PCC Rokita's PO, polyols down for maintenance amid short supply

02 August 2010 17:29  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--PCC Rokita’s propylene oxide (PO) and polyols production in Poland has gone down for routine maintenance, a company source said on Monday.

“The maintenance started over the weekend 31 July-1 August and it was expected to last for one week-to-ten days," said the source.

The source added that contracts were being covered, but it was living hand-to-mouth, as it had been difficult to build up stocks prior to the maintenance.

This was due to some recent additional orders, resulting from production issues for some of its European competitors.

Oltchim recently made a force majeure (FM) declaration on flexible polyether polyol supplies in Romania, resulting from insufficient ethylene oxide  feedstock availability, but this has since been lifted.

Shell Chemicals remained on FM for some polyols produced at Pernis, the Netherlands, a company source said on Monday. The FM came into effect in the second half of June due to a combination of recent technical issues and EO plant maintenance. 

The European polyols market was described as short due to ongoing PO limitations and production issues. However, it had eased a bit due to the summer holidays, particularly in the Mediterranean, according to some players.

The latest reports suggested that PO in Europe remained stretched due to ongoing good derivative demand, despite the summer holidays.

The company has a nameplate capacity of approximately 25,000 tonnes/year for PO and a maximum capacity of around 70,000 tonnes/year for polyols at the Polish site.

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By: Heidi Finch
+44 20 8652 3214

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