US Formosa declares FM on PE for rest of June

26 June 2008 17:36  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Formosa Plastics declared force majeure (FM) on polyethylene (PE), reducing deliveries by 20% through the rest of the month, a spokesperson said on Thursday.

The announcement came two weeks after the company declared FM on polypropylene (PP) with a 15% reduction set for the next two months.

It remained unclear if the restriction on PE would also be extended into July.

Formosa’s Point Comfort complex in Texas has been shut down twice since early May due to power outages at the site.

The first outage, which began on 7 May and lasted for about one week, triggered the FM on PP.

The second shutdown in Point Comfort occurred on 21 June, and the restart process remained underway on Thursday, the spokesperson said.

“It is a highly integrated plant and the start-up process is complex,” the official said, adding that the whole site should be fully operational by Monday.

Formosa has two olefins crackers in Point Comfort, with combined capacity of 1.5m tonnes/year.

The site also produces ethylene glycol, chlor-alkalis, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and intermediates.

For more on Formosa’s Point Comfort plant, visit ICIS plants and projects
For more on PE visit ICIS chemical intelligence
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By: William Lemos
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