NewsFlashLonza Singapore lifts PIA force majeure

17 October 2007 03:10  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Swiss chemicals maker Lonza lifted the force majeure at its purified isophtalic acid (PIA) plant in Singapore on Tuesday after resuming normal operations, a company executive said.

“The critical equipment in the plant at Jurong Island which was the root of the force majeure is operating normally. The facility is running at full capacity for now,” the Lonza executive said on Wednesday.

However, the company was not taking any orders for October as the focus was on fulfilling its contractual backlog for the month of September, he added.

The plant was shut down on 13 September due to technical problems and force majeure was declared 24 September. A planned lifting of its force majeure in the first week of October did not materialise.

Lonza’s Singapore PIA plant has an annual capacity of 6,000 tonnes of PIA and is in the process of being acquired by the Perstorp group.

“The management staff from Perstorp are currently in Singapore for a meeting to discuss the final details of the acquisition,” said the source from Lonza.

PIA is a key ingredient in manufacturing performance coatings, unsaturated polyester resins and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle grade chips.

Other major producers of PIA include Japan’s A.G. International Chemical and Korea’s KP Chemicals.

By: Hong Chou Hui
+65 6780 4359

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