February 25, 2021

Spot Propylene Drops 23c/lb Today With Restarts

FACTBOX: US spot propylene prices plunge from freeze-fueled record high

• Author
• Kristen Hays    Astrid Torres    Sarah Schneider
• Editor
• Richard Rubin
• Commodity
• Petrochemicals

Houston — US spot polymer-grade propylene prices fell sharply from all-time highs Feb. 24 as two of the three propane dehydrogenation plants in the US began restarting after coming offline during the deep freeze that hit the US Gulf Coast the week of Feb. 15.

Spot propylene prices already had reached their highest level in a decade before the freeze on tight supply, which grew tighter when sustained sub-freezing temperatures forced Dow Chemical’s 750,000 mt/year unit in Freeport, Texas, and Flint Hills Resources’ 658,000 mt/year unit in Houston offline. Enterprise Products Partners had already shut its 750,000 mt/year PDH unit pre-freeze on Feb. 1 for maintenance, the company confirmed.

Spot polymer-grade propylene prices plunged 23 cents on Feb. 24 to 102 cents/lb from an all-time high of 125 cents/lb on news that Dow and Flint Hills were restarting their units, market sources said.

However, downstream polymer prices were expected to rise sharply in the coming weeks as volumes are offered after plants restart, sources said.

Those restarts were expected to be gradual, as producers had to ensure downstream units could operate before restarting upstream olefins units, sources noted.

In addition, supply chains had to recover as well. The freeze affected much of the US in addition to the US Gulf Coast, and trucking services and railroads moving domestic volumes inland from the region.

“Domestically, it’s horrendous going north,” a source said. Shipments of volumes already bought could take several weeks to reach their destinations, he added. Market participants also were concerned about whether enough rail cars would return to move out more product once production ramps back up.

Indorama Ventures in March will impose a 4.5 cents/lb surcharge on shipments of all grades of polyethylene terephthalate, the resin used to make plastic bottles, on all supplies in the US, Mexico and Canada, to cover higher feedstock and logistics cost not included in formula-based resin pricing, according to a customer letter dated Feb. 23.

Here is a rundown of confirmed fallout from the freeze:

FORCE MAJEURES

**Dow Chemical: Declared Feb. 19, on 2-ethylhexanol and butanol products from its Texas City, Texas complex

**Formosa Plastics USA: Declared Feb. 19 on US polyethylene

**BASF: Declared Feb. 19 on dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP), a plasticizer, at its Pasadena, Texas, site

**Westlake Chemical: Declared Feb. 19 on US caustic soda, chlorine, PVC and VCM; company has 2.9 million mt/year of US caustic soda capacity, more than 2 million mt/year of PVC capacity, 2.6 million mt/year of VCM; more than 2.26 million mt/year of chlorine capacity at five affected sites

**Formosa Plastics USA: Declared Feb. 18 on US PVC, 1.3 million mt/year of capacity at Point Comfort, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, complexes.

**Dow Chemical: Declared Feb. 18 on multiple intermediate chemicals produced at plants in Deer Park, Freeport, Texas City and Bayport Texas, Hahnville, Louisiana, and Louisville, Kentucky; declaration includes vinyl acetate monomer (VAM), methyl methacrylate (MMA), glacial methacrylic acid (GMAA), butyl methacrylate (BMA), glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), 2-ethylhexyl Acrylate (2EHA), butyl acrylate (BA), and others; Dow informed South American customers

**Celanese: Declared force majeure Feb. 18 on multiple intermediate chemicals normally sold to customers in the US, Europe and the Middle East, including acetic acid, VAM, ethyl acetate and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)

**Total: Declared Feb. 17 on polypropylene produced at its 1.15 million mt/year La Porte, Texas, facility

**Formosa Plastics USA: Declared Feb. 17 on all chlor-alkali products

**LyondellBasell: Declared Feb. 16 on styrene monomer

**Vestolit: Declared Feb. 16 on PVC produced at its Colombia and Mexico plants on lack of upstream vinyl chloride monomer feedstock from US suppliers; plants have a combined 1.8 million mt/year of capacity

