North American Vinyls, Westlake North American Chlor-alkali & Derivatives, Westlake European & Asian Chlorovinyls, Westlake Olefins, Westlake Polyethylene and Westlake Epoxy.
Housing and Infrastructure Products includes Westlake Royal Building Products, Westlake Pipe & Fittings, Westlake Global Compounds and Westlake Dimex.
The company is highly integrated along its materials chain with significant downstream integration from ethylene and chlor-alkali (chlorine and caustic soda) into vinyls, polyethylene and styrene monomer. The company also has substantial downstream integration from polyvinyl chloride (‘PVC’) into its building products, PVC pipes and fittings and PVC compounds in the company’s Housing and Infrastructure Products segment.
As a global manufacturer of products in the performance and essential materials and housing and infrastructure products businesses, the company continues to build on its core strengths in delivering high-value, essential products for the company’s customers and endeavor to produce and deliver these products in increasingly sustainable ways.
Performance and Essential Materials Business
Products
Principal products in the company’s integrated Performance and Essential Materials segment include ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, chlor-alkali (chlorine and caustic soda), chlorinated derivative products, ethylene dichloride (‘EDC’), vinyl chloride monomer (‘VCM’) and PVC. The company manages its integrated vinyls production chain to optimize product margins and capacity utilization.
The company manufactures ethylene through three of the OpCo plants and its portion of LACC's production capacity located in Lake Charles and Calvert City. Chlor-alkali materials are produced at the company’s three plants located in Lake Charles, two plants located in Germany and one plant each located in Calvert City, Plaquemine, Geismar, Natrium, Longview and Beauharnois. The company’s VCM is produced at its two plants in Lake Charles, two plants located in Germany and one plant each at Calvert City, Plaquemine and Geismar. The company’s PVC is produced at its four plants located in Germany and one plant each at Calvert City, Plaquemine, Geismar and Aberdeen. Polyethylene and associated products are produced at the company’s two polyethylene plants in Lake Charles and three polyethylene plants and a specialty polyethylene wax plant at its Longview site.
The company’s chlorinated derivative products are primarily produced at its plants in Lake Charles and Natrium. Styrene monomer is produced at the company’s plant located in its Lake Charles facility. Epoxy Specialty Resins are produced at two plants located in Germany, two plants in the United States, one plant in Spain and one plant in South Korea. Base Epoxy Resins and Intermediaries are produced at the company’s plants in Pernis, the Netherlands and Deer Park, United States.
The company’s other Asian manufacturing facilities are located near Shanghai, in China, and in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, through its 95%- and 60%-owned joint ventures, respectively, where the company produces chlor-alkali, PVC and associated products. As of February 18, 2025, the company (directly and through OpCo, its investment in LACC, and the company’s 95%- and 60%-owned joint ventures in China and Taiwan, respectively) had approximately 43.3 billion pounds per year of aggregate production capacity at numerous manufacturing sites in North America, Europe and Asia in its Performance and Essential Materials segment.
Ethylene
Ethylene is the world's most widely used petrochemical in terms of volume. It is the key building block used to produce a large number of higher value-added chemicals including polyethylene, EDC, VCM and styrene. OpCo has the capacity to produce approximately 3.0 billion pounds of ethylene per year at the company’s Lake Charles site, and it has the capability to consume all OpCo's production that the company purchases at Lake Charles to produce EDC, VCM, polyethylene and styrene monomer. In addition, the company (through OpCo) produces ethylene co-products including chemical grade propylene, crude butadiene, pyrolysis gasoline and hydrogen. The company (through OpCo) sells its entire output of these co-products to external customers. The ethylene from OpCo's facility in Calvert City and LACC is utilized to produce VCM at the company’s facilities. The company obtains the remainder of the ethylene its need for the company’s business from third party purchases. The use of ethane feedstock by the company’s ethylene plants enables it to enhance the company’s materials chain integration.
