Factbox: About 29% of US ethylene capacity shut ahead of Hurricane Laura's landfall

Houston — About 29% of the US' 40 million mt/year of ethylene production capacity was shut-in Aug. 26 as chemical producers in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana prepared for Hurricane Laura's landfall near the Texas-Louisiana state line.

Laura strengthened into a Category 4 storm Aug. 26, packing winds of up to 140 mph, as it headed for the coastline with an expected landfall at about midnight or very early Aug. 27, according to the US National Hurricane Center. Three major petrochemical centers in Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana, faced a direct hit from the storm, while lesser winds were expected to cause power outages at the storm's far west edge in the Houston area.

The three cities in the storm's direct path were under mandatory evacuation orders.

Storm surges of several feet also were expected along the coastline from Galveston to southeast Louisiana. Lake Calcasieu in Lake Charles alone could take up to 15 to 20 feet of storm surge, the NHC said. Sabine Lake in Beaumont also could see a storm surge of up to 15 feet of water.

Here are operational and pricing impacts of the storm:

SHUTDOWNS

Lake Charles, Louisiana

**Sasol: 1.5 million mt/year and 439,000 mt/year crackers; 470,000 mt/year of linear low density polyethylene capacity; 380,000 mt/year ethylene oxide/monoethylene glycol unit; a 420,000 mt/year LDPE plant slated to start up in September.

**Westlake Chemical: three chlor-alkali plants, combined capacity of 1.27 million mt/year of chlorine and 1.36 million mt/year of caustic soda; two vinyl chloride monomer plants, combined capacity of 952,543 mt/year; two crackers, combined capacity of 1.19 million mt/year; 200,000 mt/year of LLDPE capacity; 60,000 mt/year high density PE/LLDPE operation; 386,000 mt/year of LDPE capacity; 258,547 mt/year of styrene capacity.

**Lotte Chemical: 1 million mt/year joint-venture cracker; 700,000 mt/year MEG plant.

**LyondellBasell: 400,000 mt/year and 1 million mt/year polypropylene plants

Orange, Texas

**Dow Chemical: 882,000 mt/year cracker; 236,000 mt/year of LDPE capacity

**CP Chem: 420,000 mt/year of HDPE capacity

Beaumont, Texas

**ExxonMobil: 826,000 mt/year cracker; 650,000 mt/year and 325,000 mt/year LLDPE lines; 225,000 mt/year of HDPE capacity; 220,000 mt/year HDPE/LLDPE operation

Port Arthur, Texas

**Total/BASF: joint-venture 1 million mt/year cracker, was already shut for maintenance

**Motiva Enterprises: 635,000 mt/year cracker

**CP Chem: 855,000 mt/year cracker

Port Neches, Texas

**Indorama Ventures: 235,867 mt/year cracker; 1 million mt/year EO/MEG unit; 238,135 mt/year of propylene oxide capacity; 988,000 mt/year MTBE unit

Pasadena, Texas

**CP Chem: Three HDPE units, combined capacity of 998,000 mt/year

Houston

**TPC Group, 544,000 mt/year of butadiene capacity

Baytown, Texas

**CP Chem: 1.7 million mt/year and 837,000 mt/year crackers

**ExxonMobil: reducing rates at 1.25 million mt/year, 962,000 mt/year and 1.59 million mt/year crackers

Bayport, Texas

**Ineos Styrolution: 779,000 mt/year styrene monomer unit

**LyondellBasell: three PP plants with 1.160 million mt/year, 455,000 mt/year and 235,000 mt/year of capacity, respectively

Alvin, Texas

**LyondellBasell: 180,000 mt/year of HDPE capacity

PRICES

**US spot ethylene reached a 10-month high Aug. 25 of 23.25 cents/lb FD Mont Belvieu

**US export HDPE prices rose $11-$44/mt, depending on the grade, as producers prepared for the storm and Ineos Olefins & Polymers USA declared force majeure on HDPE supplies from its La Porte, Texas, site along the Houston Ship Channel

**Polymer-grade propylene prices rose 1.25 cents on the day Aug. 26 to 37.5 cents/lb FD USG

FORCE MAJEURE DECLARATIONS

**Ineos Olefins & Polymers USA: Declared Aug. 26 on HDPE at 460,000 mt/year unit in La Porte, Texas

**Formosa Plastics USA: Declared Aug. 14 on PVC at its 798,000 mt/year Point Comfort, Texas, and 513,000 mt/year Baton Rouge, Louisiana, plants; unrelated to Hurricane Laura