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LyondellBasell and Covestro are likely to restart their jointly owned propylene oxide styrene monomer (POSM) plant in Maasvlakte, the Netherlands in the second half of September due to an anticipated shortage of PO, market sources told OPIS Friday.
Two PO plants are currently undertaking unplanned maintenance in Europe, while another two PO facilities are expected to start planned turnarounds from mid-September, according to market sources and analysts.
The site at Maasvlakte produces 680,000 mt/year of styrene and 313,000 mt/year of propylene oxide, according to data from Chemical Market Analytics (CMA) by OPIS, a Dow Jones company.
The joint venture unit has been offline during July and August due to high inflation causing a slump in demand, a LyondellBasell company spokesperson told OPIS in July.
LyondellBasell and Covestro also shut the plant during November and December last year due to “persistent high energy costs and decreased demand”, resuming operations in the first half of this year.
High production costs and weak consumer demand have put pressure on styrene production margins in Europe, resulting in reduced or minimum production rates.The restart of the joint venture unit is expected to ease tight styrene supply in Europe. Several styrene plants in the region have stopped operations due to planned or unplanned outages.
A spokesperson for LyondellBasell, the plant’s operator, did not respond to an OPIS request for more information.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
–Reporting by Fahima Mathe, [email protected]; Editing by Anthony Lane, [email protected]
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