PD Glycol unlikely to restart; MEG facing massive supply imbalance

摘要

It looks as though North America has lost 7% of its monoethylene glycol (MEG) capacity. PD Glycol at Beaumont, TX with 360 kta capacity suffered major flooding during hurricane Ike last fall and needs considerable expenditure before it can restart. In February the company laid off 75 of its 114 workers. Observers say they do not believe it will ever come back on line, given the current demand plateau and the huge amount of new capacity about to start up in the Middle East and Asia. The plant is a joint venture between DuPont and LyondellBasell. The latter of course is in Chapter 11 and likely lacks capital for repair work. The loss of the MEG demand will impact on DuPont's ethylene cracker at Orange, TX, which recently restarted. Neither company has made an official statement.