A $725 million polyethylene plant at the La Porte complex is expected to come online by mid-2019, said CEO Bob Patel this week at 38th Latin American Petrochemical Association's annual meeting in Cancun, as first reported by S&P Global Platts.

Polyethylene is one of the world's most common plastics, found in products such as pipes, bottles, toys and industrial packaging. The 500,000 metric-ton La Porte plant will be the first to use LyondellBasell's propriety Hyperzone PE technology, which  the company says will make plastics lighter weight and more durable.

In Channelview, Patel said LyondellBasell expects to have the world's largest propylene oxide/tertiary butyl alcohol plant come online by 2021. The $2.4 billion project, its most expensive capital investment to date, broke ground in August.

The plant will produce chemicals used in high-octane gasoline as well as in bedding, furniture, carpeting, coatings, building materials and adhesives.

Both projects take advantage of the company's expansive network of pipelines along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The network enables easy exchange of feedstocks and chemicals between different producers, decreasing costs and boosting operational reliability throughout the region.

The plastics, chemicals and refining company has invested $5 billion into expanding its U.S. facilities over the past six years in the wake of the shale gas revolution, a company spokesman said.