Propylene supply from Borealis' 450,000 mt/year propane dehydrogenation plant in Antwerp, Belgium, is now under force majeure following production disruptions early this week, a company source said Friday.
"We have declared force majeure on propylene [from the Antwerp PDH]... which we told our customers," the source said, declining to comment further.
A Borealis spokeswoman said Thursday the PDH unit has been running at significantly reduced capacity due to technical issues with the reactors. "There are problems with the reactors ... so half of the capacity [of the PDH] is down since early this week," she said.
Repairs are ongoing at the site and are expected to be completed in early January, she said.
Operations at the company's 300,000 mt/year polypropylene plant at the site, which receives its feedstock propylene supply from the PDH unit, were not affected by the disruption, the spokeswoman said.
"The PP plant is already running a little slower than normal," she said, declining to specify the plant's current run rate.
European propylene and PP producers have scaled down their production capacities, with current run rates heard at around 75%-80%, over the past few months due to low demand.