**Olin: Declared Feb. 16 on US chlorine, caustic soda, ethylene dichloride, epoxy, hydrochloric acid and other products produced at its Freeport, Texas, complex; ; on Feb. 18 Olin expanded the declaration in a separate letter to customers to include products made system-wide

**MEGlobal: Declared Feb. 15 on MEG produced at its Freeport, Texas, site

**LyondellBasell: Declared Feb. 15 on US polyethylene

**Flint Hills Resources: Declared Feb. 15 on polypropylene produced at Longview, Texas

**OxyChem: Declared Feb. 15 on US chlorine, caustic soda, EDC, vinyl chloride monomer and polyvinyl chloride.

**LyondellBasell: Declared Feb. 15 on US polypropylene

**INEOS Olefins and Polymers USA: Declared Feb. 15 on polypropylene

**OQ Chemicals: Declared Feb. 15 on US oxo-alcohols, aldehydes, acids and esters produced at its Bat City, Texas, operations

SHUTDOWNS

**Westlake Chemical: 331,763 mt/year cracker, 249,475 mt/year chlorine, 274,423 mt/year caustic soda, 680,388 mt/year vinyl chloride monomer, 680,388 mt/year polyvinyl chloride, Calvert City, Kentucky

**Eastman Chemical: 7.33 million mt/year ethylene capacity, Longview, Texas

**INEOS: 1.89 million mt/year of ethylene capacity, Chocolate Bayou, Texas

**LyondellBasell: 3.26 million mt/year of ethylene capacity in Channelview, La Porte and Corpus Christi, Texas

**MEGlobal: 750,000 mt/year monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant, Freeport, Texas

**Total: 1.15 million mt/year PP, La Porte, Texas

**Lotte Chemical: 700,000 mt/year MEG, Lake Charles, Louisiana; 1 million mt/year joint-venture cracker

**Braskem: 360,000 mt/year PP Freeport, Texas; 400,000 mt/year PP La Porte, Texas; 225,000 mt/year PP Seadrift, Texas

**ExxonMobil: Cumulative 1.53 million mt/year from three units, HDPE and LLDPE capacity, Mont Belvieu, Texas

**Indorama Ventures: Port Neches, Texas, 235,867 mt/year cracker, 1 million mt/year ethylene oxide/MEG unit, 238,135 mt/year propylene oxide unit, and 988,000 mt/year of MTBE capacity; Clear Lake, Texas, 435,000 mt/year EO, 358,000 mt/year MEG.

**Olin: Freeport, Texas complex, with 3 million mt/year of caustic soda and 2.73 million mt/year of chlorine capacity; 748,000 mt/year of EDC

**OxyChem: Ingleside, Texas, 544,000 mt/year cracker; 248,000 mt/year chlor-alkali; 680,000 mt/year EDC; Deer Park and Pasadena, Texas, 1.27 million mt in PVC capacity; 1.79 million mt/year of VCM capacity; 580,000 mt/year chlor-alkali

**Shintech: Freeport, Texas: 1.45 million mt/year PVC

**Formosa Plastics USA: Entire Point Comfort, Texas, complex, including three crackers with a cumulative capacity of 2.76 million mt/year; 875,000 mt/year of high density polyethylene; 400,000 mt/year of low density PE; 465,000 mt/year of linear low density PE; two PP units with combined capacity of 1.7 million mt/year; 798,000 mt/year of PVC; 1 million mt/year of caustic soda and 910,000 mt/year of chlorine; 753,000 mt/year of VCM; 1.478 million mt/year of EDC; and a cumulative 1.17 million mt/year of monoethylene glycol operated by sister company Nan Ya Plastics.

**Dow Chemical: Certain units offline within Dow sites along the US Gulf Coast, but the company did not specify. Dow’s Gulf Coast operations include a complex at Freeport, Texas, with three crackers able to produce a combined 3.2 million mt/year, two LDPE units with 552,000 mt/year and 186,000 mt/year HDPE; Dow’s Seadrift, Texas, complex includes 490,000 mt/year LLDPE and 390,000 mt/year HDPE; Dow told South American customers in a letter dated Feb. 16 that the company was assessing impact on PE production capacity “and we know that our ability to supply various products could be affected.”

