Many chemical companies such as Dow, LyondellBasell and Covestro have encountered force majeure!

Recently, Dow’s 340,000-ton/year MDI device in Texas, USA was interrupted due to an unexpected mechanical failure of the raw material supplier. Dow Chemical is solving this problem and hopes to resume normal supply soon. In addition, the force majeure of MDI originally announced on February 17 this year still exists.

Covestro and Brunsbitt have issued force majeure statements

Covestro’s 320,000-ton/year MDI device in Texas, USA and the 420,000-ton/year MDI device in Brunsbet, Germany both issued force majeure declarations in July.

According to the authoritative American media ABC 10News, Russ Batson, executive director of the Polyurethane Foam Association, said in an interview that the current shortage of MDI in North America has lasted for several months, and he expects that the supply level will be difficult to return to normal before Christmas. It seems that the extreme shortage of polyurethane has caused serious damage to industries such as furniture and mattresses.

Tosoh Ruian’s 80,000-ton/year MDI plant was overhauled in early August

In addition, it is worth noting that Tosoh Ruian’s 80,000-ton/year MDI plant will be overhauled in early August, which is expected to be 25-30 days. At present, it seems that the tightness on the supply side still exists, and the foreign source of goods is not abundant enough, there is still a certain degree of support. However, as the overhaul of Wanhua Yantai's equipment is coming to an end and domestic supply is supplemented, the domestic MDI market may go down, but the decline is limited.

Lyondell Basel's 1.5 million tons cracking plant quickly went offline after a short restart

According to foreign media reports, LyondellBasell’s 1.5 million tons/year cracking furnace in Texas was closed in the last week of June. The company initially expected to resume operations within one to two weeks, but did not resume production until July 20, and went offline again 6 hours after resuming production.

Prior to this, Lyondell Basel’s letter to customers on July 16 stated that after the extreme weather struck by lightning on July 13th, Lyondell Basel closed the Quantum Chemical’s 509,000-ton/year PP plant in Louisiana. The company has not given a timetable for resuming production.

In addition, LyondellBasell has another 355,000-ton/year linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant that announced force majeure due to equipment failure on June 17. It has not yet given a timetable for resuming production.

Gazprom's PE device undergoes 30-day maintenance

Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat is repairing low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plants, and the shutdown period will last 30 days.

South Korea's Hanwha phthalic anhydride plant shuts down

Hanwha of South Korea announced that its phthalic anhydride plant (the main raw material for plasticizers) in Ulsan, South Korea, has unexpectedly ceased production due to force majeure. The current shutdown date is undetermined.

Vinnolit announces force majeure for PVC and VCM

Vinnolit, a large European PVC producer, announced that due to the heavy rains on July 13 and 14, factories near Cologne are facing huge problems in the supply of raw materials. The track connections of the factories and some of the infrastructure for the production of PVC and VCM (vinyl chloride) are also affected. Influence.

Fibrant announces force majeure of the company's Cyclohexanone and caprolactam

Fibrant, the main supplier of caprolactam in Europe, announced that the company's cyclohexanone and caprolactam were force majeure because its main raw material supplier had to cut production due to floods in Northwestern Europe. The reduction in the supply of raw materials caused Fibrant to also be forced to reduce production.

The floods affected the infrastructure for the transportation of Naphtha, a key raw material. It is expected that Fibrant's operating rate will take several weeks to return to normal levels.

AnQore announces force majeure of the company's Acrylonitrile

AnQore, the world's leading producer of acrylonitrile/hydrocyanic acid, announced force majeure for acrylonitrile at its Geleen plant in the Netherlands. According to local news reports, the shutdown was due to insufficient supply of raw materials, and production had to be cut by about half. The company has not yet given a specific response to resume production.

Textile giant announced some factories to stop production and reduce production

Shenzhou International issued an announcement a few days ago that in view of the recent changes in the epidemic in Vietnam, the Vietnamese government will implement social distancing measures in Ho Chi Minh City and Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam no later than 14 days from July 19, 2021. In line with the Vietnamese government’s social distancing measures, from now on, the production capacity of the Group’s cloth production base in Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam will be operated at approximately 30% of its normal production capacity, and the garment factory in Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam will suspend operations while in Vietnam The production capacity of the garment factory in Ho Chi Minh City will operate at approximately 33% of the normal production capacity.

Regarding the impact of the current epidemic on the actual production capacity of Vietnam's production bases, Shenzhou International expects to affect operations for 14 days, and the company's total annual production capacity of fabrics and clothing will drop by approximately 2% and 1%, respectively.