Strike at BASF's Feluy site disrupts MA plant restart

17 June 2005 17:37  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (CNI)--Sources in the European maleic anhydride (MA) market said Friday that strike action at BASF’s Feluy, Belgium site had disrupted MA deliveries and the restart of MA production.

 

A BASF spokesman confirmed that the 24-hour strike involving all 306 employees at the site ended earlier today.

 

The action has prevented loading of MA to customers and has also delayed the restart of the 115,000 tonne/year MA unit at Feluy, according to market sources.

 

The plant has been down for a scheduled maintenance since 1 June. It was due to begin the start-up process today and resume full production by Monday (20 June). A BASF spokeman said on Friday afternoon that as the strike has ended, the restart of the plant will now begin.

 

The delays to deliveries and a possible delay in restarting the plant will place further pressure on a tight MA market in Europe, coming on the heels of other scheduled and unscheduled production shutdowns in June-July.

 

Previous production issues have already created a draw on any surplus spot or co-producer material to cover June commitments. Some European sellers said today that they have received enquiries from MA buyers impacted by the action at BASF.

 

Technical difficulties last week forced Dutch DSM Fine Chemicals to plan the closure of its Linz, Austria MA unit for maintenance for 10-11 days from the last week of June. The plant is currently running at around 90% capacity.

 

Other producers, however, like Lonza in Italy, are building stocks ahead of a major shutdown at the 55,000 tonne/year unit at Ravenna, Italy in August.

 

A major producer, Sasol-Huntsman, is also sold out for June due to strong demand, and also in part due to a small loss of volume due to a technical glitch several weeks ago at its German plant at Moers.

 

The European MA market balance is now very tight for June, in contrast to the scenario at the beginning of the month, in which demand was still fairly weak.

 

This reversal of market conditions has been leading to a reversal in expectations for third quarter MA contract prices, which had previously been expected to fall. Sellers said that there could be no price reduction under the present market conditions.

By: Geraldine Gilmartin
+44 20 8652 3214

< previous article(ICIS Podcast: Chemical News Central 2 November 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly