Factbox: Power restoration slow for some Louisiana petrochemical producers post-Ida

Louisiana petrochemical producers affected by Hurricane Ida's Aug. 29 landfall furthered their efforts Sept. 9 to begin or continue restarting operations, with some working to secure access to power and feedstocks, market sources said.

Shell Chemicals continued damage assessments at its two crackers in Norco, Louisiana, which have a combined capacity of 1.55 million mt/year. The company said Sept. 8 that the Norco site was still without electrical power and ongoing flaring was being monitored.

The company's Geismar chemical complex did not lose power, but was working to restore nitrogen supply and prepare to restart.

Market sources said Shell's Geismar facilities also depend on ethylene feedstock from Norco, further complicating pending restarts.

Entergy, the main power provider in the region, said Sept. 9 that it expected to restore power in Ascension Parish, home to Geismar, by the end of the day Sept. 9 to areas still without it. However, St. Charles Parish, home to Norco, was among parishes slated to have power restored by Sept. 29. St. Charles Parish also is home to Taft, where Dow Chemical and OxyChem, the chemical division of Occidental Petroleum, operate facilities that remained shut Sept. 9.

Entergy said Sept. 29 was a "no later than" date, "and the company will explore every option to expedite restoration."

Here is a rundown of shutdowns, restarts and force majeures:

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

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

Plaquemine

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

**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

Addis

**Shintech: 900,000 mt/year PVC

Geismar

**Westlake Chemical: 589,669 mt/year PVC; 625,000 mt/year EDC; 317,514 mt/year chlorine; 349,266 mt/year caustic soda

SHUTDOWNS

Geismar

**NOVA Chemicals: 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

**Shell Chemicals: 375,000 mt/year ethylene glycols

Convent

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

Taft

**Dow Chemical: Two crackers, 635,000 mt/year and $365,000 mt/year; 750,000 mt/year HDPE; 800,000 mt/year LLDPE

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

Norco

**Shell Chemicals: 625,000 mt/year and 930,000 mt/year crackers; 265,351 mt/year butadiene

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

**Total Energies, 660,000 mt/year polystyrene

St. James

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

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

St. Louis Bay, Mississippi

**DAK Americas, 430,000 mt/year PET

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.

**DAK Americas: Declared Aug. 30 on PET.

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

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

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

**Westlake Chemical: Declared Sept. 2 for caustic soda.

**Formosa Plastics USA: Declared Sept. 5 on PVC.

PRICES

**US spot ethylene prices were assessed down 3.5 cents/lb day on day Sept. 9 at 35.5 cents/lb FD Mont Belvieu, while the FD Choctaw marker was flat at 56 cents/lb.