Shell lifts force majeure on propylene oxide glycol ethers from Moerdijk

12-May-16

Shell has lifted force majeure on propylene oxide glycol ethers from its plant in Moerdijk, the Netherlands, as per a company spokesman in Platts. The interruption to the feedstock caused by a delay to a periodic pipeline inspection has successfully resolved. The company had declared force majeure in late April. Shell's cracker at Moerdijk supplies feedstock for propylene oxide glycol ethers production at the site. The cracker is capable of producing 900,000 mt/year of ethylene, or 4% of Western European capacity. The Moerdijk site also comprises Shell's C4 chain plants, the aromatics extraction unit, POSM-1 and the ethylene oxide and glycols production unit, besides other downstream petrochemicals. The POSM-1 unit entered a scheduled turnaround at the end of March. Sources said they expected the unit to come back on stream this week, which will ease fundamentals in the European styrene market for the rest of the month.