Huntsman, Rohm and Haas and DuPont declare force majeure at Texas plants
A variety of chemicals affected by hurricane outages
By Dave Hannon -- Purchasing, 9/18/2008 1:34:00 PM
The list of chemical suppliers declaring force majeure on products manufactured in the Texas Gulf Coast region is growing after Hurricane Ike caused plant closures and employee evacuations.
According to a statement from Huntsman, four of its Texas facilities that produce a laundry list of materials were impacted:
• Chocolate Bayou, which produces alkylates such as LAB;
• Port Neches, which produces ethylene, MTBE, ethanolamines, surfactants and other materials;
• Dayton which makes surfactants, PEGs and various blends;
• Conroe produces specialty amines, carbonates, urethane catalysts and surfactants.
Rohm and Haas said that, while its Texas plants fared reasonably well in the wake of Hurricane Ike, multiple disruptions among suppliers and distributors have prevented the company from bringing its plants in Bayport and Deer Park back up.
“Due to events beyond its control, the company is declaring force majeure on the acrylate, methacrylate and specialty monomer products made at these two sites,” Rohm and Haas said in a statement this morning.
DuPont said its Sabine facility in Orange saw storm damage causing the company to declare force majeure for its ethylene copolymers business. "Our operations team at the site is completing assessments of storm damage so that this process can begin as soon as possible. We are also working to be in a position to definitively communicate our ability to supply customer needs,” the company said.
Already this week Solvay and Solutia also declared force majeure from their plants in Texas, and Dow Chemical said it was assessing its plants in the region.
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