Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2023 winners
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Bioplastics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
May 08, 2006 02:00 AM

Huntsman fire could upset resin market

Frank Esposito
Senior Staff Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Plastic resin markets could be affected by an April 29 fire that shut down a feedstocks plant operated by Huntsman Corp. in Port Arthur, Texas.

    One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion and released from a local hospital. All 50 employees at the site were evacuated safely.

    Officials with Salt Lake City-based Huntsman said the fire started around 7:30 a.m. after a small explosion in the site's propylene refrigeration unit. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

    Damage to the plant was described as ``significant,'' and company officials said it could be out of commission for several months. The fire was not completely extinguished until 1 p.m. on May 3, Huntsman spokesman Don Olsen said by telephone. Huntsman officials still had been unable to inspect damage at the site as of May 3, and Olsen said he did not know when an inspection might take place.

    But, he added that Huntsman already is planning to rebuild at the Port Arthur site. The firm has declared force majeure, as a result of the fire, on ethylene and propylene produced there.

    The incident has prompted Nova Chemicals Corp. to idle a nearby styrene monomer plant in Bayport, Texas, since the Huntsman operation was a primary ethylene supplier to that site. Nova officials were unsure about when they will restart styrene production in Bayport - which accounts for about two-thirds of the firm's styrene capacity - but they added that the firm's other plants can meet customer demand.

    Huntsman's Port Arthur plant produces 1.4 billion pounds of ethylene annually, representing about 2 percent of total North American capacity for the material, which is a key plastics feedstock. The plant also has annual capacities of 800 million pounds of propylene, 680 million pounds of cyclohexane and 460 million pounds of benzene. The plant does not produce resin.

    Huntsman officials added that the fire ``will not significantly impact'' the firm's plans to split later this year into two separate, publicly traded companies - one focused on commodity products, the other on specialties.

    Plastic resin markets that could be affected by the incident include polyethylene, PET, PVC, polypropylene, nylon, polystyrene, ABS and other styrenic resins. The Port Arthur fire could limit feedstock availability, which would tighten markets for downstream resins.

    ``The ethylene market already was tight, and the Huntsman outage will ensure that it remains tight,'' said Mark Eramo, an ethylene market analyst with Chemical Market Associates Inc. consulting firm in Houston.

    CMAI estimates that 7.5 percent of U.S. ethylene capacity will be offline in May as a result of the Huntsman outage and ongoing maintenance at a Port Arthur plant operated by BASF Corp. and Total Petrochemicals USA Inc. That's down from a 12.5 percent offline rate reported in May because of similar shutdowns, but Eramo said May ethylene demand is expected to be much stronger than it was in April.

    ``We're already seeing higher prices in spot deals for ethylene,'' Eramo said in a telephone interview. ``Having two [ethylene] plants down isn't unusual for this time of year, but demand is off and running. It looks like buyers are starting to stock up in advance of another hurricane season.''

    Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast in fall 2005, knocking out more than half of the region's petrochemical capacity and limiting availability of many resins for several months. The storms' impact also caused prices to rise substantially on many commodity plastics. Prices have receded since then but remain above pre-hurricane levels. Many resin makers already had increase attempts on the table for May and June, and a number of market watchers expect the Huntsman fire to strengthen those moves.

    A challenging scenario, according to Eramo, could be one where plastics processors are paying higher prices for raw materials at a time when demand from retailers like Wal-Mart is decreasing as consumers are forced to spend more on high-priced gasoline.

    Eramo added that higher ethylene prices might attract imports and prevent the U.S. from exporting. Soft prices in early 2006 were allowing this balance to recover, but the Huntsman fire could bring that recovery to a stop.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Treaty talks end with plans for a draft agreement, but hurdles remain
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    PVC compounder Manner launches $54M expansion in Illinois
    2
    Debate exposes divisions in plastics treaty talks
    3
    Treaty talks end with plans for a draft agreement, but hurdles remain
    4
    India's Vasantha invests $7M to open mold making support firm in Ohio
    5
    Graham Packaging wins validation for GHG emissions reduction
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2023 winners
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Bioplastics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified