Market and product

Formosa Plastics USA has either shut down operations or lowered production rates at its units in Point Comfort, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, because of the frigid weather, the polyolefins and vinyls producer said on Thursday.

All of the company's plants are in those two cites, according to the ICIS Supply and Demand database. They make ethylene, propylene, ethylene oxide (EO), ethylene glycol (EG), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Formosa did not say when it could resume normal operations.

The company said priority is being given to restart power plants to provide electricity to nearby homes. "Any power and steam production from natural gas will be directed toward electrical support for the community and the safety of our complex until the current weather emergency subsides," the company said in a statement.

The polar storm has disrupted plant production throughout the breadth of the US petrochemical hub, from Corpus Christi in southern Texas, through Houston to Geismar, Louisiana in the eastern part of that state.

For many products such as ethylene, ethylene oxide (EO) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), more than half of US production has been disrupted. For polypropylene (PP), the figure exceeds 80%. For ethylene glycol (EG), more than 90%. For propylene oxide (PO), every unit has been affected by the cold weather. - ICIS-