BP's paraxylene facility in Alabama has ceased production

(ICIS) -- BP's paraxylene (PX) facility in Decatur, Alabama, has ceased production following a storm-related power outage at the site, the company said on Thursday. No damage to the plant was reported, and BP said production would resume as soon as a reliable power supply had been established. The Decatur plant has a PX capacity of 1.1m tonnes/year, according to ICIS plants and projects.

Indorama and INEOS Styrenics declared force majeure (FM) on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS) supply respectively at the Decatur site following the loss of power last week.

BP also confirmed on Wednesday that it is in the process of restarting its PX units at Texas City, Texas.

Provided the units restart as planned, the company said it does not anticipate any disruption to purified terephthalic acid (PTA) production due to a lack of PX supply.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Five US polystyrene (PS) plants are either shut down or operating at reduced rates caused by flooding and severe weather, creating an unprecedented imbalance in supply and demand, market sources said on Thursday.

Americas Styrenics was experiencing delays in styrene monomer (SM) barge shipments to its three plants in Ohio and Illinois because of historic flood levels on the Ohio and Illinois rivers, a market source said.

The producer has responded by either idling lines or cutting back operating rates, and it could still resort to a full shutdown depending on how much longer the barges are delayed, the source said.

The affected plants are located in Joliet, Illinois (125 KTa); Marietta, Ohio (360 KTa); and Ironton, Ohio (85 KTa).

Assuming no further heavy rains fall in the Ohio and Illinois river valleys, market participants expect all three Americas Styrenics plants could return to full operating rates toward the end of May.

Meanwhile, INEOS Styrenics is facing its own set of supply woes. The company began a planned turnaround at its 400 KTa plant in Joliet, Illinois, and is waiting for the main power supply to be restored to its 190 KTa Decatur, Alabama, plant following severe weather a week ago.

MRC

(ICIS) -- China's sulphur market will be firm in May amid rising international prices, high downstream demand and shrinking stocks at ports, industry sources said on Friday.

The market price of sulphur is expected to stay firm in May, but its forecast to soften in June will depend on the prices of nitrogen phosphorus, industry sources said.

The sulphur price in the Jiangsu market has risen by yuan (CNY) 100-150/tonne (USD 15-23) to CNY1,770-1,870/tonne on 1 April-5 May, according to Chemease, an ICIS service in China.

The sulphur price rose by USD 10-40/tonne (EUR 7-28) to USD 230-245/tonne CFR (cost & freight) CMP (China Main Port) on 1-28 April, according to data from Chemease.

The active international market is a result of global tight supply, which has subsequently caused a domino effect on the Chinese market.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- LOTTE has invested USD 200 mln in the Pakistan PTA project and 48 MW co-generation power plant, as per Pakistan Observer. LOTTE, the Korean Conglomerate is ready to make additional investment of USD 400-500 mln more to expand the LOTTE Pakistan project which is the main stay of the polyester-chain and key supplier of raw material for a large part of Pakistan's exports. LOTTE is also keen to enter several more areas of industry in Pakistan, in the fields of construction, food processing, beverages and petro-chemical industries.

MRC

(ICIS) -- The supply of orthoxylene (OX) in Asia is likely to remain tight over the next few months because of cutbacks in production rates amid soaring feedstock isomer-grade xylene (IX) prices, sources said on Thursday.

Key OX makers in South Korea said they will scale back on production rates to limit their losses. South Korea's SK Chemical Global said it will cut operating rates at its two100 KTa OX units at Ulsan, but declined to disclose further details on the extent of the reduction.

SK Chemical Global has since been actively bidding for spot OX to make up for any shortfalls in meeting contractual obligations.

KP Chemical said it has halved operating rates at its Ulsan-based unit with a combined nameplate capacity of 230,000 tonnes/year because of eroded margins.

In Taiwan, CPC and Formosa Chemical and Fibres Corp (FCFC) have ceased their exports of spot OX since the middle of April. They will focus their production efforts on paraxylene (PX), which is the more lucrative commodity at present, they said.

The demand for the material may ease towards the third quarter of the year when JX Nippon Oil & Energy is expected to restart its production facilities at Sendai and Kashima. The facilities were damaged in the earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan's northeast region on 11 March.

MRC