Vestolit changes Marl plant maintenance schedule amid COVID-19 impact

New York — German petrochemical company Vestolit will carry out two-week maintenance works at Marl, Germany PVC site from the end of March, a source familiar with company operations said Wednesday.

The source said the original plans were for April works but, with the coronavirus effect causing a reduction in PVC demand and taking into account uncertainties in the workforce availability, the company had decided to move the works forward.

"During the maintenance, production levels will be reduced to around 70%," the source said.

Meanwhile, Vestolit's maintenance planned to begin mid-March at its chlor-alkali electrolysis unit at the same site was postponed, another source close to the company's operations said Wednesday.

"Due to the current development of the COVID-19 we postponed our planned [chlor-alkali] maintenance. We are in the planning of the new date," the source said.

The company was not available for comment.

Vestolit's Marl facility is an integrated PVC production plant, and the chlor-alkali unit can produce around 265,000 mt/year of chlorine, 294,000 mt/year of caustic soda, as well as 630,000 mt/year of EDC and 400,000 mt/year of VCM.

PVC production capacity at Marl is around 400,000 mt/year, according to S&P Global Platts data.