Updating Sasol Ltd. (ADR), Chesapeake Energy and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

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SASOL LTD. (ADR) $28.03 (New York symbol SSL; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (082-883-9697; www.sasol. com; ADRs outstanding: 651.4 million; Market cap: $20.3 billion; Dividend yield: 4.3%) continues to build its massive new plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The facility will cost $11 billion. The company reports that the project is now 74% finished. Capital expenditures to date have reached $7.5 billion of the projected total cost of $11 billion. Production is scheduled to start in 2018. When finished, the plant will convert natural gas, or ethane, to ethylene. That chemical is used to make plastics and other consumer products. The operation should triple Sasol’s U.S. chemical production. Major projects, such as the Lake Charles development, can add a lot of risk. But the Louisiana facility will take advantage of cheap and abundant U.S. shale gas as well as the region’s infrastructure for shipping ethane gas. By expanding in the U.S., Sasol also reduces some of the political and currency risks associated with its…