ExxonMobil said today that a new 1.5 million ton-per-year ethane cracker at its Baytown, Texas complex is mechanically complete. The plant is expected to start operations in the second quarter of 2018, a company release said.

The new ethane cracker, part of ExxonMobil’s multi-billion dollar Baytown chemical expansion project, will provide ethylene feedstock to the new performance polyethylene lines in Mont Belvieu, which began production in the fall of 2017....