Cristal restarts Australia TiO2 plant, keeps FM

14 July 2008 22:10  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Cristal Global has restarted its Bunbury titanium dioxide (TiO2) plant in western Australia at an undisclosed operating rate and will maintain its force majeure (FM) indefinitely, the company said on Monday.

The 105,000 tonne/year plant was “operating at a decent clip”, said vice president of corporate communications Gary Cianfichi, but he would not specify the rate.

Cristal announced the FM following a 3 June explosion and fire at Apache Energy's offshore Varanus Island natural gas pipeline facility, which supplied Cristal's Bunbury plant.

The accident prompted Apache to declare its own FM and forced Cristal to shut down its Bunbury operation.

The Bunbury plant's customers are located largely in the Pacific Rim and Asia and will be supplied from existing and new capacity there, as well as TiO2 from other Cristal plants worldwide, Cianfichi said.

The company is paying premium prices for natural gas, he added, but without "firm supply commitments" for all the gas and electricity it needs to run at full capacity, Cianfichi said.

Apache officials initially estimated that natural gas supply disruption could last as long as several months.

For more on Cristal's Bunbury operation, visit ICIS plants and projects
For more on TiO2, visit ICIS chemical intelligence
To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect

By: Larry Terry
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