Formosa Plastics USA is planning to shut its 798,000 mt/year polyvinyl chloride plant and an upstream 753,000 mt/year vinyl chloride monomer unit at its Point Comfort, Texas complex for turnarounds in February, according to a source familiar with the company operations.
A company spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company originally planned to conduct those turnarounds in the fourth quarter of this year, but pushed the work to early 2020.
Market participants said the company was boosting its PVC stocks ahead of the work to ensure contract customers remain supplied as usual, as is typical in the lead-up to a turnaround. However, market sources expect export volume availability to be limited in January and February.
In addition, Westlake Chemical is slated to bring a PVC capacity expansion online by year-end at its 272,155 mt/year plant in Geismar, Louisiana. The company has not specified how much of a 340,195 mt/year expansion of output at both Geismar and Burghausen, Germany, will be at Geismar, but sources expect the bulk of that new output to be added to the Louisiana plant.
Market sources expect that work to limit Westlake's export volume availability next month as well.
A company spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