**TPC Group: Houston site shut down, including 544,310 mt/year butadiene unit, when boilers lost steam

**Motiva Chemicals: Port Arthur, 635,000 mt/year mixed-feed cracker

**Shell: Deer Park, Texas, refining and chemical complex, including two crackers with a combined 961,000 mt/year of capacity

**Shell: Norco, Louisiana, refining and chemical complex, including two crackers with a combined capacity of 1.42 million mt/year

**Chevron Phillips Chemical: Pasadena, Texas, 998,000 mt/year HDPE; also has cumulative 5.35 million mt/year in capacity of six crackers in Port Arthur, Baytown and Sweeny, Texas

RESTARTS

**Flint Hills Resources: 658,000 mt/year PDH unit, Houston

**Dow Chemical: 750,000 PDH, Freeport, Texas

**Braskem: Restarting 450,000 mt/year PP, La Porte, Texas

**Dow Chemical: restarting 680,000 mt/year cracker in Orange, Texas

**ExxonMobil: Beaumont, Texas, restart activity begun; 826,000 mt/year cracker; 225,000 mt/year HDPE; 240,000 mt/year LDPE; 1.19 million mt/year LLDPE with some HDPE capacity

**ExxonMobil: Baytown, Texas, restart activity begun; three crackers with a combined capacity of 3.8 million mt/year; 800,000 mt/year PP

**Sasol: Restarts for 380,000 mt/year EO/MEG, Lake Charles, Louisiana

**Formosa Plastics USA: 513,000 mt/year PVC, 653,000 mt/year VCM, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

**LyondellBasell: Lake Charles, Louisiana, joint-venture 470,000 mt/year LLDPE; 420,000 mt/year LDPE

PRICES

**US February spot ethylene prices rose 1.75 cents/lb to 50 cents/lb FD Mont Belvieu and were up 3.25 cents to 47 cents/lg FD Choctaw; for March, the FD Mont Belvieu marker rose 1.75 cents to 47.75 cents/lb and the FD Choctaw marker climbed 3.25 cents to 46.25 cents/lb

**US spot polymer-grade propylene prices fell 23 cents Feb. 24 to 102 cents/lb FD USG, retreating from a fresh all-time high of $1.25/lb FD USG reached Feb. 23, on news of two US PDH unit restarts

**US export homopolymer injection-grade polypropylene assessed $88 higher on the week Feb. 24 at $2,568-$2,590/mt FAS Houston

**US export polyvinyl chloride prices were assessed flat on the week at $1,400/mt FAS Houston, but market participants talked of pricing levels as high as $1,600/mt FAS once producers are able to make volumes available

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/products-services/electric-power/gas-and-power

February 24, 2021

Casper Results

Casper Reports Fourth Quarter 2020 Results

Wed February 24, 2021 6:55 AM|Business Wire|About: CSPR

Record Fourth Quarter and Full Year Revenue of $150.3 million and $497.0 million

26% YoY Growth in North America in the Fourth Quarter, Including 43% YoY Growth in Retail Partnerships Reiterates Expectation to Achieve Profitability Goals

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Casper Sleep Inc. (CSPR) (“Casper” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CSPR) today announced financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 (the “fourth quarter 2020” or “fourth quarter”) and the year ended December 31, 2020 (the “year” or “2020”).

Fourth Quarter and 2020 Financial Highlights (as compared to the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019, respectively)

• Revenue increased 18.4% to a record $150.3 million on a quarterly basis and by 13.1% to a record $497.0 million for the year;
  • North America revenue increased 25.8% to a record $150.3 million on a quarterly basis and by $72.0 million or 17.4% to a record $485.0 million for the year;
  • North America Direct-to-Consumer revenue increased 19.1% to a record $101.9 million on a quarterly basis and by 7.5% to a record $351.5 million for the year;
  • North America Retail Partnership revenue increased 42.8% to a record $48.4 million on a quarterly basis and by 55.4% to $133.6 million for the year;
• Gross Profit increased $14.9 million or 24.7% to $75.3 million with gross margin of 50.1% up 252 basis points on a quarterly basis, and increased $38.5 million or 17.9% to $253.9 million with gross margin of 51.1% up 204 basis points for the year;
• Net loss improved $10.6 million or 41.4% to a loss of $15.0 million on a quarterly basis and improved by $3.5 million or 3.7% to a loss of $89.6 million for the year;
• Adjusted EBITDA loss improved by $13.4 million or 79.5% to a loss of $3.5 million on a quarterly basis and improved by $25.4 million or 35.9% to a loss of $45.3 million for the year; and
• Cash and cash equivalents of $88.9 million at year end.

