Company Cites Pandemic in Delay of $9B Louisiana Construction Project

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A company is citing the coronavirus pandemic for its decision to delay some work on a more than $9 billion construction project in Louisiana.

Formosa Plastics affiliate FG LA LLC said it is deferring major construction on a petrochemical facility in St. James Parish, The Advocate reported.

A statement from the company said building won’t begin until the pandemic has subsided or there’s a effective, widely available vaccine. It’s unclear whether either of those might occur, but health experts don’t expect large numbers of vaccine doses before early next year.

The pandemic’s impacts, “including the challenge it creates in evaluating construction costs and the restrictions it has placed on international travel, are being felt across all industries and businesses,” Janile Parks, a spokeswoman for FG LA LLC, said in a statement.

Site preparation work is still expected continue on the facility, which will be located on 2,400 acres of land on the Mississippi River. The plant is expected to employ about 1,200 people on a permanent basis.