Company News
September 3, 2020
EO and MEG Force Majeures
Power outages after hurricane lead to FMs on one third of US MEG capacity
Author: Antoinette Smith
2020/09/01
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Following Hurricane Laura, more than one third of US monoethylene glycol (MEG) production capacity is included in force majeure declarations.
Three producers in southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas – Lotte, Indorama and Sasol – declared force majeure as a result of the category 4 storm, which hit the area early morning on 27 August.
These three plants represent 35% of US MEG capacity, according to the ICIS Supply and Demand Database.
Power outages remain in the US as a result of Hurricane Laura, preventing some chemical companies from restarting their plants.
US MEG supply was already tight, ahead of a heavy slate of planned maintenance.
Click here to view the US Gulf storms – impacts on chemicals topic page.
MEG is an intermediate in the production of polyester fibres and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle resins, and as an automotive antifreeze.
Major glycol producers in the US include Eastman Chemical, Indorama Ventures, Lotte Chemical, LyondellBasell, MEGlobal, Nan Ya Plastics, Sasol and Shell Chemical.
September 3, 2020
EO and MEG Force Majeures
Power outages after hurricane lead to FMs on one third of US MEG capacity
Author: Antoinette Smith
2020/09/01
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Following Hurricane Laura, more than one third of US monoethylene glycol (MEG) production capacity is included in force majeure declarations.
Three producers in southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas – Lotte, Indorama and Sasol – declared force majeure as a result of the category 4 storm, which hit the area early morning on 27 August.
These three plants represent 35% of US MEG capacity, according to the ICIS Supply and Demand Database.
Power outages remain in the US as a result of Hurricane Laura, preventing some chemical companies from restarting their plants.
US MEG supply was already tight, ahead of a heavy slate of planned maintenance.
Click here to view the US Gulf storms – impacts on chemicals topic page.
MEG is an intermediate in the production of polyester fibres and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle resins, and as an automotive antifreeze.
Major glycol producers in the US include Eastman Chemical, Indorama Ventures, Lotte Chemical, LyondellBasell, MEGlobal, Nan Ya Plastics, Sasol and Shell Chemical.
September 2, 2020
TDI Force Majeure
Power outages remain high, delay chem plant restarts
Author: Al Greenwood
2020/09/02
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Power outages have persisted on Wednesday in Louisiana and Texas, making it harder for petrochemical plants to resume operations.
Many plants remain shut down in part because of power outages, even though they escaped major damage from Hurricane Laura. The storm made landfall early on 27 August in Louisiana, close to the border with Texas.
The number of power outages reported by utilities remains high, as shown in the following table.
| 1-Sep | 2-Sep | |
| Louisiana | 260,770 | 227,430 |
| Texas | 39,008 | 41,330 |
Source: PowerOutage.US
Entergy is the main power distributor in the regions hit hardest by the storm. The company is focusing on restoring power to critical community infrastructure such as fire and police departments, hospitals, water utilities and communications services, it said, adding, “As we restore service to residential, commercial and industrial customers, we must do it in a way that balances the needs of our customers with the ability to support additional load as the system permits.”
Entergy gave no timeline as to when it could restore power to industrial plants.
A synthetic rubber producer said one plant may not get power until mid-September.
PLANT UPDATES
Covestro declared force majeure on toluene diisocyanate (TDI) supplies in North America as of 1 September, according to a company spokesperson.
The company said that the force majeure declaration was necessitated by the recent shutdown of the company’s facility in Baytown, Texas, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Laura, along with an unforeseen shortage of a key raw material used in production.
Baytown is near Houston, which saw few effects from the storm. Nevertheless, many companies in the region shut down operations as a precaution.
Plants farther away from the landfall site suffered little damage and are resuming operations.
Capacity for some products was clustered around the area hit by Hurricane Laura, which caused a large portion of US production for those products to be shut down.
September 2, 2020
TDI Force Majeure
Power outages remain high, delay chem plant restarts
Author: Al Greenwood
2020/09/02
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Power outages have persisted on Wednesday in Louisiana and Texas, making it harder for petrochemical plants to resume operations.
Many plants remain shut down in part because of power outages, even though they escaped major damage from Hurricane Laura. The storm made landfall early on 27 August in Louisiana, close to the border with Texas.
The number of power outages reported by utilities remains high, as shown in the following table.
| 1-Sep | 2-Sep | |
| Louisiana | 260,770 | 227,430 |
| Texas | 39,008 | 41,330 |
Source: PowerOutage.US
Entergy is the main power distributor in the regions hit hardest by the storm. The company is focusing on restoring power to critical community infrastructure such as fire and police departments, hospitals, water utilities and communications services, it said, adding, “As we restore service to residential, commercial and industrial customers, we must do it in a way that balances the needs of our customers with the ability to support additional load as the system permits.”
Entergy gave no timeline as to when it could restore power to industrial plants.
A synthetic rubber producer said one plant may not get power until mid-September.
PLANT UPDATES
Covestro declared force majeure on toluene diisocyanate (TDI) supplies in North America as of 1 September, according to a company spokesperson.
The company said that the force majeure declaration was necessitated by the recent shutdown of the company’s facility in Baytown, Texas, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Laura, along with an unforeseen shortage of a key raw material used in production.
Baytown is near Houston, which saw few effects from the storm. Nevertheless, many companies in the region shut down operations as a precaution.
Plants farther away from the landfall site suffered little damage and are resuming operations.
Capacity for some products was clustered around the area hit by Hurricane Laura, which caused a large portion of US production for those products to be shut down.
September 1, 2020
Emery Oleochemicals Adds Ester Plasticizers
Emery Oleochemicals Extends Eco-Friendly Polyols Product Line with Ester Plasticizers & Showcases at CTT 2020 Virtual Week Event
CINCINNATI, OH, USA (September 1, 2020) – Emery Oleochemicals, a world leading, natural–based specialty chemicals manufacturer, is pleased to announce the release of its new EMEROX ® Ester Plasticizer product line.
As part of Emery’s Eco-Friendly Polyols business portfolio, EMEROX Ester Plasticizers offer low viscosity, low water solubility, excellent low temperature performance, and have excellent thermal stability.
These esters are designed to work with hydrophobic polyols for a broad range of applications to modify the cured systems properties and reduce system viscosity and system cost. In addition to improving the performance of your formulated polyurethane, EMEROX Ester Plasticizers have high bio-based content to help you achieve your sustainability objectives.
The Eco-Friendly Polyols business will be showcasing its EMEROX Ester Plasticizers at the Coatings Trends & Technology 2020 virtual event taking place September 8-11.
Visit Emery’s CTT Exhibition Booth to find out more or visit our website at
www.emeryoleo.com/polyols.
About Emery Oleochemicals’ Eco-Friendly Polyols
EMEROX ® Polyols provide formulators and end-users in the polyurethane industry with economical solutions that offer enhanced performance properties and easily integrate to improve formulations. Many of our EMEROX Polyols are also certified under the USDA BioPreferred ® Program and contain high bio-based content (50-99%) to help our customers achieve their sustainability objectives.
To learn about Emery Oleochemicals’ comprehensive portfolio of EMEROX Polyol grades that address a broad range of flexible foam, rigid foam and CASE industry application requirements, visit www.emeryoleo.com/polyols.
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