MOSCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical has restarted three chlor-alkali plants at its Lake Charles, Louisiana, complex in the aftermath of Hurricane Delta's Oct. 9 landfall, reported S&P Global with reference to sources familiar with company operations.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
US chlor-alkali rates fell to 71% in September from 76% in August, according to the latest industry statistics, reflecting Westlake's shutdowns ahead of Hurricane Laura's Aug. 27 landfall in Louisiana.
The company had restarted the three plants, with a cumulative capacity of 1.27 million mt/year of chlorine and 1.36 million mt/year of caustic soda, by early October, but shut them down again as Delta approached.
Delta followed largely the same path as Laura, with Lake Charles taking a hit twice in six weeks, but Laura was a Category 5 storm with 150 mph winds, which severely damaged major electricity transmission lines that had to be rebuilt, so Lake Charles petrochemical producers remained offline for weeks awaiting the restoration of full load power to comprehensively test their systems before restarting.
Delta, a Category 2 storm with 100 mph winds, did not inflict that level of destruction, allowing Westlake and others to restart operations with needed electric power available.
As MRC reported earlier, Westlake Polymers has left in force the declared on Aug. 31 force majeure on its North American polymer facilities after Hurricane Laura adversely impacted its unit sites. Westlake's shutdown of its Lake Charles complex has idled 38% of its US monomer vinyl chloride (VCM) production, resulting in two VCM plants with a combined capacity of 952,318 mt/year going offline.
We remind that August production of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) in Russia were 99,200 tonnes (100% of the basic substance) versus 89,400 tonnes a month earlier, said MRC analysts. Russia's overall output of caustic soda totalled 837,600 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, down by only 2% year on year.
Westlake Chemical Corporation is an international manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, chlor-alkali and derivative products, PVC suspension and specialty resins, PVC Compounds, and PVC building products including siding, pipe, fittings and specialty components, windows, fence, deck and film.
MRC