MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell is continuing the supply of styrene monomer to its customers despite having its own supply from Singapore-based joint venture plant Ellba Eastern halted, reported Apic-online with reference to a spokeswoman for Shell.
"Shell has not declared force majeure on its customers. We continue to closely monitor the situation," she said.
Ellba Eastern on Monday declared force majeure on SM supply to its owners Shell and BASF. The plant at Jurong Island can produce 550,000 mt/year of SM and 250,000 mt/year of propylene oxide.
This led BASF, which holds a 50% stake in Ellba Eastern, to declare force majeure on SM supply from Singapore to its customers.
Shell however, has another plant at Jurong Island which can produce 350,000 mt/year of SM and 175,000 mt/year of propylene oxide, allowing it to continue supplying to its customers.
In addition, Shell has other SM production facilities in Asia, including joint ventures in Saudi Arabia and China, providing alternative supply sources.
As MRC informed previously, earlier this year, Royal Dutch Shell took a final investment decision tol increase production capacity at its Singapore petrochemical plant to meet demand for specialized materials used in the automotive and furniture industries. The upgrade will increase the plant's capacity to produce polyols -- industrial chemicals used to make high-quality foams - by more than 100,000 metric tpy to 360,000 tpy. The project is expected to be completed in 2014.
Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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