Gulf Coast resin production spared the worst of Hurricane Laura

Sizable amounts of U.S. plastic resin and feedstocks production remain down in the wake of Hurricane Laura, but plants mear the Gulf Coast appear to have been spared major damage.

Hurricane Laura made landfall near the Texas/Louisiana border early on Aug. 27, bringing heavy rains and winds of up to 140 miles per hour. Many plastics and petrochemical plants are in that area. Most of those plants took precautions and closed down before the storm hit.

As of late Aug. 27, data firm ICIS of Houston estimated that 18 percent of U.S. polyethylene resin capacity was offline, along with 26 percent of the country's polypropylene resin capacity. For plastics feedstocks, ICIS estimated that 29 percent of U.S. ethylene production was offline, as well as 14 percent of production of polymer-grade propylene.

The duration of these shutdowns will have an impact on availability and pricing of many commodity resins throughout North America. Restoration of electricity and shipping challenges also could play a role in restoring production.

Media reports said that around 700,000 residents of Texas and Louisiana were without power early Aug. 28. Eight million people live in a multi-state area that could experience heavy rain and isolated tornadoes.

At least six deaths have been attributed to the storm. The hurricane has been reduced to a tropical depression, but continued to impact areas further north.

One of the hardest-hit areas was Lake Charles, La., where several plastics firms have operations. One media report said that water plants in Lake Charles have been damaged.

Westlake Chemical Corp. makes polyethylene, ethylene and PVC feedstock vinyl chloride monomer at a complex in Lake Charles. Company officials in Houston said Aug. 27 that employees who stayed at its Lake Charles facilities during the hurricane are safe.

"Following initial facility assessments, Westlake believes it has incurred limited physical damage," officials said. "Restart of the facilities … will primarily depend upon the availability of electricity, industrial gases and other feedstocks."

Sasol Ltd. also makes PE and ethylene in Lake Charles. Company officials said Aug. 27 that ride-out crews sheltered in hurricane-approved buildings overnight and are all safe and accounted for. They added that "at this time, the Sasol Lake Charles site is without power and all manufacturing facilities are shut down. …There was no flooding on site as a result of the storm surge."

In nearby Westlake, La., LyondellBasell Industries makes PP resin at its Lake Charles plant."Our focus right now is on the safety of our people, both on and off site," media relations manager Chevalier Gray said in a July 28 email to Plastics News.

She added that there are widespread power outages in the Lake Charles area. "We are assessing limited damage to the site, but the extent is unknown at this time," Gray said.

On Aug. 28, Dow Inc. reported that its Gulf Coast sites reported no major damage from Hurricane Laura.

"The safety of Dow employees is our first priority and the vast majority of employees have been accounted for and are safe," officials said. "We are offering recovery assistance for employees and impacted communities."

Dow's manufacturing site in Freeport, Texas, continued operating, as did its facilities across Louisiana. Other company sites in Texas — including Orange (Sabine), Beaumont, Deer Park, La Porte, Bayport and Texas City — safely shut down operations prior to the storm making landfall.

"Once it was safe to do so, inspection crews at the sites began assessing the impact of the storm," Dow officials said. "At this time, we have not identified any significant structural damage or flooding at any of the facilities.

"We are beginning the process of restarting our sites and expect that Deer Park, La Porte, Bayport and Texas City will be fully operational on Tuesday. While our sites in Sabine and Beaumont experienced very minor damage, startup of these assets will progress as external infrastructure allows."

While Dow experienced very limited logistics impacts due to the storm, officials said that the firm continues to assess impacts to infrastructure in the region. "We are working closely with our Dow families and local partners to help support our colleagues and communities recover from any damages as a result of the storm," they said.

ExxonMobil Chemical Co. "is reaching out to our employees and their families to confirm they are safe and to understand the impact the storm had on them," officials said Aug. 28. The firm's initial assessment of its facilities in Beaumont, Texas, "revealed the need for only minor repairs" and restart activities have begun.

"Timing on when operations can resume to normal will largely depend on the availability of power, product transportation infrastructure such as pipelines and rail lines and the reopening of the Sabine Neches Waterway," officials said.

Ineos Olefins & Polymers USA has placed force majeure supply limits on high density PE resins made at its complex in League City, Texas. In a letter to customers, Ineos officials said that their action was connected to "initiation of hurricane preparedness protocols" related to Hurricane Laura. Ineos also makes HDPE pipe in League City.

Market sources said that LyondellBasell also has placed force majeure sales limits on PP resins. The company declined to comment.

Indorama Ventures closed its plant in Port Neches, Texas, officials said in a release. Products made at that plant include PET feedstock monoethylene glycol (MEG).

Officials with Total Petrochemicals said that early assessment of the firm's refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, "is positive."

The refinery's management and teams on the ground "are taking measures to safely work towards restarting operations," a spokesperson said in an Aug. 28 email to Plastics News. The refinery provides raw materials to Total's plastics and petrochemicals plants in the region.

Other plastics-related closings in the Gulf Coast area, according to data firm PetrochemWire, included Bayport Polymers' PE unit in Pasadena, Texas; Ineos Styrolution's production of styrene monomer, a polystyrene feedstock, in Pasadena; and Chevron Phillips Chemical Co.'s production of various products in Pasadena and other Texas sites in Orange, Port Arthur and Cedar Bayou.