Disruption in Chlorine Production Caused by Ida, High Price Rise Expected in the US

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana as a powerful category 4 storm which has caused outages in various plants located in the Gulf Coast which is the major hub for Chlorine manufacturing. 

Chlorine which was already experiencing supply shortages due to the deep freeze in February which led to several facilities going offline for weeks. Now with widespread plant outages in Louisiana might increase the prices further.

Westlake chemical shut down two of its Chlorine manufacturing facilities. Formosa plastics also closed a plant in Baton Rouge. 

With the price rise in the Chlorine, the prices for Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) are also expected to rise. PVC is a key building and construction polymeric material which is used to manufacture pipes and other construction related products. 

Chlorine is a product of the chlorAlkali process and the demand for chlorine has been rising at a healthy rate due to increase in the demand of water treatment, and PVC. The global demand for chlorine stood at around 100 million tonnes in 2020 which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.5% in the coming years. 

As per ChemAnalyst, “the prices for Chlorine are expected to rise further in the medium term with the markets already facing short supply which are further disrupted by the outages caused by Ida hurricane. The price rise for Chlorine in the US might also cause price rise in the Asian and European Markets.”