MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrochemical maker TPC Group Inc will rebuild the Texas plant shut in the last week of November by devastating explosions that ignited fires that burned for six days, reproted Reuters with reference to a spokeswoman's statement.
The last fire at the Port Neches plant was extinguished late Tuesday after officials decided to let the petrochemicals burn out. The fear of further explosions earlier prompted the county to temporarily evacuate as many as 60,000 people from area homes. They were allowed to return on Friday.
"Our focus has been on mitigating the emergency and we have not assessed the condition of the remaining asset and infrastructure," said Sara Cronin, a TPC vice president. "At this point, we plan to rebuild the site."
On Friday, TPC Group Chief Executive Edward Dineen told the 175 employees who work at the Port Neches plant they would be paid until year-end, with the facility shut for an indefinite but extended period.
Cronin said there will be plenty of work to do.
"At our Port Neches site, we will need significant support for the Emergency Response Team and site recovery resources in 2020," she wrote in response to Reuters’ questions. "There will also be resource needs to assist the various investigations. Beyond that we will need resources to define our rebuild options and then rebuild the site."
The company carries property and business interruption insurance, Cronin said, and is working with its insurance carriers.
Federal and state investigations began last week and continued on Wednesday.
The US Chemical Safety Board, which investigates major industrial accidents, has scheduled a media briefing on Thursday to discuss its actions.
Neither federal nor state agencies have filed lawsuits against Houston-based TPC. The fire followed several others this year at petrochemical production and storage sites in Texas.
An official with the state’s pollution regulator has said the office plans to review chemical makers’ compliance with state regulations in the wake of the multiple fires.
Located adjacent to the Sabine Neches River, which is part of the Sabine Neches Waterway, TPC's Port Neches plant can produce more than 900 million lb (426,000 mt) of butadiene and raffinate a year, according to the company's website. The source familiar with company operations said the site has two butadiene lines with capacities of 166,000 mt/year and 260,000 mt/year. The MTBE unit at this site produces up to 400,000 mt/year.
Butadiene is one of the feedstocks for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).
According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Asia, the falling prices of feedstocks for ABS production have been pushing prices of material down in the Russian market. LG Chem's import prices for November quantities were as follows for Russian buyers: natural ABS - at USD1,400-1,420/tonne FOB Korea, black ABS - at USD1,610-1,630/tonne FOB Korea, white ABS - at USD1,640-1,660/tonne FOB Korea. December prices may drop by another USD30-50/tonn.
Natural grades of Korean ABS went down to Rb138,000-143,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, in the domestic market in mid-November, whereas black ABS was offered at Rb156,000-160,000/tonne and white ABS - at Rb158,000-163,000/tonne CPT Moscow , including VAT.
Headquartered in Houston, TPC was acquired in 2012 by private equity groups First Reserve and SK Capital.
MRC