Corrected: AkzoNobel starts maintenance at two Europe caustic soda units

30 March 2012 11:36  [Source: ICIS news]

Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined “AkzoNobel starts maintenance at two Europe caustic soda units” dated 30 March 2012, please read the headline as “starts maintenance at two Europe caustic soda units … instead of … shuts two Europe chlor-alkali sites ... Also, please read in the first paragraph … AkzoNobel has started maintenance at its 700,000 tonne/year caustic soda facility … instead of … AkzoNobel has shut down its 750,000 tonne/year chlor-alkali facility … A corrected story follows.

LONDON (ICIS)--AkzoNobel has started maintenance at its 700,000 tonne/year caustic soda facility in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, which is expected to last three weeks, a source at the Dutch specialty chemicals producer said on Friday.

The company’s 45,000 tonne/year pearl caustic soda facility in Frankfurt, Germany, has also been shut down for a week-long maintenance.

AkzoNobel caustic soda supplies are under strict sales control because of low inventories.

Meanwhile, force majeure is still in place at Arkema’s electrolysis units at Jarrie and Fos-sur-Mer in southern France.

This is because of low inventories caused by a weather-related shutdown in February, a source at the French specialty chemical company said on Friday.

The shutdown reduced the company’s caustic soda production in February by 50% year on year.

Arkema will reduce caustic soda sales for April by 10,000 dmt (dry metric tonnes) on poor availability, and will not supply customers in the spot market until the end of next month.

US-based Dow Chemical will run its 1.79m tonne/year caustic soda site at Stade, near Hamburg, Germany at reduced rates for 45 days during April and May because of maintenance at the company’s chlorinated solvents facility.

($1 = €0.75)

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By: Abache Abreu
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