Olin Declares Force Majeure on Chlor-alkalis from Alabama Plant
22 Jan 2010 • by Natalie Aster
Chlor-alkali producer Olin Corp. said an unexpected equipment failure at its McIntosh, Ala. plant forced the company to declare force majeure on a list of products made at the plant.
Olin said in a statement the plant's production of the following materials were affected: chlorine, diaphragm grade caustic soda, hydrogen, hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite and sodium chloride. The force majeure does not apply to SunBelt, a facility owned by Olin's partnership and located in McIntosh, which remains in operation.
In its most recent earnings statement, Olin said chlor alkali sales declined 37% in the third quarter, "which reflects both lower shipment volumes and lower prices."
It was at the same time last year that Olin declared force majeure on caustic soda and chlorine from its Henderson, Nev. plant, which also shut down due to an "unexpected equipment failure" during a restart. That outage lasted until March. According to the Olin web site, the McIntosh plant also has North America's only manufacturing plant for sucralose, better known as Splenda.
Source: Purchasing
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