Asia’s Petrochemical Markets Impacted Due to Plant Outages Caused by Hurricane Ida

Petrochemical markets in Asia have been affected badly due to several plant shutdowns in the US Gulf Coast caused by hurricane Ida which made landfall in Louisiana as a powerful category 4 hurricane with wind of more than 150 miles per hour. 

With Ida arriving, several petrochemical companies have shut down operations in Louisiana and ports which are threatened by the storm have either shut or restricted operations. 

Several chemical markets have been hit including the Asia’s Orthoxylene (OX) market which is expected to see tighter supply after Ida’s arrival. The demand for the chemical in US is also expected to increase amid lower supply. 

The Benzene market is also facing supply shortages as some traders have positioned themselves against the expected impacts of the Ida hurricane which might have a downside effect on the US production levels. 

For Monoethylene Glycol (MEG) the prices increased in Asia with China’s futures market rising by almost 2% on the back of concerns of tighter supply. 

The Acrylonitrile prices in the US have risen due to cost pressures related to increase in the price of feedstock Propylene. 

Various companies have shut down operations and the outages are expected to continue till the storm weakens and normal power supply returns back to Louisiana. Some of the plants which have been shut down are Formosa Plastics PVC, VCM plant in Baton Rouge, ExxonMobil plant in Baton Rouge, Westlake Plant in Geismar, Dow Chemical plant in Taft, BASF plant in Geismar etc. 

As per ChemAnalyst, “the Hurricane Ida which made landfall today as a category 4 storm, is expected to weaken by this week as the storm passes through farther inland areas over portions of western Mississippi. After the storm weakens and normalcy returns to the affected areas, the plants which have been shut down are expected to return to operations and the supply pressures caused by the outages will tend to stabilize.”