MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hurricane Delta appears to have wreaked minimal damage to chemical facilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana, just six weeks after Hurricane Laura blew through the region, severely damaging major electricity transmission lines that left facilities offline for weeks, reported S&P Global.
Westlake Chemical said in a statement on Oct. 12 that initial assessments after Delta's Oct. 9 landfall showed "very limited physical damage" to its Lake Charles complex, and facilities were "in the process of restarting."
The timing of those restarts depends on restoration of electrical power, industrial gases and other feedstocks and utilities, the company said.
Sasol said Oct. 12 that its Lake Charles complex "did not experience significant damage" and that sufficient industrial-level power had been restored to resume startups of some facilities." Additional plants will startup once full load power is restored," the company said in a statement.
"We will resume the coordinated startup sequence of Sasol's Lake Charles facilities when it is safe to do so," the company said, noting, like Westlake, that startups depend on availability of electric power and feedstocks.
LyondellBasell and Lotte Chemical did not immediately respond to inquiries about the status of their Lake Charles operations on Oct. 12.
Delta came ashore as a Category 2 storm with 100 mph winds in early evening Oct. 9, weakening as it swiftly moved inland on a path near Hurricane Laura's Aug. 27 landfall.
Laura was a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds, and came ashore about 15 miles east of Delta's landfall. Laura severely damaged major electricity transmission lines in Lake Charles, leaving major chemical facilities there shut down in September, awaiting restoration of full load power to allow comprehensive damage assessments of their systems.
Force majeures declared in Laura's aftermath remained in effect on Oct. 12.
Entergy, the power provider that serves southwest Louisiana, said on Oct. 12 that power should be restored for the Sulphur and Westlake areas of Calcasieu Parish by Oct. 13-14, and in the Lake Charles area Oct. 15-16.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,496,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of all ethylene polymers increased, except for linear low desnity polyethylene (LLDPE). At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
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