Brazilian styrene and polystyrene producer Innova declared force majeure on its styrene monomer plant in Triunfo and canceled all polystyrene orders and deliveries on March 2, according to a letter from Innova obtained by S&P Global Platts on March 10.
The document says a power shortage caused the complete shutdown of the plant. When Innova operations were restarted, the company found the catalyst seriously damaged.
"We are trying to preserve the integrity of the equipment including the ones not affected by the event until the complete repair of the plant," the letter says.
In addition, Innova said that considering the large number of plants who declared force majeure due to the freeze that affected the US Gulf Coast three weeks ago, there is a "complete lack of feedstock for our polystyrene production in our plants."
A source within the company said supply for the Brazilian domestic market was not fully affected as the company is supplying at limited volumes, but not under force majeure for that market.
"There is no productive unit stopped. We are maintaining the supply for the local market due to our production restriction," the source said.
Regarding the normalization of operations and shipments, the source said "soon."
