Axiall declares force majeure on VCM from Lake Charles

25-Dec-13

Axiall has declared force majeure on vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) from its PHH Monomers VCM plant at its Lake Charles, Louisiana complex, as per a company letter quoted in Platts. The force majeure stemmed from a fire at the PHH site, which started around 1:40 pm CST on Friday and lead to the issuance of a brief shelter-in-place order, as well as a shutdown of highway I-10. It was extinguished around 2:38 pm CST the same day. "The fire affected the PHH's vinyl chloride monomers unit, but the investigation into the incident is just starting, so the full extent of the damage is not yet known," the company stated. The VCM unit is shut indefinitely, and the company is assessing the cause of the fire and related damage, according to the letter. "At this time, Axiall cannot predict with any precision when repairs will be completed or when the unit will be operational, nor what its impact, if any, will be on upstream or downstream production of products other than VCM by various Axiall affiliated companies," the company added.