Technical incident forces Total to declare force majeure on HDPE supplies from Gonfreville

09-Apr-15

France's Total declared force majeure on high density polyethylene supplies from its 210,000 tpa plant in Gonfreville due to a technical incident, according to a letter seen by Platts. The letter said that Total would do its best to ensure continuity of supply even if it were limited. "However, we will be facing difficult times in the coming days and we could even find ourselves in a position where supply is impossible." Since the turn of the year 11 polyolefin plants have declared force majeure -- five PP plants, two low density polyethylene, two linear low density polyethylene and two high density polyethylene plants -- a dynamic that has caused PE and PP prices to rise.