May 4 COVID-19 Impact Report: Outages, Derates, Shutdowns and More

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info's daily COVID-19 Impact Report gives you the latest inside intelligence on outages, derates, shutdowns, closures, delays and more caused by the pandemic, across the global energy and industrial landscape.

REFINING HIGHLIGHTS
For the five-week period ending April 24, U.S. refinery runs of 13.2 million barrels per day (BBL/d) were nearly 21% lower than the five-year average at the same point in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

ENAP Refinerias has reduced production at its 100,000-barrel-per-day Aconcagua Chile refinery. Storage at the facility has reached its capacity.

Astron Energy has delayed the restart of its 100,000-BBL/d Cape Town Refinery in South Africa. The facility, which has been in a planned shutdown since February 2, had been planned to restart on April 25, but is now planned to restart by June 7.


PETROCHEMICAL HIGHLIGHTS
Dow Chemical is preparing to idle the 650 million pound-per-day LP 2 polyethylene unit at its Seadrift, Texas, plant for 30 days at the end of May due to market conditions.

Dow Chemical also is preparing to idle a 150 million pound-per-year, gas-phase linear low-density polyethylene unit at its the Bahia Blanca plant in Argentina for 30 days starting at the end of May.

Westlake Petrochemicals has delayed planned maintenance for the 1.6 billion-pound-per-year Petro 2 Ethylene unit at its Sulphur, Louisiana plant. The 90-day turnaround was planned to begin in September 2020, but has been rescheduled to begin in April 2021.


POWER HIGHLIGHTS

METALS & MINERALS HIGHLIGHTS
The governments of Peru and Bolivia have each opened up Metals & Minerals businesses, including mines, steel mills and other metal production plants, under strict health protocols. This is expected to have an impact on the copper market, as Peru is the world's second-largest producer of copper after Chile.

FOOD & BEVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Cargill's meat plant in High River, Alberta, reopened after being shut down for two weeks following a COVId-19 outbreak that spread through the 2,000-employee plant.

Triumph Foods plans to continue operating its meat packing facility in Saint Joseph, Missouri, despite positive COVID-19 test results for more than 370 asymptomatic employees.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at https://www.industrialinfo.com.