Production of orthoxylene from Total's French Gonfreville plant resumed Friday after the lifting of a force majeure put in place earlier in the week, the company said.
"Due to a technical issue, Total declared force majeure on OX on December 19, but everything is back to normal now," a spokesman said.
The company declined to provide any further details regarding the cause and nature of production issue.
Supplies of OX had become slim in Europe in the second half of December as a number of arbitrage cargoes to the East. The production hiccup at Total had firmed the market sentiment as supply constraints intensified.
Platts assessed OX at $740/mt FOB ARA Friday, up $3.50/mt on the day and $15/mt on the week.
Total's Gonfreville plant has a nameplate capacity of 110,000 mt/year. This represents almost 12% of EU's total production capacity of 934,500 mt/year.