“Casper finished 2020 strongly with record revenue for both the fourth quarter and the full year,” said Chief Executive Officer Philip Krim. “Fourth quarter revenue growth was driven by 43% year-over-year growth in North American retail partnership revenue and 19% growth in North American direct-to-consumer revenue, which resulted in an 80% year-over-year improvement in Adjusted EBITDA. Despite the pandemic, we were able to deliver 17.4% North American revenue growth for the full year 2020, and we expect top-line growth to accelerate in 2021 with positive Adjusted EBITDA in the second half of the year.”

Mr. Krim continued, “2020 was an important year for Casper. We continued to prioritize the health and safety of our customers and employees as we navigated through the pandemic and successfully executed on the business model we outlined a year ago in our IPO. The fourth quarter demonstrates that our model continues to work well. We took more products to market through increased points of distribution while further elevating our industry-leading brand. We navigated a challenging supply chain backdrop to successfully meet increasing consumer demand, and we entered 2021 well positioned to drive future growth. This year, we will continue to focus on increasing our market share, creating additional operating leverage, and making progress toward our profitability goals.”

Outlook

The Company today provided an outlook for certain financial metrics for the quarter ending March 31, 2021 (“first quarter 2021”) and year ending December 31, 2021 (“full year 2021” or “2021”), reflecting certain assumptions by management regarding the Company’s business, trends, seasonal factors, and the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business. In addition, the outlook assumes there will be no material changes in world events, recent consumer trends, economic conditions, competitive landscape or other circumstances beyond our control that may adversely affect the Company’s results of operations.

In the first quarter 2021, the Company expects revenue of approximately $118 to $125 million, net loss of approximately $25 to $22 million, and Adjusted EBITDA loss of approximately $16 to $13 million. At the mid-point, this revenue range represents 7% growth and 14% North America growth in the first quarter 2021. For the full year 2021, the Company expects revenue of approximately $570 to $600 million. At the mid-point, this revenue range represents 18% growth and 20% North America growth for 2021.

https://seekingalpha.com/pr/18205130-casper-reports-fourth-quarter-2020-results

February 24, 2021

Casper Results

Casper Reports Fourth Quarter 2020 Results

Wed February 24, 2021 6:55 AM|Business Wire|About: CSPR

Record Fourth Quarter and Full Year Revenue of $150.3 million and $497.0 million

26% YoY Growth in North America in the Fourth Quarter, Including 43% YoY Growth in Retail Partnerships Reiterates Expectation to Achieve Profitability Goals

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Casper Sleep Inc. (CSPR) (“Casper” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CSPR) today announced financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 (the “fourth quarter 2020” or “fourth quarter”) and the year ended December 31, 2020 (the “year” or “2020”).

Fourth Quarter and 2020 Financial Highlights (as compared to the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019, respectively)

• Revenue increased 18.4% to a record $150.3 million on a quarterly basis and by 13.1% to a record $497.0 million for the year;
  • North America revenue increased 25.8% to a record $150.3 million on a quarterly basis and by $72.0 million or 17.4% to a record $485.0 million for the year;
  • North America Direct-to-Consumer revenue increased 19.1% to a record $101.9 million on a quarterly basis and by 7.5% to a record $351.5 million for the year;
  • North America Retail Partnership revenue increased 42.8% to a record $48.4 million on a quarterly basis and by 55.4% to $133.6 million for the year;
• Gross Profit increased $14.9 million or 24.7% to $75.3 million with gross margin of 50.1% up 252 basis points on a quarterly basis, and increased $38.5 million or 17.9% to $253.9 million with gross margin of 51.1% up 204 basis points for the year;
• Net loss improved $10.6 million or 41.4% to a loss of $15.0 million on a quarterly basis and improved by $3.5 million or 3.7% to a loss of $89.6 million for the year;
• Adjusted EBITDA loss improved by $13.4 million or 79.5% to a loss of $3.5 million on a quarterly basis and improved by $25.4 million or 35.9% to a loss of $45.3 million for the year; and
• Cash and cash equivalents of $88.9 million at year end.

