NOVA Chemicals Corporation is considered to work closely with affected ethylene, hydrogen and polyethylene customers to manage the impact of the force majeure that occurred last month, causing the company to incur losses in polyethylene and ethylene sales. Total lost ethylene production is expected to be in the range of 200 to 350 million pounds, and lost polyethylene sales volumes in the range of 70 to 120 million pounds. It is considered to build up its full supply of ethane for production of ethylene, polyethylene and co-products at its Joffre facility to alter its position in the market before Q3.
The force majeure can be blamed on slowed down production at NOVA's Joffre, Alberta, Canada, manufacturing site. Reduced ethane availability is considered to have made it operate at only about 40% capacity. 6 natural gas processing plants owned and operated by third parties at Empress, Alberta and Canada were shut due to weather-related reasons, reducing ethane supply to NOVA's sites. The total earnings impact of the outage is expected to range between US$25 - US$50 million pre-tax (US$15 to US$30 million after-tax).
21-Jul-05 
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