MOSCOW (MRC) -- LG Polymers has decided not to resume operations at its polystyrene (PS) plant in India after the gas leak, according to Apic-online.
The pre-dawn tragedy at the LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam on 7 May, which left 11 dead and hundreds hospitalised, was on account of a styrene gas leak which occurred while starting up the facility.
A company source who wished not to be identified informed a Polymerupdate editorial team member, on account of the coronavirus pandemic, the plant had been shut. After 40 days of being closed, the company was preparing to restart operations when the accident occurred. The leakage was plugged within hours of the accident and the vapours neutralised.
When asked to elaborate on the reasons why the accident occurred, there is speculation in the press of it being a valve malfunction, however, the source said "I would request everyone to wait for an official statement from LG, as a thorough investigation is underway to determine the exact reason for the leak".
The PS plant was set up in 1961 as Hindustan Polymers and was taken over by South Korea?s LG Chem in 1997 following which it was named LG Polymers. The plant makes PS and expandable polystyrene (EPS).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, March 2020 estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics in Russia dropped by 2% year on year, totalling 42,130 tonnes. The estimated consumption totalled 121,880 tonnes in the first three months of 2020, down by 2% year on year. Overall, Russian plants produced 42,790 tonnes in March 2020.
MRC