Chlorine and Caustic Soda
The company is the second-largest chlor-alkali producer in the world. The company has the capacity to produce approximately 7.4 billion pounds of chlorine and 8.1 billion pounds of caustic soda. The company combines salt and electricity to produce chlorine and caustic soda, commonly referred to as chlor-alkali, at its Lake Charles, Plaquemine, Natrium, Calvert City, Geismar, Beauharnois, Longview (WA), Gendorf, Knapsack and Kaohsiung facilities. The company’s Lake Charles, Plaquemine and Natrium cogeneration assets have the capacity to generate approximately 845, 240 and 100 megawatts of electricity, respectively, per year. The company uses its chlorine production in its VCM and chlorinated derivative products plants. The company has the capacity to supply all its chlorine requirements internally. Any remaining chlorine is sold into the merchant chlorine market. The company’s caustic soda is sold to external customers who use it for, among other things, the production of pulp and paper, organic and inorganic chemicals and alumina.
VCM
VCM is used to produce PVC, solvents and PVC-related products. The company uses ethylene and chlorine to produce EDC, which is used in turn, to produce VCM. the company has the capacity to produce approximately 6.3 billion pounds and 1.6 billion pounds of VCM per year at its North American and European facilities, respectively. The majority of the company’s VCM is used internally in its PVC operations. VCM and EDC not used internally are sold externally.
PVC
The company is the second-largest PVC producer in the world. With the completion of the company’s previously announced expansion projects at its Geismar and Burghausen plants in 2019, the company has the capacity to produce approximately 6.8 billion pounds and 1.0 billion pounds of commodity and specialty PVC per year, respectively, at its various facilities globally. The company uses some of its PVC internally in the production of its building products, PVC pipes and fittings and PVC compounds in the Housing and Infrastructure Products segment. The remainder of the company’s PVC is sold to downstream fabricators and the international markets.
Polyethylene
The company produces LDPE by capacity in North America and predominantly use the autoclave technology (versus tubular technology), which is capable of producing higher-margin specialty polyethylene products. In 2024, the company’s annual capacity of approximately 1.5 billion pounds of LDPE was available in numerous formulations to meet the needs of its diverse customer base. The company also has the capacity to produce approximately 1.1 billion pounds of LLDPE per year in various formulations. The company produces LDPE and LLDPE at both the Lake Charles and Longview (TX) facilities. The company’s Lake Charles and Longview facilities also have the capability to produce HDPE. The company sells polyethylene to external customers as a final product in pellet form.
Chlorinated Derivative Materials
The company’s chlorinated derivative products include ethyl chloride, perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, tri-ethane solvents, VersaTRANS solvents, calcium hypochlorite, hydrochloric acid (‘HCL’) and pelletized caustic soda. The company has the capacity to produce approximately 2.2 billion pounds of chlorinated derivative products per year, primarily at its Lake Charles, Natrium, Beauharnois and Longview (WA) facilities. The majority of the company’s chlorinated derivative products are sold to external customers who use these products for, among other things, refrigerants, water treatment applications, chemicals and pharmaceutical production, food processing, steel pickling, solvent and cleaning chemicals and natural gas and oil production.
Styrene
The company produces styrene at its Lake Charles plant, where it has the capacity to produce approximately 570 million pounds of styrene per year, all of which is sold to external customers.
Epoxy Specialty Resins
With the acquisition of the Westlake Epoxy business, Westlake is one of the leading producers of epoxy specialty resins, modifiers and curing agents in Europe, the United States and Asia with a global reach to the company’s end markets. The company’s epoxy specialty resins are also used for electrical applications such as generators, bushings, transformers and medium and high voltage switch gear components. In composites, the company’s specialty epoxy products are used either as replacements for traditional materials, such as metal, wood and ceramics, or in applications where traditional materials do not meet demanding engineering specifications. The company is also one of the leading producers of resins that are used in fiber reinforced composites. The company produces epoxy specialty resins at its Duisburg and Esslingen plants in Germany, Barbastro plant in Spain, Onsan plant in South Korea, and Lakeland and Argo plants in the United States. The company has the total capacity to produce approximately 580 million pounds of epoxy specialty resins per year, all of which is sold to external customers.
Base Epoxy Resins and Intermediaries (BERI)
The company supplies Liquid and Solid Epoxy Resin. These base epoxies are used in a wide variety of industrial coatings applications. In addition, the company is a major producer of bisphenol-A (‘BPA’), a key precursor in the downstream manufacturing of basic epoxy resins and specialty resins. The company internally consumes the majority of its BPA, which ensures consistent supply of its required intermediate materials. The company produces base epoxies and intermediaries at its Deer Park, United States and Pernis, the Netherlands plants, where the company has the capacity to produce approximately 1,280 million pounds per year.
