70% of USA's ethylene under threat as plants in Texas begin shutdowns

23-Sep-05

As Hurricane Rita approaches Texas, the chemical plants have been shut down on Thursday and secured against spills and accidents. The plants will face about a week of down time, even if the hurricane never makes landfall, because it takes a couple of days to shut a plant down and longer to restart. A storm or flooding could kill engines that run the plants and fill sensitive equipment with filth, leaving plants idle for much longer and possibly causing dangerous chemical spills. Chemical spills or chemical containers that float loose pose a far greater risk to the public than the water itself. The supply of ethylene may be at risk as 70% of the country's ethylene comes from Texas plants. 6 chemical plants shutting down were, Dow Chemical Co., Chevron Phillips, DuPont, Lyondell Chemical Co. and Total Petrochemicals and Celanese Corp. Chemical companies will probably offset the cost of down time by charging higher prices.