U.S. Petrochemical Producers See Uptick in Maintenance through End of Year

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info is tracking about 50 maintenance-related projects at petrochemical units across the U.S. that are scheduled to kick off before the end of the year, with a total investment value (TIV) of more than $210 million. Despite a slew of setbacks related to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous hurricanes and rough market conditions, this is a higher number of maintenance-related kickoffs than fourth-quarter 2019's 40 projects, although the TIV is lower than that period's $235 million. Only four of the current projects were delayed for reasons related to COVID-19.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing U.S. petrochemical maintenance projects that are scheduled to kick off before the end of the year, by plant owner.

Not surprisingly, about 90% of the current TIV is attributed to projects along the U.S. Gulf Coast, from Texas to Alabama. The Houston area, which accounts for nearly half of the U.S. petrochemical manufacturing capacity, is hosting turnarounds from some of the biggest names in the industry. These include Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, The Netherlands), which is preparing to wrap up the highest-valued petrochemical maintenance project for the remainder of 2020: the Phenol 2 and OP 3 units at its facility in Deer Park, Texas. The project had been set to begin in April, but was pushed back amid COVID-19 concerns. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Also in Deer Park, Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) (Los Angeles, California) is preparing for a turnaround next month at its vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant. VCM is an industrial chemical used to manufacture polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a lightweight plastic used in construction materials, such as PVC pipe and window frames. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Farther south along the Texas Gulf Coast, about halfway between Houston and Corpus Christi, Formosa Plastics Corporation USA (Livingston, New Jersey), a subsidiary of Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group, is performing maintenance on its ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol unit at its plastics plant in Point Comfort, Texas. Pushed back from May due to the pandemic, the project is expected to wrap up before the middle of October. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

But COVID-19 isn't the only crisis roiling the Gulf Coast petrochemical market. On the border with Louisiana, near the midpoint between Houston and Lake Charles, Louisiana, Dow Incorporated (NYSE:DOW) (Midland, Michigan) was preparing to kick off maintenance next month on an ethylene unit at its Sabine River Operations plant in Orange, Texas, until Hurricane Laura tore into its surrounding area on August 27. The unit remains offline after it was shut down August 25, and Dow has acknowledged the maintenance schedule could change. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

The largest fourth-quarter turnaround for any petrochemical unit outside Texas and Louisiana is at Indorama Ventures's (Bangkok, Thailand) Unit 4 at its Xylenes & PTA plant in Decatur, Alabama. The turnaround was slated to begin in April 2021, but was moved up to this October earlier this year. The facility produces purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and its raw material, paraxylene (PX), and is the world's only commercial manufacturer of naphthalene dicarboxylate (NDC). For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Outside the Gulf Coast, AdvanSix Incorporated (NYSE:ASIX) (Parsippany, New Jersey) is preparing for a pair of turnarounds along the East Coast: its ammonia and caprolactam plant in Hopewell, Virginia, which is a global leader in the production of caprolactam, a key ingredient in nylon polymer, and the CP3 Phenol unit at its Frankford Phenol and Acetone plant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which is one of North America's largest producers of phenol. Much of the phenol produced in Philadelphia is sent to the Hopewell plant to produce caprolactam. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the Hopewell and Philadelphia projects.

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