Spot ethylene prices rise in USA after fire at Shell's Louisiana plant

17-Nov-14

US spot ethylene traded at its highest level in the past week, following news of a fire at Shell Chemical's Norco, Louisiana, complex, as per sources in Platts. The fire at Norco Manufacturing Complex started late Thursday afternoon, and involved one of the units on the chemical manufacturing portion of the complex. "Shell Motiva Refinery in Norco this afternoon experienced a furnace fire and subsequent furnace shut down," the company said in incident report. December ethylene traded at 53/lb and 54 cents/lb Mont Belvieu Williams pipeline basis, its highest level since November 4, Platts data showed. November was heard traded at 55 cents/lb MtB Wms -- its highest since November 5, according to Platts data. Market sources said that the fire led to shutdown of production at Shell's Liquid Olefins Cracker No. 5, which has an annual ethylene production of 886,000 m tpa. The unconfirmed outage brings up the number of producers currently affected by fire damage to three -- Williams is to restart its Geismar, Louisiana, ethylene plant in the later part of the month, while Chevron Phillips is currently undergoing startup operations at its Port Arthur, Texas, site.