Formosa Plastics USA lifts force majeure on PVC declared in February

Formosa Plastics said in its customer letter that on July 6, the company lifted the force majeure on polyvinyl chloride, the main building material, announced in mid-February
.

The letter stated that from July 6, Formosa Plastics will cancel the force majeure on SPVC
.
This type of PVC is used to make pipes, window frames, vinyl siding, and other products
.

In addition, the force majeure on specialty PVC, which the company declared on June 7, remains in effect after July 6
.

In mid-February this year, the U.
S.
Gulf Coast and most of the U.
S.
suffered a deep freeze, causing a massive shutdown of petrochemical plants for several weeks
.

OxyChem, the chemical arm of Occidental Petroleum, lifted force majeure on SPVC and upstream vinyl chloride monomer related to the freeze on June 28, and Westlake on June 1 lifted the two announced the week the freeze occurred.
force majeure of the product
.

The fourth U.
S.
PVC producer, Shintech, did not declare force majeure on its products during the freeze
.

Market participants said that the supply of PVC in the United States is still tight, as is the upstream chlorine gas, which is the first link of the PVC production chain
.
However, the lifting of the force majeure event shows that producers can meet their contractual obligations, which is seen as a step towards increasing PVC supply, especially exports
.

The U.
S.
housing construction boom has been strong since June 2020, as consumers work from home during the pandemic, boosting demand for construction products, including PVC
.
This pull in the domestic market has reduced the supply of export volumes, the sources said
.