What Westlake does

Westlake Corporation (NYSE: WLK) is a Houston-headquartered global diversified industrial company founded in 1986 by T.T. Chao, operating across two reportable segments: Performance & Essential Materials (PEM) and Housing & Infrastructure Products (HIP). The PEM segment manufactures fundamental chemical building blocks — ethylene, polyethylene, PVC, vinyl chloride monomer, chlor-alkali products (chlorine and caustic soda), and epoxy resins — across 25 sites worldwide, serving agricultural, food, medical, automotive, electrical, water treatment, and construction customers. Westlake is the second-largest chlor-alkali and PVC producer globally, with a structural cost advantage from low-cost North American natural gas feedstock. The HIP segment, with 3.5 billion pounds of annual manufacturing capacity, produces vinyl siding, trim, mouldings, roofing, architectural stone, PVC pipe and fittings, global PVC compounds, and recycled plastic products under brands including Westlake Royal Building Products, Westlake Pipe & Fittings, Westlake Global Compounds, and Westlake Dimex.

The company's business model is B2B industrial sales with quote-based pricing across commodity and specialty chemical inputs, plus downstream building products distributed through direct sales teams, authorized distributors (Brenntag for epoxies globally, Chempoint and Harwick Standard for EPOLENE polymers), and Westlake Royal's direct contractor channel in North America. FY2025 net sales were $11.170 billion with reported net loss of $116 million, reflecting a cyclical trough, commodity chemicals overcapacity, and $415 million in pre-tax facility closure costs. The product portfolio spans proprietary branded offerings — Mxsten plastomers, Pivotal PCR performance resins, GreenVin lower-carbon PVC, EpoVIVE mass balance epoxies, TruExterior poly-ash siding, Chromatix color technology, and Elevate EVA — supported by 11 R&D labs across three continents and certifications including ISCC PLUS, GreenCircle, and ISO 9001:2015.

Westlake serves approximately 14,600 employees globally as of year-end 2025 across the U.S., Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Tunisia, China, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, India, and Mexico. The company is executing a $600 million EBITDA improvement plan beginning 2026 through facility rationalization, cost reduction, and operational reliability, having already closed approximately 3 billion pounds of unprofitable North American chlorovinyl and styrene capacity in late 2025. Concurrent offensive moves include the ACI/Perplastic global compounding acquisition (€92.4M, January 2026) and the Wilhelmshaven PVC/VCM plant acquisition (380,000 metric tons, June 2026). The company also faces a $67 million PVC pipe antitrust class-action settlement (April 2026) and ongoing litigation related to Calvert City emissions.

Name

Westlake

Legal name

Westlake Corporation

Website

https://westlake.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Westlake Corporation is a Houston-based global diversified industrial manufacturer of petrochemicals (ethylene, polyethylene, PVC, chlor-alkali, epoxy) and housing products (siding, trim, roofing, PVC pipe), serving industrial, construction, automotive, and water treatment customers as the second-largest chlor-alkali and PVC producer worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Petrochemicals and Building Materials

NAICS

Petrochemical Manufacturing (325110), Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing (326), Chemical Manufacturing (325)

SIC

Plastic Materials, Synth Resins & Nonvulcan Elastomers (2821), Industrial Organic Chemicals (2860)

akta.pro primary industry

PVC & Chlorinated Polymers (IMAEANAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Chlor-Alkali & Derivatives (IMAEAAAC), Base Olefins (Ethylene, Propylene, Butadiene) (IMAEADAA)

Keywords

• Petrochemical manufacturing
• Polyvinyl chloride production
• Chlor-alkali chemicals
• Epoxy resins
• Vinyl building products

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Performance & Essential Materials: Manufactures and sells fundamental chemical building blocks including ethylene, polyethylene, PVC, vinyl chloride monomer, chlor-alkali products (chlorine and caustic soda), and epoxy resins. These materials serve agricultural, food, medical, construction, automotive, electrical, and cleaning sectors.
2. Housing & Infrastructure Products: Manufactures finished goods for residential and commercial construction including residential siding, trim and moulding, pipe & fittings, architectural stone, roofing, outdoor living products, and films. Combined capacity of global manufacturing facilities is 3.5 billion pounds per year.
3. Polyethylene Products: Produces broad portfolio of polyethylene materials including low density, linear low density, specialty polymers, functionalized polymers and waxes for flexible packaging, extrusion coating, and niche markets.
4. Chlor-Alkali & Derivatives: Second-largest chlor-alkali producer in the world, capitalizing on globally low-cost natural gas for power in North America. Major producer of caustic soda used in aluminum and polyurethanes production.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Westlake Corporation manufactures and globally supplies petrochemicals, polymers, and building products across two segments. Performance & Essential Materials produces ethylene, polyethylene, PVC, vinyl chloride monomer, chlor-alkali products (chlorine and caustic soda), and epoxy resins used as fundamental chemical building blocks. Housing & Infrastructure Products produces finished construction goods including vinyl siding, trim and mouldings, PVC pipe and fittings, architectural stone, roofing, outdoor living products, and recycled plastic materials.

