Latin American petrochemical producers say not severely affected by pandemic

Sao Paulo — Major Latin American petrochemical producers have not been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic so far, the companies say.

Most companies said all non-critical travel had been postponed and administrative employees were working from home, and they were closely following all recommendations from the World Health Organization.

In Argentina, Dow said it is closely monitoring the situation and had decided to take new measures regarding the outbreak in Latin America, trying to mitigate the impact on its operations.

"We are aware that not all of our employees can perform their tasks remotely and for this reason, we are constantly evaluating critical personnel plans for the operation and the health and safety actions implemented during this period," it said. The company, however, did not respond to questions on the impact on its operations.

Polypropylene producer Petrocuyo's operations have not been affected by the pandemic, according to a source at the company. "Everything is normal. However, we are taking this day by day," the source said. "The company has been taking prevention actions for several weeks now to avoid the pandemic affecting its operation, sales or shipments. However, the whole issue is under exogenous variables that we cannot control," the source added.

A senior executive at polystyrene producer Pampa Energia said no production issues had been reported so far, and prices so far were stable in Argentina. "It is still early to know the impact, but we believe that sales will fall further. So far it has decreased around 10% or so," the source said.

Brazil

In Brazil, Braskem said its operations had not been impacted by the developments. "The company carefully monitors the situation and has been taking the necessary measures to ensure the safety and well-being of all its staff, in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health," it said.

Unipar Carbocloro, a Brazilian chlor-alkali, caustic soda producer and polyvinyl chloride producer, said the company is working on possible contingency plans and has not yet had any cancellations, logistical problems or difficulties with exports.

"We are also contacting our customers to try to anticipate sales and shipments at the end of the month in order to avoid logistical collapse," a source at the company said. "In relation to prices, we are following the international trend as well as the exchange rate fluctuation. Our raw materials are paid in Euro/US dollar, so we were forced to raise prices with such instability."

In Colombia, polypropylene producer Esenttia has not seen any impact yet, a source at the company said. "We are currently estimating what the effects could be, since in our markets our clients have not presented any news and until now we are looking at measures to contain the spread of the virus," the source said.

Oil producer Ecopetrol said that, for the moment, the company had not altered its crude and natural gas output rates or its production of refined products. "The company has a strict health protocol in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to ensure continuity of operation in its production fields and refineries in both Cartagena and Barrancabermeja," it said.

Regarding shipments, Ecopetrol said the company had no difficulties in transportation of its products, or logistics. "Ecopetrol does not export through containers. What is being seen is a reduction in the supply of vessels and we are monitoring the issue. At the moment, we have no impact," the company said.

It added that the coronavirus pandemic has had no impact on fuel demand at the domestic level, and said the company was monitoring international prices and their impacts.

Chile's Petroquim, Mexico's Braskem Idesa, Indelpro and Pemex, as well as Venezuela's Propilven were also contacted for comment and did not respond to S&P Global Platts' inquiries.