U.S. Shale Spurs Record Foreign Chemical Investment: Commodities

Chemical makers from Germany’s BASF SE to Brazil’s Braskem SA plan to invest as much as $72 billion in U.S. plants, as they become increasingly convinced natural gas will remain cheap and abundant.

BASF is planning its most expensive plant ever, a propylene facility on the Gulf Coast that will take advantage of gas that costs about half what it does in Europe. Chemical makers get a double boost from cheap gas, which is both a raw material and a source of power for their factories.