Australia power issues prolong Cristal TiO2 FM

24 October 2008 00:06  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Electricity and natural-gas supply restrictions have prolonged the force majeure (FM) on titanium dioxide (TiO2) declared in June at Cristal Global's Bunbury plant in Western Australia, the company said on Thursday.

Cristal's 105,000 tonne/year pigment plant was shut down for more than a month following a 3 June explosion and fire at Apache Energy's offshore Varanus Island natural gas pipeline facility.

Apache has supplied Cristal's Bunbury plant with natural gas on an allocation basis since the TiO2 plant restarted in mid-July. Cristal's electricity provider is also supplying that utility on allocation.

Cristal said it expects repairs at the Varanus Island facility to be completed by December 2009, but that its decision to lift its FM on TiO2 could come earlier.

"Our expectation is that the force majeure [for electricity and natural gas] will be lifted when the Varanus Island facility is fully restored," said Amy Drusano, Cristal's global corporate communications director.

"While we are receiving adequate supplies of gas, we are still operating under an allocations system whereby supply can be withdrawn," she said.

Other US producers of TiO2 include DuPont, Huntsman, Kronos and Tronox.

($1 = €0.78)

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By: Larry Terry
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