Westlake Chemical restarts plant

Westlake Chemical Corporation has announced that its Calvert City, Kentucky complex is in the process of restarting. This follows an unexpected shut down that occurred on 1 June 2016 as a result of a mechanical failure of its ethylene unit which resulted in a complete outage of the complex, which halted all production including ethylene dichloride (EDC), vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), chlor-alkali and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin.

The approximate US$40 million impact of this outage will affect both the second and third quarter financial results, with nearly half of this amount impacting the 3Q16.

Westlake Chemical Corporation, its subsidiaries and affiliates, have declared force majeure at the Calvert City complex due to this incident. The company is working with its customers and suppliers to mitigate the impact of the outage and to meet their needs as production resumes.

Adapted from press release by Francesca Brindle

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/petrochemicals/19072016/westlake-chemical-restarts-plant-in-calvert-city-3730/