Formosa Plastics USA on Wednesday issued a force majeure declaration on shipment of some grades of polyethylene due to an unplanned shutdown of an olefins unit in late December and a subsequently extended recovery period, according to a company letter.
The force majeure declaration applies to high density high molecular weight film and linear low-density polyethylene products, according to a letter to customers obtained by S&P Global Platts.
"We are currently evaluating the impact of this event on our production capacity and will provide additional information once we have assessed our ability to supply" such materials, the company said in the letter.
Formosa produces 939,000 mt/year of HDPE resin and 265,000 mt/year of LLDPE resin at its Point Comfort, Texas site.
Formosa Plastics shut its 681,000 mt/year Olefins No. 1 steam cracker at Point Comfort after a fire in the second half of December, according to a filing with state regulators.
Formosa said in the letter Wednesday it anticipates the unit will restart during the second half of February. Sources earlier this week said Formosa would attempt to restart the unit in mid-February.
The availability of ethylene derivatives polyethylene and PVC has been heard to be limited so far this month in the US, with a company source saying Formosa would not be exporting PVC in February.
