Update June 3: Chemours halts some production due to drought
Drought conditions have led two more resin companies to temporarily shut down production in Mexico.
In the latest news, Orbia Advance Corp. has stopped production at a major PVC resin and compound plant in Altamira.
"Our plant … has been affected by the water shortage due to external factors and extreme climate conditions in the region," a company spokesperson said in an email to Plastics News.
"As a result, and due to force majeure, a technical stoppage is applied until further notice," the spokesperson said. The plant has annual production capacity of more than 1 billion pounds of PVC resin.
The site also makes flexible and rigid PVC compounds, as well as plasticizers.
The spokesperson added that Mexico City-based Orbia "is working in coordination with local and regional authorities to address this situation and seek effective solutions to resume our activities as soon as possible."
Orbia was known as Mexichem before changing its name in 2019. The firm's product lines include Vestolit PVC resin, AlphaGary PVC compounds, Wavin pipe and Dure-Line conduit.
The Orbia news comes days after Saudi Basic Industries Corp. and Ineos Styrolution disclosed that they had temporarily shut down engineering resins production in Altamira.
A Sabic spokesperson said in an email to Plastics News that because of "unprecedented drought conditions" in Mexico, on May 22 the local commission on drinking water and sewage told Sabic the commission is no longer able to pump water to the local water system.
That system directly impacts industries in the Altamira region, specifically Sabic's Tampico site, as the Altamira operations are known.
"With this latest announcement, our Tampico site is proceeding with our plan for a safe and secure site shutdown," the spokesperson said. "The safety of the people at our sites and the communities we serve is always our priority."
Sabic, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with U.S. offices in Houston, makes polycarbonate, ABS and acrylic resins in Altamira for several end markets, including automotive, consumer appliance and electrical/electronic.
Earlier in May, Ineos Styrolution placed force majeure supply limits on resins made at its plant in Altamira. That move affected ABS, high-heat ABS and ASA resins made at the site. In a letter to customers, officials with Ineos Styrolution America in Aurora, Ill., said that because of an ongoing severe drought in the region, the water supply in the local reservoir "has receded to an untenable level."
As a result, the officials said local water supplier COMAPA has reduced the supply of fresh water to all industrial facilities in the area, including the Ineos Styrolution plant.
Almost 65 percent of Mexico was under severe drought conditions in the first half of April, according to a release from Mexican water commission Conagua and Mexico's National Meteorological Service.