Louisiana petrochemical producers that shut down ahead of Hurricane Ida's Aug. 29 landfall were increasingly regaining access to electric power and industrial gas feedstocks, allowing restarts to begin.
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Register NowDow Chemical said Sept. 8 that its Plaquemine, Louisiana, complex had begun bringing operations back online "as third-party utility balances and raw materials availability allow," according to a company statement.
Dow said its Taft operations were "making progress" toward restarting, and the company expected to have a clearer timeline for resumption of production in the coming days based on repairs and as access to power and raw materials allow.
Westlake Chemical and Shintech also had regained access to industrial gases needed to operate their polyvinyl chloride complexes in Plaquemine, Addis and Geismar, according to sources familiar with the companies' operations. That access, plus restoration of electric power, allowed both to begin restart activities.
Those sources said the restarts would be gradual, as PVC complexes involve multiple plants that have to be restarted one by one while checking for any storm-related, as-yet-undiscovered damage.
The same applies to complexes like Dow's, which has two crackers and multiple polyethylene plants.
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: 520,000 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 cents/lb on day at 39 cents/lb FD Mont Belvieu Sept. 8, while the FD Choctaw marker was flat at 56 cents/lb.