“Casper finished 2020 strongly with record revenue for both the fourth quarter and the full year,” said Chief Executive Officer Philip Krim. “Fourth quarter revenue growth was driven by 43% year-over-year growth in North American retail partnership revenue and 19% growth in North American direct-to-consumer revenue, which resulted in an 80% year-over-year improvement in Adjusted EBITDA. Despite the pandemic, we were able to deliver 17.4% North American revenue growth for the full year 2020, and we expect top-line growth to accelerate in 2021 with positive Adjusted EBITDA in the second half of the year.”

Mr. Krim continued, “2020 was an important year for Casper. We continued to prioritize the health and safety of our customers and employees as we navigated through the pandemic and successfully executed on the business model we outlined a year ago in our IPO. The fourth quarter demonstrates that our model continues to work well. We took more products to market through increased points of distribution while further elevating our industry-leading brand. We navigated a challenging supply chain backdrop to successfully meet increasing consumer demand, and we entered 2021 well positioned to drive future growth. This year, we will continue to focus on increasing our market share, creating additional operating leverage, and making progress toward our profitability goals.”

Outlook

The Company today provided an outlook for certain financial metrics for the quarter ending March 31, 2021 (“first quarter 2021”) and year ending December 31, 2021 (“full year 2021” or “2021”), reflecting certain assumptions by management regarding the Company’s business, trends, seasonal factors, and the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business. In addition, the outlook assumes there will be no material changes in world events, recent consumer trends, economic conditions, competitive landscape or other circumstances beyond our control that may adversely affect the Company’s results of operations.

In the first quarter 2021, the Company expects revenue of approximately $118 to $125 million, net loss of approximately $25 to $22 million, and Adjusted EBITDA loss of approximately $16 to $13 million. At the mid-point, this revenue range represents 7% growth and 14% North America growth in the first quarter 2021. For the full year 2021, the Company expects revenue of approximately $570 to $600 million. At the mid-point, this revenue range represents 18% growth and 20% North America growth for 2021.

https://seekingalpha.com/pr/18205130-casper-reports-fourth-quarter-2020-results

February 24, 2021

Restart Updates

Polar storm paralyses US Gulf Coast petrochemical sector

By Rebecca Trager24 February 2021

The polar storm that descended into the US Gulf Coast on 14 February, bringing unprecedented prolonged freezing temperatures to many parts of Texas, dramatically disrupted petrochemical supplies. Approximately 75% of total US ethylene capacity remained offline as of 23 February, according to analysis by Kevin McCarthy, who covers the global chemicals industry for the Connecticut-based equity research firm Vertical Research Partners, and colleagues.

Source: © Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The situation in the aftermath of what’s been dubbed the ‘icepocalypse’ of 2021 is very fluid, with the status of plant operations being updated continually, but the data coming in reveals how badly Texas-based chemicals capacity has been impacted by the record-breaking cold weather. Texas is the petrochemical hub of America.

As of 23 February, 100% of epichlorohydrin production was offline, as was about 90% of ethylene glycol production, more than 70% of polypropylene production, over 60% of epoxy resins production, and about 40% of propylene production, Vertical Research Partners finds.

Shutdowns include one or more crackers operated by Chevron Phillips Chemical, Dow, ExxonMobil, Formosa Plastics, Lyondell and Motiva, according to McCarthy’s research note. In addition, Sasol has also reportedly reduced rates at Lake Charles, Louisiana and Indorama appears to have throttled back or shut down ethylene and ethylene oxide at Port Neches, Texas. Likewise, Lyondell’s ethylene oxide is down at Bayport, Texas.

