Evonik Lifts Force Majeure

Evonik announce June 13, 2017 that its force majeure on various C4 products would be lifted.   The force majeure went into affect following an explosion at its Antwerp, Belgium plant on May 7th.   The plant’s C4 processing capabilities were shut down, which in turn caused production problems at Evonik’s plant in Marl, Germany which relied on the butene feedstock from Antwerp.   Downstream products effected included INA, 2-PH, TDA, and plasticizers VESTINOL^® 9 (DINP), ELATUR^® CH, and VESTINOL^® INB.   While this news will help to ease supply chain woes, the European market still does not expect to return to normal availability immediately.   Demand is reportedly strong and supply is still limited, especially since BASF has not yet announced they are back to running normal operations following an explosion at their Ludwigshafen, Germany plant last year.