Product and Application Development
The company’s product and application development activities are geared towards developing and enhancing products, processes and applications. Facilities where the company performs such activities are in the United States, Germany, China and the Netherlands.
Feedstocks
The company is highly integrated along its materials production chain. The company (through OpCo) produces most of the ethylene required to produce its polyethylene and styrene. Ethylene can be produced from either petroleum liquid feedstocks, such as naphtha, condensates and gas oils, or from natural gas liquid feedstocks, such as ethane, propane and butane. Both of OpCo's Lake Charles ethylene plants use ethane as the primary feedstock. Pursuant to a feedstock supply agreement between the company and OpCo, OpCo receives ethane feedstock at its Lake Charles site through several pipelines from a variety of suppliers in Texas and Louisiana. The company owns a 50% interest in a 104-mile natural gas liquids pipeline from Mont Belvieu to its Lake Charles site. OpCo owns a 200-mile ethylene pipeline that runs from Mont Belvieu to the company’s Longview (TX) site. Additionally, through OpCo, the company produces most of the ethylene required at its Calvert City facility utilizing ethane feedstock. The LACC ethylene facility is located adjacent to the company’s chlor-alkali facility in Lake Charles and has an ethylene production capacity of 2.2 billion pounds per year. On December 31, 2024, the company, through one of its subsidiaries, owned 50% of the membership interests in LACC. The company receives its proportionate share in ethylene production on a cash-cost basis and primarily use it to produce VCM. In Germany, the company has access to, and partially own, an ethylene pipeline.
The company acquires butene and hexene to manufacture polyethylene and benzene to manufacture styrene. The company receives butene and hexene at the Lake Charles site and hexene at the Longview (TX) site via rail car from several suppliers. The company receives benzene via barges, ships and pipeline pursuant to short-term arrangements. The company purchases butene and hexene pursuant to multi-year contracts.
The salt requirements for several of the company’s larger chlor-alkali plants are supplied internally from salt domes it either owns or leases and the salt is transported by pipelines it owns. The company purchases the salt required for its other chlor-alkali plants pursuant to long-term contracts. Electricity and steam for one of its Lake Charles facilities and its Plaquemine facility are produced by on-site cogeneration units. A portion of the company’s Natrium facility's electricity requirements is produced by its on-site generation unit, and the remainder is purchased. The company purchases electricity for its remaining facilities under long-term contracts. The company purchases VCM for its Asian PVC plant on a contract and spot basis.
Marketing, Sales and Distribution
The company has a dedicated sales force for its business, organized by product line and region that sells its products directly to its customers. In addition, the company relies on distributors to market products to smaller customers. The company’s polyethylene customers are some of the nation's largest producers of film and flexible packaging. The company and OpCo sells ethylene and ethylene co-products to external customers. OpCo's primary ethylene co-products are chemical grade propylene, crude butadiene, pyrolysis gasoline and hydrogen. The company has storage agreements and exchange agreements that provides it and OpCo with access to customers who are not directly connected to the pipeline system that the company owns. Additionally, the company transports its polyethylene and styrene by rail or truck. Further, styrene can be transported by barge or ship.
The company uses some of its PVC internally in the production of its building products, pipes and fittings and PVC compounds in the Housing and Infrastructure Products segment. The remainder of the company’s PVC is sold to downstream fabricators and the international markets. The company has the capacity to use a majority of its chlorine internally to produce VCM and EDC, most of which, in turn, is used to produce PVC. The company also uses its chlorine internally to produce chlorinated derivative products. The company sells the remainder of its chlorine and substantially all its caustic soda production to external customers. The majority of the company’s products are shipped from production facilities directly to the customer via pipeline, truck, rail, barge and/or ship. The remaining products are shipped from production facilities to third party chemical terminals and warehouses until being sold to customers.
