PLASTIMAGEN ’19: US Ascend HMDA plant said to be running again

MEXICO CITY (ICIS)–US Ascend Performance Polymers’ hexamethylene diamine (HMDA) plant in Alabama that was impacted by a force majeure earlier this year is now running, a source close to the company said on Wednesday.

But the source, speaking on the sideline of the PLASTIMAGEN MEXICO 2019 conference here this week, would not discuss the status of the force majeure.

The declaration was originally filed in January, then planned to be lifted in mid-February, but a week later was extended.

Phone calls and an email to Ascend’s office in Houston were not returned immediately in time for this story.

HMDA is a key intermediate in the production of nylon 6,6.

Ascend’s plant in Decatur, Alabama, has an HMDA capacity of 155,000 tonnes/year.

Its Pensacola plant in Florida has a capacity of 130,000 tonnes/year, according to ICIS.

PLASTIMAGEN MEXICO 2019 takes place on 2-5 April in Mexico City, Mexico.

(recasts third paragraph with force majeure timeline)