19 September 2006 – Production of both ultra high molecular weight PE and the polystyrene/expandable PS family is under pressure in Europe this week as a result of weather and other plant problems.
Ticona has declared force majeure on European supplies of GUR, its market leading UHMWPE product from its Oberhausen site in Germany because of a shortage of ethylene supplies. The company says the difficulty has occurred at an outside supplier’s cracker which is unable to supply at the full rate. The situation is expected to persist at least until the end of October.
European olefin supplies are being restricted by a series of maintenance shutdowns at a number of crackers which are thought to have cut output by at least 10%.
Meanwhile BASF has declared force majeure on both polystyrene and EPS supplies from its Tarragona site in Spain, following flooding at one of Europe’s major petrochemical sites. The flooding in the area, which caused several deaths, also restricted production at Dow’s cracker at Tarragona.
