More chemical firms declare force majeure in Texas
List of supply problems grows by the day in the wake of Hurricane Ike
By Dave Hannon -- Purchasing, 9/19/2008 12:05:00 PM
The list of chemicals firms declaring force majeure on their products due to plant slowdowns in the Texas Gulf Coast region continues to get longer and longer.
Bayer MaterialScience on Friday it declared force majeure for a large part of its production in Baytown, Texas, because the hurricane cut the site off from its raw-material supplies. In a statement on its web site, Bayer listed a host of materials impacted and told news agencies its polyurethanes, polycarbonates business units as well as inorganic basic chemicals are affected. Bayer said logistics and energy supply systems were the main reason.
“Although precautions were taken in good time, so that Bayer MaterialScience’s production facilities in Baytown were virtually unaffected, the current deficiencies in the infrastructure make it difficult, if not impossible, to supply the site with raw materials.”
And Reuters reports that German firm Lanxess declared force majeure for parts of production in Orange, Texas and Baytown but no official statement has been issued. Lanxess told Reuters it was currently assessing the extent of the damage and was yet unable to say how long the stoppage would last.
And the effects are trickling down the supply chain. After an Oxy Vinyls facility in La Porte, Texas was closed down, its main supplier, PolyOne declared force majeure on shipments from its SunBelt Chlor Alkali Partnership in McIntosh, Ala. Oxy Vinyls was SunBelt’s sole chlorine customer.
PolyOne said Union Pacific Railroad has declared an embargo on chlorine shipments to all areas between Dayton, Texas and Brownsville, Texas.
SunBelt is a joint venture with Olin, which has lifted its prior force majeure for shipments from its St. Gabriel, La., facility. The company expects immediate resumption of caustic soda, chlorine and hydrogen deliveries.
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