Most of the 150-plus petrochemical facilities in the Houston area are expecting to come back online sometime this week, according to Chad Burke, president and chief executive of the Economic Alliance Houston Port Region. Some are working through repairs while others are waiting on utilities and feedstock supplies to be restored, he says.

Waiting on utilities

An anonymous representative of one of the largest integrated refining and chemical companies in the Houston port area reports being in ‘various stages of startup’ across its different facilities in the area. Meanwhile, a plant manager at another chemical company in the region says the majority of the roughly 75 sites in the vicinity, including their own, are down waiting to receive utilities like natural gas, steam, nitrogen and water. ‘At this stage it looks like another week before utilities return,’ the plant manager, who also preferred not to be identified, said on 22 February.

Although it is difficult to estimate the impact of these facilities being down for the better part of two weeks, it’s bound to be significant since Houston is the largest petrochemical complex in the world, producing more than 40% of America’s chemicals and about 25% of its fuels.

‘The vast majority of petrochemical plants and refineries in the state ceased all production manufacturing and were idling, except for those that were generating power to help provide added support to the state’s electric grid,’ Hector Rivero, president and chief executive of the Texas Chemical Council and the Association of Chemical Industry of Texas, tells Chemistry World.

At this stage it looks like another week before utilities return

Because Texas doesn’t normally have such extreme weather, the state is not prepared and resourced to handle such conditions. There have been ice storms in Texas over the years, but they are generally brief events. This most recent storm was a multi-day hard freeze.

Many chemical plants in the state and nearby Louisiana are not designed to operate in such extreme conditions, so equipment failures and frozen process lines can decrease operational reliability, explained McCarthy and colleagues in their recent research note. They also cautioned that ‘unfavourable network effects’ can exacerbate the situation because many assets are dependent upon neighbouring plants for utilities, like electric power, and the supply of feedstock or intermediates required to operate.

A ‘mad scramble’

In fact, the storm’s extended freeze caused downed power lines and power loss across Texas, and the state had to initiate rolling blackouts to try to ensure that power demand did not exceed supply. These forced outages will certainly impact global supply and demand for chemicals, Rivero says. Indeed, he points out that the price of gas has already soared in parts of Texas and across the US.

‘With all of these facilities being shut down, a lot of the supply chain was also impacted,’ Rivero adds. ‘It is kind of a mad scramble to secure the resources needed to be able to come back online, and that is starting to happen now.’

A key lesson learned is the need to improve the security of the electricity supply regionally, experts suggest. Aside from the temporary challenges posed by the ice storm, which were severe, the scarcity of electric power also created significant consequences for chemical companies. Manufacturing plants had to shut down because of the need to divert and conserve electric power so that it could be preserved for residential and emergency needs. That is a weakness in the system that had remained under-appreciated prior to this severe weather event.

But there is perhaps some good news to be found in a surprising place. The ongoing pandemic has significantly changed the supply chain, and that could help with the recovery of Texas’ petrochemical industry from this natural disaster.

The interruptions caused by the Covid-19 shutdowns actually deepened the inventories of feedstocks, intermediate products like chemicals and resins, and finished products, according to Burke. ‘Both manufacturers and customers recognised the importance of increasing inventories to insulate against supply chain interruptions,’ he explains. ‘Those lessons learned should actually serve to decrease the time it takes now to get back into production.’

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/polar-storm-paralyses-us-gulf-coast-petrochemical-sector/4013306.article

February 24, 2021

Restart Updates

Polar storm paralyses US Gulf Coast petrochemical sector

By Rebecca Trager24 February 2021

The polar storm that descended into the US Gulf Coast on 14 February, bringing unprecedented prolonged freezing temperatures to many parts of Texas, dramatically disrupted petrochemical supplies. Approximately 75% of total US ethylene capacity remained offline as of 23 February, according to analysis by Kevin McCarthy, who covers the global chemicals industry for the Connecticut-based equity research firm Vertical Research Partners, and colleagues.

Source: © Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The situation in the aftermath of what’s been dubbed the ‘icepocalypse’ of 2021 is very fluid, with the status of plant operations being updated continually, but the data coming in reveals how badly Texas-based chemicals capacity has been impacted by the record-breaking cold weather. Texas is the petrochemical hub of America.

