Ineos Olefins & Polymers declared force majeure on polypropylene (PP) produced out of its Chocolate Bayou, Texas, site following "multiple instances of equipment failure and mechanical breakdown," according to an 18 January customer letter.
The letter did not detail the cause of the equipment failure. While some market participants said they believed it was related to the freezing weather that hit the US Gulf coast region from 15-17 January, one market participant said this particular issue was not weather or freeze related.
Ineos did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Ineos has approximately 439,000 t/yr of PP production at its Chocolate Bayou site.
The force majeure could create some tightness in the market, as producers have already been running at low operating rates due to weak demand. But that same weak demand has allowed US PP inventories to grow, with sources saying producer inventories at the end of December were at their highest levels for all of 2023.
Market participants are still trying to figure out the full impact of the recent freezing weather on the US polymers markets. Multiple units were heard to have been taken down as a precaution, and it was not immediately clear how many have successfully restarted. Traders estimated that the industry has lost approximately four to five days of supply due to weather-related outages, though that number could grow if units are slow to restart.
