Shell, BASF POSM Dutch Plant to Restart by Mid-September -- OPIS

Ellba, a joint venture of BASF and Shell Chemicals, is expected to restart its propylene oxide-styrene monomer (POSM) plant at Moerdijk, the Netherlands by mid-September, market sources told OPIS Friday.

The plant was shut down from mid-August for around two weeks due to a technical failure, according to market feedback.

The Moerdijk site produces 550,000 metric tons/year of styrene and 250,000 mt/year of propylene oxide, according to data from Chemical Market Analytics (CMA) by OPIS, a Dow Jones company.

Attempts are underway to restart POSM operations from next week, one market source said.

Shell did not provide any information on the restart, citing "market sensitivity".

BASF did not comment on the status of the Moerdijk plant but confirmed that it had purchased several thousand tons of styrene for prompt loading this week due to product shortages resulting from the POSM unit outage.

OPIS-assessed styrene spot prices surged in Europe this week, with several units in Europe undergoing planned or unplanned maintenance.

At least 7,000 tons of styrene traded this week at $1,590-1,665 per mt FOB Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp for August and September loading, OPIS data showed.

An August parcel was sold at $1,540/mt FOB ARA on Friday 18 August, according to OPIS data.

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, [e-mail]; Editing by Anthony Lane, [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 25, 2023 15:34 ET (19:34 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.