MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBassel's La Porte, Texas, cracker was heard to be offline again after a short-lived restart, reported S&P Global with reference to sources familiar with operations' statement on July 23.
The cracker had been confirmed as back online July 20, but, according to one market source, it was shut again not long after.
The 1.5 million mt/year cracker was heard to be shut during the last week of June. It was originally estimated to resume operations within one to two weeks, but a source familiar with LyondellBasell operations said a startup scheduled for the weekend of July 10-11 was unsuccessful. Sources estimated July 20 that production had resumed over the weekend between July 16-18.
However, the market source said the unit only remained only for about six hours before it was shut again. The source said it was online long enough for word of the restart to spread.
LyondellBasell did not respond to requests for comment.
As MRC informed before, LBI reported an equipment failure at its La Porte linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant, which forced the company to shut down the 355,000 tons/year unit without a return schedule, according to the company's official letter to its customers on 17 June 2021.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC