Affected by Hurricane Ida, BASF shuts down U.S. MDI, TDI and other installations

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Aug.
29 as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, and meteorologists expect the storm to continue northward along the state's chemical corridor
.

Many companies have closed factories in response to the storm
.
Many of the plastics and chemicals these factories produce are in short supply and at record prices
.
If they are out of work for long enough due to the hurricane, it will further tighten the market
.

hurricane situation

Hurricane Ida made landfall near Fuljun Harbor, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 km/h), making it a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale
.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Ida was moving northwestward at 13 miles per hour
.

Factory shutdown

Dow closed its St Charles and Plaquemine operations in Taft, Louisiana
.
Both plants have units for the production of polyethylene (PE)
.
The St Charles plant also produces chemicals such as acetic acid, acrylic acid, ethylene oxide (EO), glycol ethers and surfactants
.
The Plaquemine plant also produces chemicals such as benzene, toluene, EO, glycol ethers, propylene glycol (PG) and propylene oxide (PO)
.

In the Baton Rouge area, ExxonMobil is adjusting its operating rates and closing some units at its complex
.
The ExxonMobil plant has an oil refinery and a chemical complex that produces ethylene, propylene, butadiene (BD), PE, polypropylene (PP), phthalic anhydride (PA), plasticizers, benzene, Toluene, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), base oils and various other chemicals
.

BASF plans to close its Geismar plant by August 29
.
It produces butanediol (BDO), EO, methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and polyether polyols
.

Phillips 66 closed the Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana
.
In addition to fuel, the refinery also produces benzene, mixed xylenes (MX), toluene and propylene
.

Shell closed its Geismar and Norco plants
.
The Geismar plant produces linear alpha olefins (LAO), ethylene glycol (EG), EO and glycol ethers
.
The Norco plant produces ethylene, propylene and butadiene (BD)
.

Cornerstone is closing its acrylonitrile (ACN) and melamine plants in Louisiana
.
It is the only melamine plant in the United States
.

Oil and Gas Situation

As of the afternoon of Aug.
28, oil and gas operators had evacuated 279 platforms, nearly 50 percent of which were in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the U.
S.
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)
.

Producers have shut down nearly 91 percent of oil production and nearly 85 percent of natural gas production
.

power failure

As of the afternoon of Aug.
29, more than 110,000 outages had been reported to utilities, according to PowerOutage.
US
.
Power outages could disrupt operations at chemical plants and delay their restarts
.

Port restrictions, closures

Ports threatened by Hurricane Ida have either restricted operations or closed
.

The table below shows the status of several ports
.
X-Ray means a tropical or hurricane-strength storm is expected to make landfall within 48 hours, Yankee means landfall within 24 hours, and Zulu means landfall within 12 hours
.