NewsFlashFrance’s Rhodia declares force majeure on polyamide 6,6

LONDON (ICIS news)--Rhodia Polyamide has declared force majeure on polyamide 6,6 (nylon 6,6) intermediates in Europe, a company source said on Monday.

"Since our start-up in Chalampé from mid-September, we have been facing logistics constraints due to very low water levels in the Rhine river. This has hampered the feed of raw materials severely and decreased our production rates significantly," the source said.

"As a consequence, we are obliged to declare force majeure, which we tried to avoid by any means. This is valid for all our European PA [polyamide] 6,6 related operations. At this point, adipic acid is excluded," the source added.

Rhodia polyamide intermediates and polymers president Dominique Rage said in a memo sent to its polyamide customers: "We have been informed by the carriers in charge of our upstream raw materials (eg butadiene and ammonia) transportation that the Rhine river is currently at extremely low water levels.

"This situation forced them to drastically reduce the weight of their cargo so that their barges can sit high in the water.

"The main raw materials of our upstream polyamide chain in France are transported and delivered exclusively or mainly by barges navigating on the Rhine River. Therefore, the strong reduction of such transportation flow reduces the delivery of essential raw materials to our plants and, as a consequence, forces us to reduce the normal course of production and deliveries of most of our polyamide 6.6 intermediates and polymer (hereinafter the products) in Europe," Rage added.

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