NOVA Chemicals declares force majeure on PE facilities in Sarnia: letter

NOVA Chemicals declared force majeure on all its polyethylene resins produced in the Sarnia region of Ontario, Canada, because of mechanical failures, the company said in an April 27 letter to customers seen by S&P Global Platts.

"NOVA Chemicals has experienced a mechanical failure beyond our control at our Corunna ethylene cracker in the Sarnia, ON, region, which supplies ethylene to our polyethylene facilities in that region," it said in the letter.

"As a result of the estimated repair timing and current inventory levels, we must declare a force majeure/excuse for nonperformance event for all polyethylene resins produced in the Sarnia region ... effective April 27, 2021," the letter said.

The force majeure does not affect any of its other polyethylene products, it said.

In addition, the letter stated there is no firm indication as to what extent they would be able to supply for customers during the force majeure.

The company was not available for immediate comment April 27.

The PE plants affected include Mooretown high-density polyethylene at 210,000 mt/year, Mooretown low-density polyethylene capacity at 170,000 mt/year, and St. Clair HDPE capacity at 209,000 mt/year, according to Platts Analytics.