Westlake Chemical has shut an 861,825 mt/year polyvinyl chloride plant at its complex in Plaquemine, Louisiana, for maintenance throughout December, a source familiar with company operations said on Thursday.
The work comes after PVC prices have fallen nearly 17% to their lowest level since October 2016 from a post-Hurricane Harvey high of $920/mt FAS Houston, according to S&P Global Platts data.
The hurricane hit the Texas Coast August 25 and forced widespread petrochemical and logistical outages from Corpus Christi to the far southeast corner of the state through much of September. Westlake and Shintech PVC operations in Louisiana were not affected by the storm, but sluggish global demand weakened prices as other producers' Texas PVC operations restarted.
PVC is used to make pipes, siding and window frames as well as raincoats and shower curtains. Westlake expects global PVC demand to grow 3.2% per year through 2021, according to a presentation on Tuesday at the Citi Basic Materials Conference in New York that was posted on the company's website.
