MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shintech, a subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. and the largest US polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer, has shut its 1.45 million mt/year PVC operations in Freeport, Texas, on a lack of upstream vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) supply, sources familiar with company operations told S&P Global Sept. 7.
The shutdown of the largest PVC plant in the US pushed the amount of US PVC capacity offline to about 58%, according to S&P Global data. About 41% of US PVC capacity was already offline after Hurricane Ida's Aug. 29 assault on Louisiana.
Shintech's Freeport shutdown at the end of the week starting Aug. 30 came after Olin's 835,000 mt/year VCM plant at Freeport shut the same week because of an equipment failure, sources familiar with Olin's operations said. Both issues were unrelated to Ida, which affected Louisiana along the Mississippi River, Mississippi and other states as it moved toward the US Northeast after making landfall.
Olin supplies Shintech with VCM to make PVC, a construction staple used to make pipes, window frames, vinyl siding and other products.
Neither company responded to requests for comment.
Sources said Olin emptied its inventories of VCM for Shintech after shutting its plant, and Shintech had to shut its PVC operations when those flows dried up.
As MRC informed previously, Shintech will start up the first phase of an expansion across the PVC production chain at its Louisiana complex in September, 2021.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall production of unmixed PVC totalled 580,500 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 4% year on year. At the same time, one producer reduced its output.
Shintech Inc. is the world's largest producer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC is a general-use resin that is finding wide application in goods used in daily life and a significant number of industrial materials. Shintech is committed to operating safe and environmentally responsible facilities
MRC