Competition
The company’s competitors in the ethylene, polyethylene and styrene markets are some of the world's largest chemical companies, including Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, Dow Inc., ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Formosa Plastics Corporation, LyondellBasell Industries, N.V., NOVA Chemicals Corporation and Sasol Limited. The company competes in the chlor-alkali and PVC markets with other producers including Formosa Plastics Corporation, INOVYN ChlorVinyls Limited, KEM ONE Group SAS, Olin Corporation, Orbia Advance Corporation, Occidental Chemical Corporation, Shintech, Inc. and VYNOVA Group. The company’s competitors in the epoxy value chain include Olin Corporation, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, the Spolchemie Group, LEUNA-Harze GmbH, Aditya Birla Chemicals (Thailand) Ltd., Huntsman Corporation, Swancor Holding Company Limited, Ningbo Bohui Chemical Technology Co., Ltd., Techstorm Advanced Material Co., Ltd., Shanghai Kangda Chemical New Material Group Co., Ltd., Evonik Industries AG, Allnex Management GmbH, Kukdo Chemical Co., Ltd., Kumhu Asiana Group and Chang Chun Plastics Co., Ltd.
Housing and Infrastructure Products Business
Brands and Products
The company manufactures and sells housing and infrastructure products, including residential PVC siding; PVC trim and mouldings; architectural stone veneer; windows; PVC decking; PVC films for various inflatables, wallcovering, tape and roofing applications; polymer composite and cement roof tiles; PVC pipe and fittings for various water, sewer, electrical and industrial applications; PVC compounds used in various housing, medical and automobile products; and a variety of consumer and commercial products, such as landscape edging; industrial, home and office matting; marine dock edging; and masonry joint controls.
The company’s housing and infrastructure products consist of several product groups includes exterior and interior building products, which includes siding, trim and mouldings, stone, roofing, windows and outdoor living products; PVC pipe, specialty PVC pipe and fittings; and PVC compounds. Many of the company’s products are made from PVC, including products for water and sewer systems and home and light commercial applications for siding, trim and mouldings, outdoor living products, windows and PVC compounds.
Siding
The company’s siding products include insulated siding and vinyl siding and accessory products. Additionally, the company offers premium siding products such as Celect Cellular Composite Siding and, TruExterior Siding. The company’s siding business is also a leader in non-wood shutters and siding accessories along with an array of specialty tools to aid installation. The company’s brands include Royal Siding, Portsmouth Shake and Shingle, Foundry Specialty Siding, TruExterior Siding&Trim, Celect Cellular Exteriors, Mid-America Exteriors, Tapco Tools, and many more.
Trim and Mouldings.
The company offers a wide variety of trim and moulding products, including exterior and interior products for homes, multi-family and light commercial structures that are used as substitute for wood and wood composite offerings. The company’s brands include Royal Trim and Mouldings, TruExterior Siding&Trim, and Kleer Lumber, among others.
Stone
The company is a leader in the masonry stone veneer category, with both mortars applied products and mechanically fastened products that are used as a substitute for stone on exterior walls and accents, as well as in interior applications, such as fireplaces, kitchens and bathrooms. The company’s stone brands include Cultured Stone, Eldorado Stone, Versetta Stone, Stone Craft Industries and Dutch Quality Stone, among others.
Roofing
The company’s DaVinci Roofscapes is a premium composite roofing. Additional product offerings include concrete and clay roof tiles and stone coated steel roofing. The company’s other major roofing name brands include NewPoint, Concrete Roof Tile, US Tile Clay Roofing Products, Unified Steel, and Stone Coated Roofing among others.
Windows
The company is a regional fabricator of vinyl windows in the South and Southeast markets of the United States. The company’s brands include Legacy Collection, the Krestmark Collection, and the Magnolia Collection.
Outdoor Living Products
The company’s outdoor living products include Zuri Premium Decking and Kindred Outdoor kitchens and fire bowls.
PVC Pipe
The company manufactures and sells pipe ranging from ½ inch to 36 inches in diameter, in gasketed, solvent welded, and restrained joint configurations. The company’s pipe products are used in residential water and sewer applications; municipal potable water and sewer infrastructure; plumbing and industrial applications, including drain, waste & vent (‘DWV’); electrical duct and conduit; turf irrigation, water well and other major water transport market segments. The company manufactures and markets pipe for water, sewer, irrigation and conduit pipe products under the Westlake Pipe & Fittings brand name.
Specialty PVC Pipe
The company’s specialty PVC pipe includes the Certa-Lok pipe and Certa-Lok CLIC joining systems, which provide restrained joints with rapid assembly, designed for use in potable water, sewer, fire protection, agriculture, well-casing, electrical conduit and other piping system applications in the residential and various infrastructure markets. Other specialty products include a system for high rise DWV installations that incorporates low smoke and flame properties. The company’s molecularly oriented PVC (‘PVCO’) pipe, AquaMax, is produced with less PVC than conventional pipe improving the company’s environmental footprint while delivering higher performance. The company also manufactures and markets specialty pipe under the Certa-Set, Certa-Flo, Certa-Com, Yelomine, Fluid-Tite, Kwik-Set and Sure-Fit brand names, among others.
