LONDON (March 7, 2012)—Shell Chemicals Europe has declared force majeure at its Moerdijk site in the Netherlands for four cracker products: ethylene, propylene, acetylene and isoprene feed.
A Shell spokesperson said no force majeure has been issued for any of the derivatives such as propylene oxide—used to make polyols for the polyurethanes industry.
The Moerdijk site has two styrene monomer/PO plants—a wholly owned Shell plant has SM:PO capacity of 450:210 kilotons per year, while the Ellba BV 50:50 joint venture with BASF has SM:PO capacity of 550:250 kilotons per year.
The Shell spokesman emphasized that the Moerdijk cracker is still running, albeit at reduced rates—which Shell has not disclosed.