Factbox: US chemical producers assessing damage post-hurricane

Houston — About 29% of 40 million mt/year in US ethylene production capacity remained shut on Aug. 27 as US chemical producers in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana assessed damage after Hurricane Laura roared onshore packing 150 mph winds overnight near the Texas-Louisiana state line.

Hurricane Laura strengthened into a Category 4 storm Aug. 26, and reached shore just 7 mph shy of being a Category 5 storm. Lake Charles, Louisiana, appeared to take the brunt of the storm's fury, with reports of widespread power outages and downed communication towers down, as companies launched damage assessments. Power outages, downed trees and building damage were reported throughout southeast Texas as well, including in petrochemical centers Port Arthur and Beaumont.

According to the National Weather Service, the hurricane's storm surge reached seven feet of water at Calcasieu Pass near Cameron, about 50 miles south of Lake Charles. Forecasters had warned of "unsurvivable" surges up to 15-20 feet.

However, Sasol, Westlake Chemical and LyondellBasell said their ride-out crews, or workers who stayed at their Lake Charles facilities overnight, emerged from the storm unharmed. The industry's attention turned to assessing damage and planning for restarts, which could take longer than a few days if the damage is significant and power outages linger.

Here are operations and pricing effects of the storm's aftermath:

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; company assessing damage.

**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 LLDPE capacity; 60,000 mt/year HDPE/LLDPE operation; 386,000 mt/year LDPE capacity; 258,547 mt/year styrene capacity; assessing damage.

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

**LyondellBasell: 400,000 mt/year and 1 million mt/year polypropylene plants; assessing damage.

Orange, Texas

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

**CP Chem: 420,000 mt/year 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 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 propylene oxide capacity; 988,000 mt/year MTBE unit. The company assessed minimal damage, with no definitive restart timeline given ongoing efforts to restore power in the surrounding area.

Pasadena, Texas

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

Houston, Texas

**TPC Group: 544,000 mt/year 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: 1.16 million mt/year, 455,000 mt/year, 235,000 mt/year PP plants; assessing damage.

**Baystar: 400,000 mt/year joint-venture HDPE unit; Company assessing damage, with restart planned for Aug. 28 pending secure feedstock availability

Alvin, Texas

**LyondellBasell: 180,000 mt/year HDPE capacity; assessing damage.

PRICES

**US spot ethylene reached a 10-month high Aug. 25 at 23.25 cents/lb FD Mont Belvieu, and held at that level on Aug. 26

**US export HDPE prices rose $11-$44/mt on the week Aug. 26, depending on the grade, as producers prepared for the storm and INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA declared force majeure on HDPE at 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, but held at that level Aug. 27

**US spot homopolymer polypropylene prices rose 1 cent on the day Aug. 27 amid tight supply, driven in part by hurricane-related shutdowns

FORCE MAJEURES

**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.

PORTS AND RAILROADS

**Houston Ship Channel: Closed Aug. 26, reopened Aug. 27.

**Sabine-Neches Waterway, channel closed Aug. 26, remained closed Aug. 27 due to high winds and seas offshore.

**Port of Lake Charles closed Aug. 25, remained closed Aug. 27 pending damage assessments on Aug. 28

**Union Pacific: Assessing southeast Texas, southwest Louisiana network's Lake Charles area sustained heavy damage to main line, industry lead tracks out of service; Houston-area rail lines undamaged and expected to reopen by evening Aug. 27