Oct 14 Covestro warned that production of chemicals for polyurethane foams would continue to run at reduced levels because outages at a supplier cannot be overcome before Dec. 11.

The chemicals group, which parent Bayer plans to divest, initially declared force majeure on Oct. 6, affecting MDI and TDI precursor chemicals for rigid and soft foams, suspending its contractual liabilities as the outages lie beyond its control.

“In total we do not expect a negative impact on our declared business targets for 2016,” Covestro said.

The setback adds to a supply squeeze in the market for TDI, which goes into mattresses and running shoe soles. Competitor BASF has been struggling to fully ramp up production at a new TDI facility at its German headquarters in Ludwigshafen, 11 months after inaugurating the site. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Maria Sheahan)

http://www.reuters.com/article/covestro-forcemajeure-idUSF9N1C400D