Fittings
The company’s fittings products include a range of injection molded and custom fabricated fittings including injection mold DWV fittings for residential, low-rise and high-rise commercial installations; molded gasketed and solvent weld sewer fittings up to 12 inches, molded gasketed municipal pressure fittings and molded fittings for the pool, spa, industrial markets and electrical assemblies; and fabricated custom fittings up to 36 inches for municipal and plumbing installations. The company manufactures and markets specialty fittings under the Westlake Pipe & Fittings brand name.
PVC Compounds
PVC compounds are custom blended formulations made by combining PVC resin with functional additives. They offer specific end-use properties based on customer-determined specifications and are used to produce rigid and flexible PVC applications. compounds are processed via extrusion, injection molding, blow molding calendering. The company’s primary markets are building materials (housing), pipe and fittings, industrial materials, automotive, healthcare, telecommunications and consumer goods. Flexible PVC compounds are used for, but not limited to, the following applications: wire and cable, flooring, roofing, wall coverings, window and door trims, gaskets, industrial applications, automotive interior and exterior trims, footwear and medical applications. Rigid extrusion PVC compounds are commonly used for pipe, window and door profiles, fencing, decking, railing, siding and trim. Injection molding and blow molding PVC compounds are commonly used for pipe fittings, electrical components, industrial applications and packaging for consumer goods. The company manufactures and markets custom PVC compounds under the Westlake Global Compounds and Nakan brand names.
Recycled Products
Westlake Dimex is a producer of post-industrial-recycled PVC, PE and thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) compounds in addition to various consumer and professional products made from recycled PVC, PE and TPE materials. These products include landscape edging; industrial, home and office matting; marine dock edging; and masonry control joints.
Marketing, Sales and Distribution
The company sells a majority of its siding, trim and mouldings, stone, roofing, windows and outdoor living products, PVC pipe, specialty PVC pipe and fittings through a combination of the company’s internal sales force and some manufacturer's representatives. In North America, the company operates 40 leased and 7 owned distribution centers, storage and warehouses that service and supply these products to local customers, contractors and distributors. The company also engages in advertising programs primarily directed at trade professionals and homeowners that are intended to develop awareness and interest in its products. In addition, the company displays its products at trade shows. Additionally, the company’s 12 PVC Compounds manufacturing facilities across the world sell through a combination of its internal sales force and distributors.
Competition
The company competes in the housing and infrastructure products market with other producers and fabricators including Associated Materials LLC., CertainTeed Corporation, Cornerstone Building Brands, Inc., Diamond Plastics Corporation, IPEX Inc., JM Eagle Inc., Trex Company, Inc. and The Azek Company and with producers of PVC compounds including GEON Performance Solutions and Teknor Apex Company, Inc.
Seasonality
The company generally experiences demand for its products throughout the year, the company sales, particularly of housing products have historically experienced some seasonality. The company has typically experienced moderately higher levels of sales of its residential products in the first half of the year due to inventory restocking and improved weather for construction. The company’s sales are also generally impacted by the number of days in a quarter or a year that contractors and other professionals are able to install its products. The company has generally experienced lower levels of sales of its housing products in the fourth quarter due to adverse weather conditions in certain markets, which typically reduces the construction and renovation activity during the winter season (year ended December 31, 2024).
Intellectual Property
The company has over 1,700 active and pending trademark registrations worldwide for its various business segments. The company also relies on a combination of patents and un-patented proprietary know-how and trade secrets to preserve its competitive technology position in the market. The company has over 1,300 issued patents and pending-patent applications in the United States and several other countries.
Government Regulations
Several of the company’s U.S. manufacturing sites have been recognized by the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration's (‘OSHA’) Voluntary Protection Program for their low injury rates, employee engagement, and safety programs. Several of the company’s manufacturing sites have achieved ISO 45001 certification, which are internationally recognized standards for Occupational Health and Safety.
History
The company was founded in 1986. The company was incorporated in 1991. It was formerly known as Westlake Chemical Corporation and changed its name to Westlake Corporation in 2022.
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