Product overview

Westlake Corporation operates as a global diversified industrial company with two primary business segments: Performance & Essential Materials and Housing & Infrastructure Products. The Performance & Essential Materials segment produces fundamental chemical building blocks including olefins (ethylene), polyethylene, epoxies, chlor-alkali products (chlorine and caustic soda), vinyls (VCM and PVC), and related derivatives across 25 global sites. The Housing & Infrastructure Products segment manufactures finished goods for residential and commercial construction including vinyl siding and accessories (Westlake Royal Building Products), PVC pipe and fittings (Westlake Pipe & Fittings), global compounds, recycled plastic materials (Westlake Dimex), and specialty building products. The combined manufacturing capacity is 3.5 billion pounds per year. Product portfolio includes specialty polyethylene products (Pivotal PCR, StepUp modifiers, Mxsten plastomers, Elevate EVA, EMAC/EBAC resins, Tymax functionalized polymers, Epolene waxes), various PVC and vinyl products, chlor-alkali derivatives, and building products including siding, trim, roofing, stone, and outdoor living products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EpoVIVE: Mass balance-attributed epoxy resin products with ISCC PLUS certification for sustainable feedstock
• GreenVin
• TruExterior
• Foundry
• EPOLENE
• Pivotal
• StepUp
• Elevate
• EMAC
• HIFOR
• Accu-Tab

Products and services

• Westlake Olefins (Ethylene) Manufactures ethylene, the primary petrochemical building block used internally for polyethylene and vinyls production and sold externally to industrial customers; produced at facilities including Lake Charles and Calvert City with combined Westlake Chemical Partners capacity of approximately 3.7 billion pounds annually.
• Westlake Polyethylene Broad portfolio of polyethylene materials including low density, linear low density, specialty polymers, functionalized polymers and waxes for trash bags, food packaging films, carpeting, adhesives, extrusion coating and other applications.
• Westlake Epoxy Produces epoxy resins for wind turbine blades, electric vehicle light weighting, aerospace, and consumer coating applications, including specialty resins, coatings and composites distributed under EPON, EPIKOTE, EPIKURE, and EPI-REZ brands.
• Westlake Chlor-Alkali Products (Chlorine and Caustic Soda) Produces chlorine and caustic soda used for VCM and PVC manufacture, aluminum production, polyurethanes, water treatment, and swimming pools; also includes muriatic acid for water treatment, oil well acidizing, and steel pickling.
• Westlake PVC Resin and Vinyl Chloride Monomer Produces vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin for construction, automotive, medical, and packaging sectors, including specialty resins for various applications.
• Westlake Royal Building Products North American manufacturer of exterior and interior building products including vinyl siding, trim, mouldings, roofing, stone, windows, and outdoor living products for residential and commercial construction.
• Westlake Pipe & Fittings Second-largest PVC pipe manufacturer in North America, producing pipe and fittings for municipal water and sewer, residential plumbing, water wells, mining, and agricultural irrigation, including molecular-oriented PVCO pipe with 40% less weight.
• Westlake Global Compounds Manufactures rigid and flexible vinyl compounds, injection molding compounds, extrusion compounds, and blow molding compounds for wire and cable, electrical components, household fixtures, automotive trim, and fencing, with facilities across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
• Westlake Dimex Consumer and building products from post-industrial recycled PVC, PE, and thermoplastic elastomer materials including landscape edging, matting, marine dock edging, and masonry joint controls, with headquarters in Marietta, USA.
• GreenVin PVC and Caustic Soda Lower-carbon PVC and caustic soda produced with renewable energy under European Guarantees of Origin (GOs), offering a sustainable alternative to conventional PVC for European customers.
• Westlake Water Solutions Water treatment and solutions products and services based on Westlake's chlor-alkali chemistry, including the Accu-Tab chlorination system for water sanitation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced Scope 1 and 2 CO2e emissions per ton of production by 20% from 2016 baseline, achieved in 2024 - four years ahead of 2030 target
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature7 records

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Dow Inc. Major U.S. integrated chemicals producer with overlapping polyethylene, chlorovinyls, and performance materials portfolios serving the same industrial and packaging customers. Both companies operate integrated olefins-to-plastics value chains and compete head-to-head in commodity polyethylene.
• LyondellBasell Industries: Global olefins and polyolefins leader with comparable integrated cracker-to-PE economics. Most direct peer for Westlake's Olefins segment and competes on ethylene, polyethylene, and specialty polyolefins globally.
• Olin Corporation: Largest U.S. chlor-alkali producer with integrated chlorine, caustic soda, and vinyls operations. Most direct competitor to Westlake's chlor-alkali and North American Vinyls segments, sharing similar end markets in water treatment, alumina, and PVC.
• OxyChem (Occidental Petroleum): OxyChem is Occidental Petroleum's chemicals segment and a top global chlor-alkali and PVC producer. Direct competitor in chlorine, caustic soda, and EDC/VCM/PVC chains, with similar North American feedstock advantages.
• Formosa Plastics Corporation: Global PVC and olefins producer with vertically integrated crackers and PVC plants. Direct peer in chlorovinyls, particularly in international trade flows, with similar commodity PVC exposure and scale.
• Shin-Etsu Chemical: World's largest PVC producer and a leading silicon wafer manufacturer. Direct competitor in global PVC markets and an industry benchmark for chlorovinyls operating performance and capital efficiency.
• Orbia Advance Corporation: Mexican-based chemicals and polymers group producing PVC, caustic soda (Vestolit), and fluorinated specialties. Direct competitor in vinyls and chlor-alkali across the Americas and Europe.

Broad incumbents

• Eastman Chemical Company: Diversified specialty chemicals producer with some overlap in performance materials and additives. While not a chlorovinyls competitor, Eastman is a relevant benchmark for chemical industry capital allocation and EBITDA volatility.
• Celanese Corporation: Acetyl chain and engineered materials producer with broad chemicals exposure. Comparable in scale and end-market diversification but operates in different chemistries; useful benchmark for chemical industry margin profiles and M&A activity.
• INEOS Group: Privately held global chemicals conglomerate with significant olefins, PVC, and chlor-alkali operations. Comparable scale and product overlap with Westlake, particularly in European chlorovinyls (INOVYN) and North American petrochemicals.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/183306438369650
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/westlake-chemical
• Xx.com/WESTLAKECHEM

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A7 records

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Westlake