Factbox: More petchem force majeures emerge post-Ida

More petrochemical force majeure declarations emerged Sept. 1 in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida's assault on infrastructure along the Mississippi River as producers continued damage assessments and awaited restoration of electric power and incoming feedstock flows.

OxyChem declared force majeure on chlorine, caustic soda, ethylene dichloride and other products produced at four plants along the river that remained shut down, according to a customer letter seen by S&P Global Platts on Sept. 1.

The letter, dated Aug. 31, said the cessation of the force majeure "will be dependent upon our ability to resume safe operations at our facilities and other factors including, without limitation, employee and contractor availability, power restoration, resumption of rail, truck and shipping service, raw material supply (including supply from internal sources), and assessment, repair and replacement of damaged plant equipment."

Shintech also declared force majeure Sept. 1 on caustic soda as its Louisiana operations awaited restoration of industrial gas feedstock supply.

"We are currently investigating the impact of the storm to our facilities and are in communication with third-party utility and transportation providers to determine how the storm has impacted our operations," said a customer letter dated Sept. 1 seen by Platts.

Westlake Chemical declared force majeure on upstream construction staple polyvinyl chloride and its immediate precursor, vinyl chloride monomer, with two of its PVC complexes alongside the river shut down because of Ida, according to a customer letter dated Aug. 31 and seen Sept. 1 by Platts.

Chlorine is the first link in the production chain for PVC, which is used to make pipes, window frames, vinyl siding and other products. EDC is a precursor to PVC. Caustic soda, a byproduct of chlorine production, is a key feedstock for alumina and pulp and paper industries.

Ida came ashore Aug. 29 in southeast Louisiana as a Category 4 storm packing 150 mph winds, and retained hurricane strength until downgraded to a tropical storm early Aug. 30. The storm forced precautionary shutdowns of dozens of petrochemical plants from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.

The US Coast Guard on Aug. 31 established a safety zone near the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans, downriver of numerous petrochemical plants, because of electrical transmission lines in the river. Vessels cannot enter that zone without permission from the captain of the Port of New Orleans, and it will remain in effect until the end of September or when salvage operations are finished, the Coast Guard said.

Those salvage operations include sunken barges in the safety zone where the river is closed to navigation.

Market sources said that would slow ship traffic to and from plants upriver from the safety zone, including product already sold but not yet shipped out. A source said a producer had alerted Latin American customers via email that parcels slated for September shipment could be delayed by as much as three weeks.

Here is a rundown on the status of plants affected by Ida:

RESTARTS

Baton Rouge

**ExxonMobil chemical complex: 1 million mt/year cracker; 400,000 mt/year HDPE; 400,000 mt/year LDPE; 900,000 mt/year LLDPE; 410,000 mt/year polypropylene

SHUTDOWNS

Baton Rouge

**Formosa Plastics USA: 513,000 mt/year PVC; 653,000 mt/year vinyl chloride monomer

Plaquemine

**Dow Chemical: 1 million mt/year and 500,000 mt/year crackers; 750,000 mt/year HDPE; 184,000 mt/year and 350,000 mt/year LDPE; 544,000 mt/year LLDPE

**Shintech: 500,000 mt/year cracker; 600,000 mt/year PVC; 1.77 million mt/year VCM; 2 million mt/year ethylene dichloride; 1.16 million mt/year chlorine; 1.28 million mt/year caustic soda

**Westlake Chemical: 861,826 mt/year PVC; 725,747 mt/year VCM; 1.15 million mt/year EDC; 426,376 mt/year chlorine; 453,592 mt/year caustic soda

**Olin: 850,000 mt/year chlorine; 934,066 mt/year caustic soda

Addis

**Shintech: 900,000 mt/year PVC

Geismar

**Westlake Chemical: 520,000 mt/year PVC; 625,000 mt/year EDC; 317,514 mt/year chlorine; 349,266 mt/year caustic soda

**NOVA Chemical: 977,000 mt/year cracker

**OxyChem: 315,000 mt/year EDC; 353,000 mt/year chlorine; 387,912 mt/year caustic soda

**Methanex: Two methanol units, each 1 million mt/year

Convent

**OxyChem: 613,000 mt/year EDC; 353,000 mt/year chlorine; 387,912 mt/year caustic soda

Taft

**Dow Chemical: 750,000 mt/year HDPE; 800,000 mt/year LLDPE

**OxyChem: 680,000 mt/year chlorine; 747,252 mt/year caustic soda

Norco

**Shell Chemical: 625,000 mt/year and 930,000 mt/year crackers

St. Gabriel

**Olin: 250,000 mt/year chlorine; 274,725 mt/year caustic soda

Garyville

**Pinnacle Polymers: 430,000 mt/year PP

Carville

**CosMar: Two styrene units, each 579,000 mt/year

St. James

**YCI: Methanol unit, 1.7 million mt/year

**Americas Styrenics, two lines, 499,000 mt/year and 453,000 mt/year

FORCE MAJEURES

**Pinnacle Polymers: Declared Aug. 30 for all products due to impacts of the storm.

**OxyChem: Declared Aug. 30 on water treatment products marketed under ACL, Towerbrom and Towerchlor brands, as well as cyanuric acid.

**OxyChem: Declared Aug. 31 for chlorine, caustic soda, ethylene dichloride, sulfuric acid, potassium hydroxide, methylene chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, perchoroethylene

**Westlake Chemical: Declared Aug. 31 for PVC and VCM.

**Shintech: Declared Sept. 1 for caustic soda.

PRICES

**US polypropylene price rose $66/mt week on week Sept. 1 to $3,042-$3,064/mt for homopolymer and $3,086-$3,108/mt for co-polymer grade.

**US spot ethylene prices were assessed up 4.25 cents/lb day on day Sept. 1 to 55 cents/lb FD Choctaw, while the FD Mont Belvieu marker was assessed up 1.75 cents/lb on the day at 43 cents/lb.