Houston (Platts)--30Jul2007

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez unveiled "Petro Casa," a plant in
Guacara, Carabobo state, that manufactures PVC kits used to assemble 18,000
houses each year, a venture of state petrochemical company Pequiven, during a
speech.

     The factory uses some 30,000 tons a year to make the 18,000 kits, he
detailed. The whole house, foundations, service fixtures and all, can be
assembled in eight days or less.

     "This is truly a wonder," Chavez said explaining how specialty salts and
methane gas are combined to manufacture PVC. "And the houses are fresh too.
When we entered the house, we immediately felt the temperature going down." A
Pequiven spokesperson told Platts the houses are at least 4 degrees Celsius
cooler than their surroundings.

     The president said production of the houses should increase to "at least
100,000 a year" by creating three more similar plants in other parts of
Venezuela. The project is aimed at substituting slums with more uniform
housing. "This is a dignified, strong house that costs 50% less than a similar
house built with traditional beams and mortar."

    The cost of 45 million Bolivares per kit is usually financed or subsidized
to the public.

    Even the cement used to fill the house's panels is manufactured by
Pequiven from some 80 million tons in by products that resulted from
fertilizers' manufacturing. "(About) 80% of those residues can be made into
cement," Pequiven president Saul Ameliach said.

    The "Petrocemento" will be sold to the general public for about 2,500
Bolivares (around $1 at the official exchange rate) a 42.5-kilo bag, much
less than the 16,000 Bolivares a sack commanded by Portland-type cement.

		--newsdesk@platts.com