Yuhuang Chemical (YCI) has completed its land purchase of approximately 1,300 acres in St. James, Louisiana, the company announced on Tuesday.

The site will be used for a $1.85 billion world-scale methanol manufacturing complex. The land purchase was closed on July 23, 2015.

The company plans to execute a multi-phase strategy for the site with immediate preparations commencing onconstruction of a 1.7 million tpy methanol plant. The first phase of the project is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2018.

Last week, YCI announced it secured long term, firm natural gas transportation capacity on Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) by executing a 20-year agreement with Transco for firm transportation capacity from points in Transco’s Zone 3 to a new delivery interconnection within the proposed site.

YCI is the North American subsidiary of Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co. and represents the first major foreign direct investment by a Chinese company in Louisiana. 

As one of China’s leading chemical companies, Shandong Yuhuang Chemical employs more than 5,600 people worldwide and recorded more than $4 billion in sales during 2013. The company markets a range of chemicals, including propylene, isobutene, butadiene, isoprene, styrene, toluene and others.