US spot prices for ethylene feedstock have already risen by more than 10% following a fire at Huntsman Corporation’s 635,000tpa cracker at Port Arthur in Texas last weekend.
The company described the damage as “significant” and says that the plant could be off stream for several months as a result of the blaze, which caused no casualties.
The unit accounts for 30% of the US group’s global ethylene capacity, which includes the big cracker in Teesside, UK, acquired from ICI.
The Port Arthur cracker is equivalent to nearly 2% of total US ethylene capacity and generated about $25m (E20m) in first quarter profit for Huntsman this year. The plant also makes 365,000tpa of propylene and 210,000tpa of benzene.
The fall out from the incident has already led to a rise in spot ethylene prices of some 13%, according to price monitoring specialist ICIS.
