HOUSTON (ICIS)–BASF has declared force majeure on US purified ethylene oxide (PEO) due to an unexpected equipment failure, causing the shutdown of its ethylene oxide (EO) unit at its site in Geismar, Louisiana, according to a customer letter obtained on Monday.

The duration of the shutdown is not yet known.

As purified EO is a primary raw material for many nonionic surfactant products, effective immediately BASF is placing all such impacted products on sales allocation.

The Geismar plant has an EO capacity of 220,000 tonnes/year.

EO producers in the US include BASF, Dow Chemical, Eastman Chemical, Huntsman, Indorama Ventures, LyondellBasell and Shell Chemical.

Image below: Purified EO is used to make surfactants, which are often found in detergents.