As of 23 February, 100% of epichlorohydrin production was offline, as was about 90% of ethylene glycol production, more than 70% of polypropylene production, over 60% of epoxy resins production, and about 40% of propylene production, Vertical Research Partners finds.

Shutdowns include one or more crackers operated by Chevron Phillips Chemical, Dow, ExxonMobil, Formosa Plastics, Lyondell and Motiva, according to McCarthy’s research note. In addition, Sasol has also reportedly reduced rates at Lake Charles, Louisiana and Indorama appears to have throttled back or shut down ethylene and ethylene oxide at Port Neches, Texas. Likewise, Lyondell’s ethylene oxide is down at Bayport, Texas.

Most of the 150-plus petrochemical facilities in the Houston area are expecting to come back online sometime this week, according to Chad Burke, president and chief executive of the Economic Alliance Houston Port Region. Some are working through repairs while others are waiting on utilities and feedstock supplies to be restored, he says.

Waiting on utilities

An anonymous representative of one of the largest integrated refining and chemical companies in the Houston port area reports being in ‘various stages of startup’ across its different facilities in the area. Meanwhile, a plant manager at another chemical company in the region says the majority of the roughly 75 sites in the vicinity, including their own, are down waiting to receive utilities like natural gas, steam, nitrogen and water. ‘At this stage it looks like another week before utilities return,’ the plant manager, who also preferred not to be identified, said on 22 February.

Although it is difficult to estimate the impact of these facilities being down for the better part of two weeks, it’s bound to be significant since Houston is the largest petrochemical complex in the world, producing more than 40% of America’s chemicals and about 25% of its fuels.

‘The vast majority of petrochemical plants and refineries in the state ceased all production manufacturing and were idling, except for those that were generating power to help provide added support to the state’s electric grid,’ Hector Rivero, president and chief executive of the Texas Chemical Council and the Association of Chemical Industry of Texas, tells Chemistry World.

At this stage it looks like another week before utilities return

Because Texas doesn’t normally have such extreme weather, the state is not prepared and resourced to handle such conditions. There have been ice storms in Texas over the years, but they are generally brief events. This most recent storm was a multi-day hard freeze.

Many chemical plants in the state and nearby Louisiana are not designed to operate in such extreme conditions, so equipment failures and frozen process lines can decrease operational reliability, explained McCarthy and colleagues in their recent research note. They also cautioned that ‘unfavourable network effects’ can exacerbate the situation because many assets are dependent upon neighbouring plants for utilities, like electric power, and the supply of feedstock or intermediates required to operate.

A ‘mad scramble’

In fact, the storm’s extended freeze caused downed power lines and power loss across Texas, and the state had to initiate rolling blackouts to try to ensure that power demand did not exceed supply. These forced outages will certainly impact global supply and demand for chemicals, Rivero says. Indeed, he points out that the price of gas has already soared in parts of Texas and across the US.

‘With all of these facilities being shut down, a lot of the supply chain was also impacted,’ Rivero adds. ‘It is kind of a mad scramble to secure the resources needed to be able to come back online, and that is starting to happen now.’

A key lesson learned is the need to improve the security of the electricity supply regionally, experts suggest. Aside from the temporary challenges posed by the ice storm, which were severe, the scarcity of electric power also created significant consequences for chemical companies. Manufacturing plants had to shut down because of the need to divert and conserve electric power so that it could be preserved for residential and emergency needs. That is a weakness in the system that had remained under-appreciated prior to this severe weather event.

But there is perhaps some good news to be found in a surprising place. The ongoing pandemic has significantly changed the supply chain, and that could help with the recovery of Texas’ petrochemical industry from this natural disaster.

The interruptions caused by the Covid-19 shutdowns actually deepened the inventories of feedstocks, intermediate products like chemicals and resins, and finished products, according to Burke. ‘Both manufacturers and customers recognised the importance of increasing inventories to insulate against supply chain interruptions,’ he explains. ‘Those lessons learned should actually serve to decrease the time it takes now to get back into production.’

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/polar-storm-paralyses-us-gulf-coast-petrochemical-sector/4013306.article