Equistar Chemicals, a subsidiary of LyondellBasell, on Friday declared a force majeure on high density polyethylene produced at one of its Texas plants, according to a letter to customers S&P Global Platts obtained.
The force majeure is limited to Equistar's Matagorda plant, which is just south of Bay City, Texas, and is because of "resultant equipment failure" following extreme cold weather that has battered the US Gulf Coast this week.
Equistar is "currently evaluating the impact of this event on our production capability," according to the letter, with a company source unable to offer any additional details.
The Matagorda complex has annual HDPE capacity of 1.532 billion lb, or roughly 695,000 mt/year, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics.
